"Consultant to Australian Department of Health & Ageing to provide a Scoping study on the development of a register of Australian laboratories holding high risk pathogens"

Stimulated by concerns about the potential use of pathogenic organisms by terrorists, control of laboratory incidents and the potential spread of pathogenic organisms into the community, this project was commissioned to investigate the introduction of registration of laboratories in Australia and provide recommendations accordingly.

To assist with this project we held workshops for stakeholders in each state to gather information on attitudes toward registers in place overseas and encourage stakeholders to see the need for a coordinated approach to an Australian Register through the use of case studies. Over 200 stakeholders were consulted in this Australia-wide study.

We were then able to report back to our client on the most efficient, effective and acceptable model to staekholders for developing a register of laboratories and their holdings, and provide our client with a comprehensive plan for managing high risk pathogens in Australia.

In order to further assist in this project, we established an Advisory Group whose role it was to provide advice to the client and us on the directions and outcomes of this project. The Advisory Group Committee comprised representatives from the following groups:

• Department of Health & Ageing
• Department Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry
• Attorney-General's Department
• Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
• Office of the Gene Technology Regulator
• Public Health Laboratory Network
• Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia
• Australian Society for Microbiology
• National Association of Testing Authorities
• Deputy Vice-Chancellor's Committee

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