Standard Operating Procedures

Appropriate use of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as part of the animal ethics approval process may facilitate the preparation of applications by researchers and teachers. The Australian Code of Practice for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes (enacted in NSW legislation under the Animal Research Regulation) outlines concerns that there is a risk that the use of SOPs may reduce the rigour with which procedures are considered by the Animal Care and Ethics Committee(ACEC). Clause 2.2.17 of the Australian Code therefore stipulates that SOPs should only be referred to in ACEC applications under the following circumstances:

New SOPs must be approved by the ACEC before implementation;
SOPs must include in the title the date on which they were last approved or reviewed and be reviewed regularly by the ACEC at least every three years;
ACEC members must have ready access to copies of all current SOPs;
Investigators or teachers named on a proposal must have the necessary skills to implement a SOP; and
Variations to a SOP must be detailed in the application to the ACEC.

Approved SOPs (Uni ID required). SOPs with current approval from the ACEC may be accessed from this page.
Guidelines and templates for development of SOPs - see below.

Guidelines and templates

To facilitate the process for use of SOPs, the ACEC has developed the following:

Guidelines on the use of SOPs
Templates to assist researchers in providing the information required by the Committee in an SOP:
- Standard template
- Templates for specific procedures: