Openness in Animal Research and Teaching

An agriculture student standing in open bushland
Central Queensland University is committed to openness and public understanding of our University’s use of animals for research and teaching.

Our University will only use animals in research and teaching when it can be justified on ethical, scientific, and legal grounds, and when there is not available a reasonable or satisfactory alternative. The principles of Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement (The Three RRRs) are central to our use of animals for research and teaching. We treat our animals with care and respect.

Openness Agreement

To solidify our commitment, CQUniversity is a Signatory to the Openness Agreement on Animal Research and Teaching in Australia.  

Openness Agreement on Animal Research and Teaching in Australia Signatory

The Openness Agreement is an extension of our existing commitment to animal welfare.

As a Signatory, CQUniversity supports the commitments of the agreement:

We will be open about our involvement in the use of animals in research or teaching.

We will enhance our communications with the media and the public about our use of animals in research or teaching.

We will be proactive in providing opportunities for the public to find out about research or teaching involving animals.

We will report annually on our efforts to improve openness in our use of animals in research or teaching.

CQUniversity Australia's Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre (CMERC)

Transcript

hello

CMERC is Central Queensland's only marine and  Coastal Research Center so it's delivering

research where it's needed but we have got this  concentration of Industry so we need a community  

that can work together with our local environment  we've got an amazing location here in Gladstone  

for our base and we've got industry juxtaposed  with some amazing marine habitats and we want  

to look at how ways in which we can develop the  coast to keep those systems sustaining some of our  

coastal communities we have a unique approach to  working with industry and our communities and we  

take a very holistic approach to our research as  well we're not just monitoring marine and coastal  

environments we're also looking for practical  solutions that can benefit entire communities a  

lot of the things that the ecosystems do naturally  can actually save people money and can support  

coastal economies we have Queensland's first  and only seagrass nursery where we actually grow  

seagrasses and look at propagation and cultivation  methods for how to grow seagrasses has made us a  

really important habitat for providing food and  capturing carbon filtering out our catchments and  

the things the sediments and the nutrients that  come down our catchments and basically making  

sure that our Coral Sea and our coral reefs  are healthy I just want to see it continue 

to grow and spread that that research that  that knowledge base right around the world

Research with Impact

Our applied research focus emphasises the translation and uptake of research findings to meet external stakeholder needs – the focus is not merely on increasing academic publications and citation rates.

Averting the Threat to a Native Icon

Discover how we're helping to improve conservation management outcomes for endangered koala populations across Australia's Central Queensland.

Knowledge to Improve the Assessment and Management of Giant Mud Crabs

Researchers are collaborating on a Fisheries Research and Development (FRDC) co-funded research project on mud crab populations in Queensland.

Protecting and Enhancing High Value Fish Habitats Across Central QLD's Coast

The project is working to restore seagrass communities, considered to be critical fish habitat, that are declining due to habitat loss and degradation.

Advancing Ethical Animal Research and Conservation

Learn how our researchers and ethics committee work to protect animal welfare, enhance conservation efforts, and improve practices across diverse fields like livestock management, wildlife monitoring, and marine ecosystem health.

Research at CQUniversity is monitored by a number of ethics committees, including an Animal Ethics Committee.

Animal Ethics Committees are responsible for ensuring compliance with the Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes (2013).

Our Animal Ethics Committee (CQUAEC) is responsible for assessing and providing clearance to any research or teaching projects undertaken by University staff or students involving the use of vertebrate animals. The Committee is also responsible for monitoring the use and care of animals by the University and conducting site inspections as necessary.

Our Animal Ethics Committee underwent an external review in October 2020, to meet the requirements of the Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes. An external review will also be conducted in 2024.

The Three Rs (3Rs) are guiding principles for more ethical use of animals in scientific research and teaching. 

  1. Replacement: replacing or avoiding the use of animals in research and teaching
  2. Reduction: use of methods that enable researchers to obtain similar levels of information from fewer animals, or to obtain additional information from the same number of animals.
  3. Refinement: use of methods that minimise or alleviate potential pain, suffering or distress, as well as enhancing animal welfare for animals used.

CQUniversity researchers conduct surveys of endangered birds and native wildlife to develop a sound basis for recovery planning and conservation of the subspecies and their habitat. For example, recent research on the critically endangered Capricorn Yellow Chat highlights the importance of evidence-based habitat management. 

CQUniversity’s Precision Livestock Management team use cutting edge technology (including GPS collars and walk over weigh stations) to automatically gather phenotypic data, such as animal live-weight, pregnancy status and parentage, as well as improve the understanding of animal behaviours, all with a view to improving on-farm profitability, productivity, and animal welfare.

Estuaries are complex ecosystems vulnerable to human impacts which directly and indirectly affect plants and animals. For example, when fish are exposed to contaminated water, they are affected at the population level (numbers and diversity of fish species) down to biochemical impacts on single cells within individual fish. CQUniversity researchers have tested and developed fish and mud crab health indicators for the Gladstone Harbour. An annual report is compiled examining the health of the Harbour.

CQUniversity researchers are investigating the early administration of probiotics in agricultural poultry, to improve bird health and immunity and observing if this results in any improvement in poultry growth rate.

Current probiotic delivery practices in industry are not giving the desired results. CQUniversity researchers are also exploring the addition of biochar to feed and natural product alternatives to antibiotics for use in the poultry industry, to improve bird health and performance.

The use of animals in teaching activities occurs across several academic disciplines, none of which utilise invasive methods. For example, cattle housed at CQUniversity are used to teach agriculture students best practice livestock management. Ecology students conduct fieldwork trapping and monitoring of wildlife. Teaching at CQUniversity makes use of donated deceased animals or pest species (such as cane toads).

Institute for Future Farming Systems

We are a world leader in agriculture science research,  and specialise in non-invasive and precision agriculture technologies. Our research delivers solutions that enhance productivity in the livestock and horticultural sectors.

Koala Research - CQ

The research group was established to support on-going research and to initiate new projects on koala biology and habitat requirements.