Animal testing in Australia is regulated mainly by the states and territories, each with its own licensing and enforcement regime, sitting under a national ethics code that all jurisdictions have written into law. Every research project involving animals must be approved in advance by an Animal Ethics Committee, and since 1 July 2020 new animal test data cannot be used to introduce chemicals intended solely for cosmetics. Reported numbers are large: Victoria alone recorded more than 1.4 million animals used in research and teaching in 2024, and there is no single national total.
Who Makes the Rules
Under the Australian Constitution, animal welfare is a state and territory responsibility, not a federal one.1Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Animal Welfare in Australia The Commonwealth’s role is narrow, covering live export, federally registered slaughter facilities, and Commonwealth land. Everything else, including scientific use of animals, is written and enforced by each jurisdiction.
That produces a patchwork. New South Wales operates under the Animal Research Act 1985, which requires both institutional accreditation and a separate animal research authority for each individual researcher.2NSW Legislation. Animal Research Act 1985 No 123 Victoria uses the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 and requires a scientific procedures premises licence for any facility conducting animal research.3AustLII. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 – Sect 26 Queensland requires registration with Biosecurity Queensland before any animal is used for scientific purposes.4Business Queensland. Animal Ethics Committee Other states and territories run comparable schemes with different names and fee structures.
Operating outside those schemes carries real penalties. In New South Wales, an individual conducting animal research without authority faces up to 12 months imprisonment, a fine, or both; a corporation running an unaccredited research establishment can be fined up to 160 penalty units.2NSW Legislation. Animal Research Act 1985 No 123 In Victoria, running a scientific facility without a premises licence draws up to 120 penalty units or 12 months imprisonment for an individual, and up to 600 penalty units for a body corporate.3AustLII. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 – Sect 26
The National Code and the 3Rs
What ties the state systems together is the Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes, published by the National Health and Medical Research Council. Every state and territory has adopted the Code into its legislation, so it functions as enforceable law rather than guidance.5National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes
The Code is built around three principles known as the 3Rs. Replacement means checking whether the scientific goal can be met without animals at all. Reduction means using the smallest number of animals capable of producing statistically valid results. Refinement means designing procedures to minimise pain, distress, and lasting harm. Institutions and their ethics committees must apply the 3Rs at every stage, from framing the research question to reporting results.6National Health and Medical Research Council. The 3Rs – Replacement, Reduction and Refinement
Before a project can proceed, the researcher must show it has genuine scientific or educational merit, that no suitable alternative exists, that animal numbers are the minimum necessary, and that the adverse impact will be as low as possible.7National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes If that case cannot be made, the project should not go ahead.
Animal Ethics Committees
No experiment involving animals can legally begin without written approval from an Animal Ethics Committee. Every institution using animals for scientific purposes must establish at least one AEC, reporting directly to the institution’s governing body.4Business Queensland. Animal Ethics Committee Committee authority within the institution is absolute: a well-funded project stops if the AEC finds it fails to meet ethical or legal requirements.
Required Membership
The Code requires every AEC to include at least one member from each of four categories, so that no single interest dominates:
- Category A is a veterinarian registered in Australia with experience relevant to the species the institution works with.
- Category B is a qualified researcher with substantial recent experience in using animals for scientific purposes, typically holding a higher research degree or equivalent.
- Category C is a person with a demonstrated commitment to animal welfare, not employed by or associated with the institution and not currently involved in animal research; where possible, this person should hold active membership in an animal welfare organisation.
- Category D is an independent layperson not employed by the institution and never involved in using animals for scientific or teaching purposes, bringing an outside perspective.
Categories C and D are what give the committee its independence. Without those external voices, AECs would amount to researchers reviewing their own work.7National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes
How Approval Works
The committee evaluates whether the researcher has genuinely investigated non-animal alternatives, weighs whether the likely benefits justify the impact on the animals, and checks that the proposed number of animals is the minimum needed for valid results. If the researcher cannot show that animal use is unavoidable, the application is refused.7National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes Approved projects are subject to ongoing monitoring, and the committee can revoke approval if welfare concerns emerge.
