General Enquiries
ABR has two email addresses for general enquiries, each of which will be sent to multiple employees. This allows us to ensure that emails do not go unanswered when staff are on leave. Please use orders@abr.org.au for enquiries about ordering animals from our Sale Strains. For enquiries about services or other aspects of ABR’s operation, please use enquiries@abr.org.au
For telephone enquiries please call (02) 9295 8565. This is the main switchboard number from which your call can be redirected accordingly. Please note that our office hours are 8am to 4pm Eastern Standard Time, however, you can leave a message when calling outside of these times.
Research Colonies
For routine colony management procedures please use the Lines tab in Stuart Web. This is for instructions that don’t change often and apply for the whole colony. This function generates a set of Line Instructions that our Animal Technicians can access through Stuart or on the printed rack sheets within the animal holdings. When changes are made to the Lines section a prompt is sent to our technicians to re-print the sheets.
For specific instructions about particular animals use the Communications platform in Stuart Web. More complex arrangements for managing colonies should also be communicated through this platform. Please ensure that you have enabled the email notifications function by using the Manage Email Notifications button. You will receive an email with a link directly to the communication when an ABR animal technician initiates or replies to a communication. These communications are often time-sensitive questions regarding animals in your colony. Your prompt attention to Communications is appreciated.
It is preferable that email communications between researchers and animal technicians are kept to a minimum. Email is personalised, whereas Stuart Communications and Line Instructions can be viewed by any animal technician working in the holdings. This is particularly important in cases where our animal technicians are on annual leave or absent through illness. Whilst we aim to provide consistency in the senior technicians looking after research colonies, we do rotate staff through the bio bubbles for training purposes.
Complaints Procedure
As part of the NATA Accreditation process ABR has established a Complaints and Non-Conformance Register. This is a valuable tool for tracking errors and allows us to identify if Standard Operating Procedures require modification or further training is needed for ABR staff. Following is an overview of this process.
1. Raising an issue.
For Animal Orders please email orders@abr.org.au
For Services or billing please email enquiries@abr.org.au
Please include all relevant details such as:
- Order Number
- Animal IDs (if relevant)
- Key Dates/Milestones
- The nature of the issue (eg, missing, sick, or deceased animals, delay in imports, validation reports)
- Photos (if relevant)
- Any communications with staff members relevant to the issue
2. Once this issue has been received ABR will reply with an acknowledgement of receipt and an approximate time frame for resolving the issue.
3. ABR will raise a ticket in our tracking system and a staff member assigned to investigate. Screenshots of all emails are saved in the issue and comments can be added as required throughout the investigation.
4. The assigned staff member will investigate how the issue has arisen and record all details in the ticket.
5. The resolution of the issue will be reported back to you and a refund provided (if applicable).
6. Further actions such as training or modification of Standard Operating Procedures will be reported to relevant staff and acted upon accordingly.
