Section 1 - Introduction - Australian Antarctic Division

The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) was established by the Commonwealth Government in 1948 as a permanent agency to administer and provide logistic support for the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions.

The AAD (part of the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts) seeks to promote Antarctic policy which is based on the region's strategic, scientific, environmental and potential economic importance for Australia. The Government's key goals for the Antarctic Program are:

The AAD provides operational and logistic support to scientific research, as well as funding under the Australian Antarctic Science (AAS) Grants. Due to the uncertain nature of Antarctic conditions (such as adverse weather and sea ice coverage) and financial considerations, the AAD cannot guarantee to provide this support in all circumstances.

The Antarctic Science Advisory Committee develops the Science Strategy in consultation with Program Leaders and the Australian Antarctic research community to reflect Australia 's Antarctic science research goals.

Applications must be submitted electronically using the online Application Form and must be formulated according to the requirements described in this document.

The online science application will occur in two stages. The first stage asks questions relevant for science approval and opens in May. The second stage will open in March the following year and will seek information on environmental impacts, permits, occupational health and safety, animal usage, human ethics and radioisotopes.

Program Leaders are seeking and coordinating research projects to implement the Science Strategy research plans for each of the 4 priority program areas and 10 discipline areas. Chief investigators must contact the relevant Program Leader, prior to completing an application.

Research projects addressing these priority programs are particularly encouraged. A multidisciplinary approach to research is also encouraged.

The disciplines are: Antarctic Marine Living Resources, Astronomy, Biology, Geosciences, Glaciology, Human Biology and Medicine, Human Impacts, Meteorology, Oceanography and Space and Astmospheric Sciences.

Within the discipline areas priority is given to scientific studies of the Antarctic but also supports the continued use of Antarctica as a "platform" to conduct externally supported research of high scientific value. Platform research includes areas of astronomy, space and atmospheric sciences, geosciences, and human biology and medicine that do not directly relate to the four priority program areas.

ASAC in its "Evaluation of the Australian Antarctic science program" recommended the following in relation to each of the disciplin

Human Biology and Medicine Recommendation
1. ASAC recommends that opportunities for research outcomes are optimized including expanding collaboration with other agencies and university medical schools.

Glaciology, Geoscience and Oceanography Recommendations
1. ASAC recommends that the key priority areas for the geoscience program should be directed at understanding the Earth System in particular the nature of climate change through the elucidation of past-climate change, identifying climate variability and change, the role of ice and ocean in global climate and regional ecosystem processes, and modelling the climate systems.
2. ASAC recommends the geoscience program should continue to refocus from studies of the Antarctic continental basement rocks to investigations of the paleoclimate record in marine and terrestrial sediments, surficial processes, and continental margins.

Space and Atmospheric Sciences, Meteorology and Astronomy Recommendations
1. ASAC recognises the need for long-term observation programs, to cover at least the full solar cycle of 22 years. These long term series are required to understand the solar-terrestrial interactions in atmospheric dynamics as well as to be able to separate these effects from other variations.
2. ASAC encourages innovative high quality meteorological research in cross-disciplinary areas undertaken by other programs, and in the fundamental discipline of meteorology itself, considering the unique Antarctic environment.
3. ASAC supports an Astronomy program that uses Antarctica as a platform for important astronomical objectives that cannot be achieved from other observatories, and encourages international collaborations, such as those proposed at Dome C.

Because of the limited amount of Australian Antarctic Science (AAS) Grant funding available, it is not always possible to fully fund every project. Researchers should therefore seek to determine the accurate and optimum levels of AAS Grant funding required when initiating their proposal.

Research applications for the 2009/10 season close 30 June 2009and no new applications can be initiated through the web site after 23 June 2009.

New proposals (including those which are to be Australia based) are subject to external review. Continuing projects will be reviewed by the relevant Program Leader and Antarctic Research Assessment Committee (ARAC). All proposals will be assessed and ranked by the relevant ARAC, and, where appropriate, the Antarctic Animal/Human Research Ethics Committees, and must receive final endorsement by the AAD Executive.

