I am extremely proud of HRA’s collective achievements and the progress we are making. Our profile is growing, and we are now increasingly being contacted by the media, by students, or by researchers interested in collaboration or advice.
In 2022, we celebrated wins with our Forced Swim Test campaign in collaboration with PETA, with the University of South Australia, University of Adelaide, Griffith University and Macquarie University all prohibiting the use of this cruel test.
We also launched a successful local campaign calling on the University of Newcastle to end forced smoke inhalation.
We collaborated with Melbourne animation studio Jumbla to produce ‘Better Science for All’, which is a short animation highlighting the use of animals in experimentation and the alternative methods that could be used.
The ad, which appeared across SBS On Demand and You Tube, features Marty the Marmoset, who is bred in a primate breeding facility, destined for a life in a research laboratory. We follow Marty and other animals in the laboratory to learn of the horrific procedures to which they are subjected, before ending with the modern animal-free methods of research which will one day allow primates like Marty to live a life of freedom.
We visited Queensland for the Brisbane Vegan Expo, and South Australia at a workshop on advocating for animals in laboratories in conjunction with South Aussies for Animals. In Melbourne, we exhibited at the Midsumma Festival.
We held a supporter event in Sydney with speakers Emma Hurst and Ed Brackenreg from Codex Research, a local biotech company using non-animal methods.
We presented to a youth audience on the use of animals in wildlife research, and at the ANZCCART (Australian & New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching) conference.
We presented at the Animal Justice Party in Sydney, and to members of WA animal ethics committees in Perth.
We promoted non-harmful teaching methods at the Australian Science Teachers Association conference.
We developed guidance pages for researchers and members of animal ethics committees.
And finally, our former CEO Helen Marston was awarded the inaugural in memoriam Animal Justice award at the Animal Justice Foundation 2022 awards. We are very proud of this recognition of Helen’s commitment to ending animal experimentation.
