The first six months of 2026 have marked an exciting period of progress for AFSA, with major achievements across public awareness, national policy, parliamentary advocacy, transparency and the promotion of human-relevant research.
A standout moment was AFSA’s international recognition at the prestigious 2026 Lush Prize, where AFSA was named joint winner of the Public Awareness Prize for its Honour Me With a Name campaign. The Lush Prize recognised AFSA’s work using Freedom of Information requests to uncover documents about primates bred and used in Australian laboratories, helping bring individual animals’ stories into public view.
The first half of this year also delivered a major policy milestone. Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Strategy 2026–2036 formally recognised non-animal methods, or NAMs, in national research planning after years of advocacy. The strategy proposes a National Collaborative Platform for Non-animal Technologies, closely aligning with AFSA’s calls for coordinated national support, training and investment in animal-free methods.
In further progress, Australia has successfully concluded negotiations to associate with Horizon Europe—the EU’s major research and innovation funding program. AFSA made a submission last year supporting Australia’s association with Horizon Europe and calling on the Government to use this opportunity to accelerate national leadership in NAMs.
It’s clear that NAMs are no longer sitting at the margins of health and medical research policy. They are now part of Australia’s national conversation about better, more ethical and more effective science.
AFSA also helped drive strong public and parliamentary attention to the use of primates in research. The Australian Parliament e-petition EN8985, “Allow Primates in Research the Same Protections as Great Apes,” called for stronger ethical protections for all non-human primates used in research. The petition attracted 2,839 signatures in just 30 days and was tabled in Parliament on 23 March.
AFSA also briefed every Federal Member of Parliament and Senator on the scientific, ethical and policy case for reform and also submitted the briefing to the NHMRC as part of its review of the Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes.
This advocacy was amplified through a new Gippsland-focused campaign, including a billboard highlighting primate research and breeding in the region. Gippsland is home to a primate breeding facility, making it a key region for public education, political engagement and community awareness.
AFSA’s transparency work also continued to reveal new information about the hidden realities of primate use in Australian research. Documents obtained through Freedom of Information exposed more than 60 disturbing deaths among research primates in Australian breeding facilities between 2020 and 2025, including deaths involving baboons, macaques and marmosets.
Further documents revealed the suffering of mothers and babies in primate research, including the case of a pregnant baboon used in a preeclampsia experiment who underwent invasive procedures before losing her baby in distressing circumstances.
Alongside this campaign work, AFSA has continued to showcase the promise and performance of modern non-animal methods through new case studies. One case study highlighted research using nasal cells from children with cystic fibrosis to predict how individual children respond to CF medicines. Another case study explored childhood dementia, showing how human stem-cell-derived brain models can reveal early disruptions in communication between brain cells.
Outreach has also been prominent, with AFSA speakers at the Animal Rights Forum and the National Animal Rights Day Melbourne, as well as engagement with animal ethics committees, high school students and animal law students.
Together, these achievements show the growing impact of AFSA’s work across science, policy and public awareness. In just six months, AFSA has helped secure international recognition, elevate NAMs in national strategy, bring primate protection into Parliament, expand regional campaigning, uncover new evidence through FOI and highlight powerful examples of human-relevant research.