Chief investigators submitting new projects will be forwarded comments by external reviewers for a rejoinder opportunity. They may also be contacted by various officers from the Australian Antarctic Division Support Centre during the assessment process. This does not indicate that the project has been approved. Applicants will be formally advised of the final outcome of their application in June of the year following submission.

Competition between the scientific and operational programs for ship berths, flights and station accommodation can be very intense during the Antarctic summer season. The Berth and Flight Allocation Committee (BAFAC) considers, coordinates and approves or rejects transport requests submitted in a season for the Australian Antarctic Program.

Researchers proposing to undertake field research, in the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) or Australia's sub-antarctic islands, that is not to be supported by the Australian Antarctic Program (ie. does not require transport, accommodation, kitting, etc) or another Antarctic Treaty nation's support program, must still provide project information to satisfy the legislative requirements and assessment procedures necessary for the approval of that research (eg. environmental assessment, animal ethics assessment and permits).

Private researchers should familiarise themselves with the relevant guidelines and complete the online Application Form.

Australian researchers who are undertaking projects which are supported by the operational programs of other Antarctic Treaty nations or who are undertaking private expedition research in non-AAT/Australian areas of the Antarctic or sub-antarctic should contact the Permits Officer at the AAD in sufficient time to ensure they comply with any permit and legal requirements of the relevant nation/s.

1.2 Code of Conduct in Research

The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) is committed to high standards of professional conduct in all activities. This Code of Conduct in Research describes the standards of conduct and performance required of all those engaged in research in the AAD. Research workers have a duty to ensure that their work pursues the goals of the AAD and enhances the profession to which they belong.

This Code covers employees of the AAD, and includes employees from other institutions when they are engaged in research with the Australian Antarctic Program. Where this Code varies from the Code of their home institution, our Code prevails with respect to research with the Australian Antarctic Program.

This Code is based on the following principles. In the AAD research describes any critical and creative activity undertaken on a systematic, disciplined basis and dedicated to increasing knowledge. The defining characteristics include:

Debate on, and criticism of, research work are essential parts of the research process. Research workers should:

Reasonable requirements for confidentiality of data must be observed, consistent with the requirements of the Antarctic Treaty. Research workers must not use such information for their own personal advantage or that of a third party. Research involving animal or human subjects must be approved for ethical clearance by the appropriate ethics committees as established by the Minister. Special conditions attached by the committees must be scrupulously adhered to. All researchers must recognise that the onus is on them not only to adhere to such conditions and processes, but also to provide the various assessment bodies with timely and appropriate information to enable them to make a full assessment of proposed and progressing work.

Program Leaders are responsible for the conduct of research within their programs, the observance of this Code, and ensuring all workers are familiar with the Code. All research workers are individually responsible for ensuring their work conforms to this Code.

All researchers must obtain permits from the relevant authorities and meet all legislative requirements, including Environmental Impact Assessments. Research involving plants and/or animals or entry into designated protected areas will require permits.

Where a person is in doubt about the applicability of provisions of this Code or about the appropriate course of action to be adopted in relation to it, advice should be sought from the Chief Scientist. If requested, the advice will be provided in confidence.

All data and samples, whether collected in Antarctica or Australia, remain the property of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Data must be recorded in a durable manner and be described with sufficient metadata to permit their re-use over time. Ensuring that this occurs is the responsibility of the Chief Investigator.

Unless there are extenuating circumstances, all data must be forwarded to the Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AADC) for long term curation, as soon as possible after its capture (for raw observations) and/or subsequent analyses (for derived, qualified or analysed data). The Australian Antarctic Program Data Policy states that data should be lodged with the Centre no later than 2 years post data collection.

All physical samples must be lodged with an approved repository and their associated metadata lodged with the AADC.

Authorship is a sensitive matter in which quite different views of relative contributions can be held sincerely by contributors, leading at times to disagreements on who should be the authors and the order in which they are listed. The question of authorship should be discussed at the earliest possible stage in a research project and reviewed whenever there are changes in participation.

All persons, including university students and Technical and Professional Officers who have made a substantial contribution to the research leading to a publication must be given the opportunity to be included as an author on the publication. Contributions to the conception, execution or interpretation of the work being reported may warrant recognition as an author.

