Looking after Australia’s wildlife

As one of the few professional services companies with an accredited Animal Ethics Committee (AEC), GHD is providing a valuable service to clients for a wide variety of projects across Australia and upholding animal welfare at the same time.

In Australia, state and territory governments have regulatory responsibility for animal welfare. In most cases they maintain their own AECs to facilitate the use of animals in an ethical and humane manner that complies with relevant legislation, including the Australian Code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes. Outside of government, AECs are generally operated by universities and research institutes; however, very few companies oversee their own AEC.

Having received its first primary licence for an AEC in New South Wales (NSW) in 2008, GHD has now been accredited in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Northern Territory and Tasmania, with Western Australian accreditation pending.

“Our AEC was formed because the field work we conduct on behalf of our clients often requires observation or data collection of animals, and we recognised we have a key role to play in avoiding harm or serious disruption to native fauna during this work,” says Dr Natalie Clark, Business Group Leader – South Queensland Natural Resource Management at GHD, and a member of our committee.

The ability to respond in-house for these projects is a key benefit for our clients.

“Being able to provide in-house approval is a key differentiator for us in the marketplace, it empowers our people, and it also means our clients can receive a more efficient turnaround than applying through the government-controlled or third-party AECs, which is especially important on time-sensitive or high-risk projects.”

Since its formation our AEC has been involved in ensuring appropriate procedures are followed for some unique and interesting projects across Australia, from tracking Ghost Bats in the Pilbara, Western Australia to helping protect the habitat of the endangered Green and Golden Bell Frog in New South Wales.

Dr Tim Wills, Service Line Leader for Natural Resources at GHD has chaired the committee since July 2021, working closely with GHD colleagues Dr Natalie Clark and Alex Holmes (Technical Director – Ecology), and external members Dr Sam Gilchrist, Tanya Duratovic and Glenda Ralph. Typically, the AEC meets six times a year and undertakes audits within the states and territories where it has accreditation.

The AEC has been proactive in completing some important work, such as developing procedures for the use of drones and scent detection dogs for wildlife surveys, revising our fieldwork approaches to account for extreme weather, coordinating training for our people and even organising a donation to Southern Cross Wildlife after the 2019 bushfires.

About GHD

GHD is a leading professional services company operating in the global markets of water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation. Committed to a vision to make water, energy, and communities sustainable for generations to come, GHD delivers advisory, digital, engineering, architecture, environmental and construction solutions to public and private sector clients. Established in 1928 and privately owned by its people, GHD’s network of 12,000+ professionals is connected across 160 offices located on five continents.