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Campaigning to end animal experimentation in NSW through legislative reform, public accountability, and investment in humane alternatives.
Animal Experimentation – End It Now Working Group
Group Status: this group needs people to activate it
Every year in Australia, millions of animals are subjected to painful, invasive procedures in the animal experimentation industry. This includes primates, cats, dogs, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, fish, reptiles, and farmed and native animals.
Animal experimentation is one of the most hidden of all animal-use industries in Australia. There is virtually no transparency or accountability. Secret government documents made public by the Animal Justice Party have revealed some of the shocking experiments still legal in this country, including near-drowning tests and forced smoking experiments.
Most Australians are unaware that taxpayer money is being used to fund the continued breeding and use of animals for experimentation. Despite the use of public funds, the government does not even know exactly how much money flows to this industry, and there is no transparency about what types of experiments taxpayers are funding.
NSW has already taken steps that no jurisdiction in the world has taken before. But there is still a long way to go.
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What this working group does
The Animal Experimentation – End It Now working group campaigns to end the use of animals in experimentation in NSW through political advocacy, public education, and community pressure.
The group focuses on:
- supporting legislative reform to ban cruel and futile experiments
- advocating for urgent investment in humane alternatives
- supporting our MP Emma Hurst's work in Parliament on this issue
- building public awareness about how taxpayer money funds animal experimentation
This working group meets online, usually once a month. Meetings are used to share updates, discuss priorities, and plan next steps for the campaign. You do not need to be based in a particular location to take part.
How to get involved
This working group is currently inactive and needs people to bring it back to life. If you care about ending animal experimentation in NSW and want to help drive this campaign forward, we want to hear from you.
To join or reactivate this group, email [email protected] and include:
- Animal Experimentation Working Group
- Your name and email address
- If you would like, you can also mention how you might like to be involved
Supporters can contribute in different ways depending on time and skills, including research, submissions, outreach, and campaign support.
Achievements and highlights
- NSW became the first place in the world to move toward outlawing forced swim and smoking experiments, following an inquiry that Emma Hurst fought to establish. In forced swim tests, animals are dropped into inescapable containers of water and timed for survival. In forced smoking experiments, animals are placed in tubes while cigarette smoke is pumped directly into their nostrils.
- Following the inquiry, the National Health and Medical Research Council announced it would cut funding to forced swim and smoking experiments – a direct result of the evidence presented and the inquiry's recommendations.
- NSW has joined US cities in making it mandatory that cats and dogs used in experimentation are released and rehomed after research concludes.
- In 2024, Emma Hurst secured $7 million in government funding: $2.5 million for rehoming groups supporting animals exiting experimentation facilities, and $4.5 million towards research into alternatives to animal experimentation. These grants apply to any animal used in experimentation, from cats and dogs to guinea pigs, mice, and rats.
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