A person who has not participated in conceiving, executing or interpreting at least part of the relevant research is not to be included as an author of a publication deriving from that research.

Every attempt must be made to reach agreement on the authorship of a publication and the order in which authors are listed. Informal advice and assistance should be sought from the relevant Program Leader. If the matter cannot be satisfactorily resolved, formal adjudication of the issue will be made by the Chief Scientist.

The authors must ensure that others who have contributed to the work are recognised in the publication. Courtesy demands that individuals and organisations providing facilities should also be acknowledged.

A publication which is substantially the same as an earlier publication derived from the same research must make appropriate reference to the earlier publication.

An author who submits substantially similar work to more than one publisher should disclose that fact to the publishers at the time of submission.

Where a publication has several authors, one author should be nominated executive author to accept overall responsibility for the entire publication.

All care should be taken to ensure that publication reference, or acknowledge, all pertinent supporting research and data.

ASAC in its "Evaluation of Australia's Antarctic Science Program" encourages publication for both maximum scientific exposure and in non-Antarctic high quality journals.

Where AAD staff are invited to act as joint supervisors of university students they must inform themselves of the provisions of the relevant Codes of that university, such as the Code of Conduct of Research and Code of Conduct in Supervision of Higher Degree Students. Where these differ substantially from the provisions of this Code of Conduct in Research, the matter must be raised with the Chief Scientist.

Formal appointment as joint supervisor will not be made until the Chief Scientist is satisfied that the inconsistency in the Provisions will not disadvantage the Commonwealth of Australia.

A person must decline appointment as a supervisor unless he/she expects to be able to discharge, and abide by, the responsibilities set out in the university's relevant Codes as well as this Code.

Misconduct means fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or other practices that seriously deviate from those commonly accepted within the scientific community for proposing, conducting, or reporting research.

Confidential advice on integrity in research and possible misconduct is available from the Chief Scientist.

Where the complaint is made against a member of AAD staff, the Chief Scientist will gather all available information relevant to the complaint and report to the Director, AAD.

Where the complaint is made against a student enrolled at a university, the matter will be pursued in accordance with that university's appropriate instrument governing student discipline.

(Note: This Code of Conduct is based on a similar Code published by the University of Tasmania, and used with permission.)

1.3 Privacy

The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) and the officers who operate and access the Antarctic Applications Online (AAO) system are subject to the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988. This Act lays down strict privacy safeguards which Commonwealth Government departments and agencies must observe in handling personal information. This privacy statement outlines how personal information collected and retained by the AAO system is handled by the AAD. This information is specific to this database. For further information, see the AAD website privacy statement.

The AAO system provides an integrated application form for legislative and non-legislative authorisations, including operational and logistical support, for activities in the Antarctic, the sub-Antarctic and the Southern Ocean.

The AAO system collects and stores personal information from applicants for use in the administration of the Australian Antarctic Program, for use and or disclosure as necessary, including:

The AAO system provides an interface for various approvals and support processes administered by the AAD, other agencies and external institutions and assessors with responsibilities relevant to the Australian Antarctic Program – these include but are not limited to:

In addition to information collected for general administration of applications, various Commonwealth legislation authorises the collection of personal information as part of the application process for permits and other authorisations, including:

If you wish to check your personal information contained in the AAO system, you can view it on-line. Please ensure that your personal information held in the AAO system is accurate, up-to-date, and complete. If you are unable to alter any of this information please contact the Science Planning and Coordination Section, 203 Channel Highway, Kingston Tasmania 7050 or by email planning@aad.gov.au to request that it is corrected or updated.

1.4 Appeals

Appeals will be considered only against process issues relating to the science application. They will not be considered against committee decisions or assessor ratings and comments. Appeals must be lodged through your administering organisation's research office and be received within 28 days of the date on the letter notifying the outcomes of applications. The appeal should state the grounds for appeal and be signed by the appellant and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) or delegate.

Manager, Science Planning and Coordination
Australian Antarctic Division
203 Channel Highway
Kingston 7050 Tasmania

1.1 Overview

1.2 Code of Conduct in Research

1.3 Privacy

1.4 Appeals