EMCR Forum Submission—Renewing the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy: discussion paper

In rewriting the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy (AAWS), the EMCR Forum recommends: 

• consulting directly with EMCRs from a range of fields and institutions around their understanding of the AAWS in Animal Ethics Committee (AEC) applications. We suggest the inclusion of wording in the AAWS that encourages staff and researchers to point out flaws or issues in an AEC application with the senior members of their project teams who hold the applications. There is a general need to educate researchers and other stakeholders about the AAWS.
• consideration of the complexities of undertaking field work in the marine environment where fauna, such as cephalopods, frequently shift across jurisdictional boundaries.
• the inclusion of First Nations considerations in the AAWS. For First Nations communities and individuals, cultural protocols impact their interactions with culturally important species which have flow-on effects to their place in their community. Tension occurs where First Nations researcher have to follow AEC protocols that do not acknowledge the additional care or handling needed for various species.