The Cosmetics Testing Ban
Since 1 July 2020, Australia has prohibited the use of new animal test data to support the introduction of chemicals used solely in cosmetics. The rule sits in the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019, which blocks applications from including animal test data obtained from tests conducted on or after that date for chemicals with an exclusively cosmetic end use.8AustLII. Industrial Chemicals Act 2019 – Sect 168 “New animal test data” covers data from tests on a cephalopod or any live vertebrate other than a human conducted on or after 1 July 2020.9Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme. Use of Animal Test Data
Data from tests conducted before that date can still be used, and companies remain free to rely on older studies. In practice, developers of new cosmetic ingredients must turn to non-animal methods such as cell cultures, computer modelling, and reconstructed tissue models.
Dual-Use Chemicals
The rules get more complex where a chemical is used in cosmetics and other industries. Restrictions on new animal test data extend to these dual-use chemicals, but there is a pathway to approval. A business introducing a dual-use chemical must confirm compliance with the animal test data rules in its introduction declaration or pre-introduction report.10Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme. Personal Care, Skincare, Make-Up and Other Cosmetic Products Where new animal data is needed to support a non-cosmetic use of the same chemical, the business can seek specific pre-approval from the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) to include that data.9Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme. Use of Animal Test Data
Introducing an industrial chemical without proper authorisation is a substantial offence. A fault-based breach attracts up to 500 penalty units, a strict liability offence up to 60 penalty units, and a separate civil penalty of up to 500 penalty units also applies.11AustLII. Industrial Chemicals Act 2019 – Sect 24 AICIS also collects data from introducers and publishes information on instances where new animal test data has been used.9Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme. Use of Animal Test Data
The ban applies to chemicals entering the Australian market through AICIS. It does not affect animal use in medical, veterinary, or agricultural research, which remains governed by the state licensing regimes and the NHMRC Code described above.
How Many Animals Are Used
Getting a clear national count is difficult. There is no uniform national reporting requirement, and each state collects and publishes data on its own categories and timelines. No single agency can give a definitive figure for the whole country.
The state numbers that do exist are large. Victoria, one of the more transparent jurisdictions, reported 1,450,049 animals used in research and teaching in 2024. Laboratory mice were the most commonly used species at roughly 420,000, followed by native wild birds at about 311,000 and fish at approximately 297,000. Crustaceans, wild rats, domestic sheep, and domestic cattle also featured prominently.12Agriculture Victoria. 2024 Statistics of Animal Use in Research and Teaching That is a single state; the national total, once New South Wales, Queensland, and the others are added, is far higher.
States that require reporting generally do so annually. In Queensland, anyone registered to use animals for scientific purposes must submit an animal use statistics report to Biosecurity Queensland by 31 May each year, covering the previous calendar year.13Business Queensland. Animal Use Statistics Report In New South Wales, ethics committees report to their accredited establishments on the numbers and types of projects assessed, including projects involving high welfare impact such as major physiological challenge or death as an endpoint.14Department of Primary Industries. Annual Reporting by Animal Ethics Committees to Accredited Animal Research Establishments These reports let regulators check that activity matches what committees approved, and create a public record. What is missing is a single national dataset that would allow comparison across states or tracking of trends over time.
Funding for Non-Animal Alternatives
The 3Rs are embedded in the national Code, but dedicated federal funding for developing alternatives has been slow. The NHMRC distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in research grants each year, and none of it is specifically earmarked for developing or validating animal-free methods.
State-level investment has been more targeted. In July 2024, the New South Wales Government committed $4.5 million to establish the Non-Animal Technologies Network (NAT-Net), which funds competitive research grants aimed at reducing and replacing animals in medical research and builds coordination across academia, industry, and regulators.15NSW Government Medical Research. Non-Animal Technologies Network (NAT-Net) At the national level, CSIRO has led an assessment of Australia’s capabilities for non-animal medical product development, producing a report with ten recommendations for building the national ecosystem and positioning Australia within a broader global shift expected to reduce reliance on animal models over the next 15 years.16CSIRO. Non Animal Models
Researchers are told to seek alternatives before using animals, but the infrastructure for developing, validating, and gaining regulatory acceptance of those alternatives still trails the investment flowing into traditional animal-based research.