If you wish to obtain biological resources from a Commonwealth area for the purpose of research and development on any genetic resources, or biochemical compounds, comprising or contained in the biological resources, you will need to obtain a permit under Part 8A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000.
If the location of your proposed research is not in a Commonwealth area, you should contact relevant State and Territory Authorities.
Permits for access to biological resources are available for either commercial/potentially commercial, or non-commercial purposes. Please see application form section.
For non-commercial activities, please see Permit applications for non-commercial purposes.
Please note that you will need to obtain written permission to enter a Commonwealth area to take samples. Additionally, depending on the type of research you are planning to do, you may need to obtain additional permits issued under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act or regulations. For information on other permits that may be required go to EPBC Act Permits and application forms.
Application forms
Application forms should be emailed to grm@environment.gov.au.
Download forms
- Permit application (DOC - 150 KB)
- Statutory Declaration form (DOC - 65.5 KB) (Permit applications for non-commercial purposes)
Permit assistance
Please contact Parks Australia for any further queries in relation to your application at grm@environment.gov.au, or on 02 6274 1489.
Permit requirements
- All permit holders are required to ‘offer for permanent loan a taxonomic duplicate of each sample [collected under the permit] to an Australian public institution which holds related collections’ (Section 8A.13 EPBC Regulations).
- The samples provide a way to share valuable biodiversity knowledge from research activities conducted in Commonwealth areas. Please see the guidelines below for further information.
- Guidelines for offering samples for holders of access to biological resources permits (PDF - 1 MB) | (DOCX - 29.38 KB)
- Permit reporting template (PDF - 162KB) | (DOCX - 374KB)