A single-entity, not-for-profit organisation incorporated under the Australian Corporations Act, ABSANZ is governed by the Board of Directors.

ABSANZ is a public company, limited by guarantee and registered in Australia.  

 

The Key Objectives are to:

  1. Build expertise within the biosafety community through local and global collaboration
  2. Seek consistency across the regulatory environment through understanding the goals and challenges of the sector
  3. Deliver high-quality educational tools
  4. Provide networking opportunities
  5. Disseminate information and advocate on behalf of members and the community

History

At the 2007 Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian Society for Microbiology, a draft terms of reference which sought to bring together and share knowledge about biosafety and biosecurity within the scientific community was endorsed. 

With the goal of strengthening biosafety and biosecurity related connections, collaborations, and knowledge within Australia and New Zealand, the draft aimed to develop a platform for scientists, researchers, and academics, as well as the engineers and architects who build the infrastructure to support them, to collaborate with regulators and to collectively work more closely together.

The subsequent networking, cooperation, and awareness would be of enormous benefit to the entire community with respect to biosafety, biorisk management, and biological containment.

This proposal came to fruition on 23 November 2010, when the Association of Biosafety for Australia & New Zealand (ABSANZ) was registered with the Australia Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC).