During consultations on the Gene Technology Act 2000 (the Act), stakeholders expressed a range of views about the proposed ethics committee. Stakeholders felt that:

• the consideration of ethical issues must be quite separate from the Gene Technology Regulator's (the Regulator) consideration of scientific and technical issues;
• a properly constituted ethics committee should provide expert advice direct to the Gene Technology Ministerial Council (GTMC) and should also develop ethical guidelines to underpin the new scheme;
• the committee should develop ethical guidelines only after comprehensive community consultation (including consultation with the community committee), and those guidelines should then be observed by all people undertaking, or proposing to undertake, work with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically modified products (GM products); and
• there should be cross-membership between all of the committees.

Therefore a new and separate ethics committee was established under the Act. According to the Act the function of GTEC is to provide advice to the Regulator and GTMC on the following:

• ethical issues relating to gene technology;
• the need for, and content of, codes of practice in relation to ethics in respect of conducting dealings with GMOs; and
• the need for, and content of, policy principles in relation to dealings with GMOs that should not be conducted for ethical reasons.

GTEC comprises 12 members with expertise in matters such as ethics and the environment, health ethics, applied ethics, law, religious practices, and animal health and welfare. The committee also has cross-membership with the Gene Technology Technical Advisory Committee, the Gene Technology Community Consultative Committee and the Australian Health Ethics Committee.

In addition to its 12 members, GTEC includes an expert adviser. All members of GTEC, including the expert adviser, were appointed by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP.

GTEC members are subject to strict disclosure of interest provisions, in the same way as the members of the other committees. The Gene Technology Regulations 2001 (the Regulations) also describe the way in which matters are resolved by the Committee, reporting requirements and procedures for convening meetings of the Committee.

• National Framework for the Development of Ethical Principles in Gene Technology
• Revised Consultation Draft National Framework for the Development of Ethical Principles in Gene Technology - prepared by the Gene Technology Ethics Committee - posted 8 February 2006
• Submission on the Review of the Gene Technology Act 2000
• Submission on the Draft Guidelines on Xenotransplantation Research
• Second Round Submission of the Draft Guidelines on Xenetransplantation Research
• Communique of GTEC Meeting 25 July 2006
• Communique of GTEC Meeting 30 March 2006
• Communique of GTEC Meeting 15 November 2005
• Communique of GTEC Meeting 7 June 2005
• Communique of GTEC Meeting 3 March 2005
• Communique of GTEC Meeting 19 - 20 July 2004
• Communique of GTEC Meeting 25 - 26 March 2004
• Communique of GTEC Meeting 10 - 11 November 2003
• Communique of GTEC Meeting 9 - 10 April 2003
• Communique of GTEC Meeting 23 - 24 October 2002
• Communique of GTEC Meeting 15 - 16 May 2002
• Communique of GTEC Meeting 12 - 13 December 2001