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Animal Ethics

Animal Use in Schools

Animals are an integral and important part of educational processes in most Queensland schools. This website is provided to assist all Queensland schools.

Important changes to approvals for animal use in schools

Most school activities involving animals require approval from an appropriate animal ethics committee. This is a legal requirement because educational activities are generally considered to be for 'scientific purposes'.

Schools must ensure that they have current approvals for animal use. Common activities requiring approvals include:

egg hatching
all agricultural activities (e.g. routine husbandry, showing)
marine studies (e.g. aquaculture, catching and releasing animals)
dissections.

In November 2010 the department updated processes for animal use in accordance with legal requirements:

all activities now require approved applications for animal use activities - it is no longer sufficient to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs). The SOPs should be used as a guide when considering how the activity will be conducted and this should be communicated in the application.
The standard operating procedures have been revised. This includes changes to permitted activities for students.

Information on completing application templates and the Education Queensland policy on animal ethics are available to assist schools.

In some cases, applications are not required. Please contact us if you have questions.

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This page was last reviewed on 16 Aug 2011