Beyond the barbed wire: Secret baboon facility under scrutiny
Secured by padlocks, wire fencing, barbed wire and a guard dog, it’s the secret government compound authorities would rather you not know about.
“I’d like you to move on from here,” says a nameless woman who makes a point of parking her car between the A Current Affair camera crew and the main gate.
A baboon inside the facility in Wallacia. A Current Affair
Welcome to the National Baboon Colony facility in Wallacia, Western Sydney.
It’s home to a 160-strong troop bred solely for medical research.
While baboons have contributed to medical breakthroughs, the practice faces calls to be phased out and replaced by new approach methodologies.
"You can make predictions then about what will happen in real human cells in places like the heart, the liver, the brain, when they're exposed to foreign compounds and that's much more accurate than trying to make predictions from doing similar things to baboons," veterinary professor of animal welfare Dr Andrew Knight told A Current Affair.
The US, Europe and China are injecting hundreds of millions of dollars into non-animal models.
NSW Health announced a $4.5 million funding package for this purpose but it declined to make anyone available for an interview.
Our inquiries led to Bella Lear, CEO of Understanding Animal Research Oceania, a Melbourne-based unofficial spokesperson for the governments and organisations that fund her office.
"If you're studying movement disorders, things like stroke, how the body repairs itself, how you can get function back into limbs after they've been damaged, this is information that you can only really learn by studying it in primates," Lear said.
While debate rages about whether medical research involving baboons is outdated, concern exists for the primates’ welfare at the secret colony facility in Western Sydney.
NSW Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst has provided ACA with thousands of sensitive government documents.
They include the causes of death of 24 baboons at the facility between 2021 and 2025.
The facility is secured by padlocks, wire fencing, barbed wire and a guard dog. A Current Affair
“So we saw a case of a baboon, Shakira, who was killed simply because she had a rash on her face,” Hurst said.
“We saw a baboon named Klaus who was killed because he had skin conditions and another baboon, Odette, that was killed simply because she seemed to have gas and bloating.”
Animal cruelty concerns are echoed by a former animal technician who worked at the facility.
"Concrete buildings, concrete floors and mesh cages. It looks like a jail," she said.
The woman claims the baboons often suffer with anaesthesia, surgeries and drug lines that leave them in pain and depressed.
"They would get sort of panicky and stressy," she said.
“We had animals attacking each other and not coping with some being taken or reintroduced into groups as well.”
In a statement NSW Health said the colony plays an essential role in advancing lifesaving medical research and is cared for with respect and compassion.
Watch the video in the player above.
Full statement from Sydney Local Health District
The Australian National Baboon Colony (ANBC) plays an essential role in advancing lifesaving medical research.
The animals are cared for with respect and compassion by dedicated veterinary professionals, and their wellbeing is our highest priority.
Research at the ANBC focuses on areas identified by the Australian Government as National Health Priority Areas.
The colony has contributed to critical advances, including improving understanding of preeclampsia and toxaemia in pregnancy - leading causes of maternal and newborn mortality.
The ANBC has also supported research into novel insulin delivery for diabetes and the neurological impacts of the disease.
Findings from the colony are widely valued by the medical and scientific community, cited nationally and internationally, and have also informed veterinary knowledge of nonhuman primate (NHP) health.
All research meets rigorous ethical and regulatory requirements, ensuring high standards of care and accountability.
NHP research in Australia operates under a national and state framework centred on the NHMRC’s Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes and the Principles and Guidelines for the Care and Use of Non-Human Primates for Scientific Purposes.
All NHP research is independently reviewed and approved by Animal Ethics Committees, which ensure it is justified, no alternatives exist, animal numbers are minimised, and impacts are reduced.
Maintaining the colony in Australia ensures this valuable research is conducted under strict animal welfare laws, strong ethical oversight, and high standards of care, within a well-established regulatory framework.
We recognise that animal research can raise concerns and are committed to transparency and ethical responsibility in pursuing medical advances that benefit millions of Australians.
In 2023-4, the NSW Government provided $4.5 million to support replacing and reducing animals in medical research.
This funding supported the establishment of the Non-Animal Technologies Network (NAT-Net) in 2024, which includes experts from 8-leading institutions, working to develop new non-animal technologies, connect infrastructure capabilities and regulatory frameworks.
The University of New South Wales are the administering institution for NAT-Net.
In July 2025, NAT-Net launched a competitive grant scheme, which will fund collaborative, NSW-led research projects that advance innovative non-animal technologies in medicine and health, with grant recipients expected to be announced in the coming months.
Non-animal technologies use novel techniques, including laboratory developed and engineered models.
Organoids, which are 3D mini-organs grown from human stem cells, are one example and are a promising tool in drug discovery.
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