On 18 February 2019, both houses [1] of Australia’s parliament finally passed the Industrial Chemicals Bill 2017[2], nineteen months after it was first introduced in June 2017. The Bill was mainly designed to establish a new regulatory scheme—AICIS (short for “Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme”) to replace the existing NICNAS scheme for the management on the introduction of industrial chemicals, but also encompasses provisions to prohibit reliance on animal testing data for supporting the introduction of chemicals intended solely for use as cosmetic ingredients.
Additionally, in collaboration with Humane Society International (HSI), Australia government has committed to putting in place 11 additional reinforcing measures [3] to ensure all cosmetic ingredients are included in the ban, together with providing funding to help develop alternatives to animal testing.
Although there is no explicit ban on the practice of testing cosmetics on animals, Australia’s latest moves bring certainty for the cosmetic industry that ingredient toxicological safety data derived from animal testing is no longer valid moving forward. Instead, results of alternatives to animal testing as proof of cosmetic safety or efficacy are encouraged.