Some challenges with Animal Ethics Committees - can greater transparency help?

Recent media reports have suggested that Animal Ethics Committees (AECs) in Australia are in crisis, with dissatisfaction rife amongst both researchers and animal advocates. Frequently in the context of these debates about animal research, greater transparency is proposed as a remedy. This paper will examine some of the common criticisms levelled against AECs, and show that these criticisms generally fall into one of two categories - either they relate to structural failings within the system of AECs or they relate to the way committees function within particular institutions. The idea of transparency as a mechanism to address these shortcomings will then be explored and it will be argued that in and of itself transparency can achieve little, rather what is required to improve animal research in Australia is fundamental systemic change.