The objective of the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) at Victoria University is to protect the health and safety of members of the Australian community and the Australian environment by identifying risks posed by, or as a result of, work within the University with agents that are potential biosafety and biosecurity concerns, and to manage those risks by regulating "dealings" and certifying facilities.
Terms of Reference
The IBC is guided by its Terms of Reference.
IBC Membership & Duty Statements
The IBC operates within the principles, rules and membership requirements of the Gene Technology Act. In 2014, the role of the IBC was expanded to include the review, monitoring and assessment of all biological material that may be of biosafety or biosecurity concern. In addition to the Chair, the IBC at VU is made up of five main categories (A-E).
The core membership categories are as follows:
- Category A, External Member: must not be employed by the University and must be assessed to be independent of the University.
- Category B, Biosafety Expert: is a biosafety or occupational health and safety professional who is an expert in biosafety practices and legislative and regulatory compliance.
- Category C, Biocontainment Facilities Expert: is an engineer (or equivalent) with expertise in testing biological safety facilities and equipment.
- Category D, Scientific Experts: are Gene Technologist, Microbiologist, Virologist, and/or Animal Researchers with technical and scientific expertise who can assess the risks and hazards associated with “dealings”.
- Category E, Non-voting Members: The IBC may also consist of non-voting members whose skills are considered to enhance the capacity of the IBC to undertake its work. Please refer to the Biosafety Intranet site (LDAP login required off-campus) for a copy of the Duty statements.
Committee meeting & submission dates
Take note of the Committee dates, locations and closing of submissions for the agenda.
- Agenda closes Tuesday 7 March for the meeting on Wednesday 28 March 2018 at Werribee Campus
- Agenda closes Tuesday 16 May for the meeting on Wednesday 6 June 2018 at Western Hospital, CHRE
- Agenda closes Tuesday 19 September for meeting on Wednesday 10 October 2018 at Werribee Campus
- Agenda closes Tuesday 21 November for meeting on Wednesday 12 December 2018 at Footscray Park Campus.
To ensure your Institutional Biosafety application is reviewed by the Committee, it is essential that these agenda closure dates are strictly observed.
Applications to be pre-reviewed must be forwarded to the Biosafety Manager 10 working days prior to the cut-off date for the relevant meeting.
Due to the tight timeline, documents received at the Office for Research after 5pm on the agenda closure date will be held over until the following meeting.
Submission of Annual Progress Report/Final Report
For all ongoing projects that have been approved by the Institutional Biosafety Committee, investigators must complete:
- Annual Progress reports during the life of the project
- and a Final report is to be completed on completion of the project.
- Applications for storage of GMOs must be made before expiry of the current IBC project approval.
Annual Reports for all IBC Projects are due to be submitted to ibc@vu.edu.au by close of business, Thursday 12 December 2018.
Institutional biosafety committee dates and times for 2018 summary document.
Contact us
Biosafety Manager | +61 3 9919 4199
Email: ibc@vu.edu.au
