Ethics approval

Research that requires ethics approval cannot commence without the approval of the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC).

HREC is a Standing Committee of Council of the University. It has the responsibility, on behalf of the University, to consider projects which involve humans as subjects of research (for example, in interviews) to assess whether those projects satisfy generally accepted ethical standards and codes in terms of safeguards for the well-being of the subjects of the research.

Ethics approval should not be considered as a bureaucratic obstacle; it is a mechanism for ensuring and demonstrating that the design of your research respects the rights of those who are the subjects of the research.

Supervisors and postgraduate students will be expected at the outset of a research project to notify the Postgraduate Coordinator when:

• interviews are expected to constitute a substantial component of the research on which a thesis will be written, or
• the researcher may expect to handle confidential or sensitive material, or
• the researcher may face a possible conflict of interest because of privileged access to data.

Guidelines and application forms can be downloaded from http://www.research.unimelb.edu.au/humanethics/

Ethics approval should be applied for as early as possible, as the HREC can take several months to process applications. A decision on whether you require Ethics approval should be made at the time of your Induction Review (2 months EFT) and the process should be completed by the time of your first major review (Confirmation in the case of PhD, and First Progress Review in the case of Masters).

Australian Centre Department Human Ethics Advisory Group (DHEAG)

The Australian Centre has its own Department Human Ethics Advisory Group (DHEAG). The primary functions of a Department Human Ethics Advisory Group are to provide preliminary assessment, on behalf of the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) and its Human Ethics Sub-Committees (HESC), of human research projects submitted by staff and students in the department, and to advise the HREC and its Sub-Committees on issues pertaining to human research ethics in the department.

2006 Australian Centre DHEAG meeting dates:
Thursday 16 February
Thursday 18 May
Thursday 19 October

Applications to the DHEAG must be received at least 10 days prior to the meeting. This is to ensure that the Group has enough time to evaluate your application.

All individual research projects that involve human subjects (for example, interviews) and that pose low or minimal risks require use of the Expedited Review application form and the Expedited Review checklist. These can be downloaded from
http://www.research.unimelb.edu.au/humanethics/processes/applicform/

Please make sure to discuss your application with your supervisor or a member of the DHEAG before submitting it for ethics approval. Current members of the DHEAG are: A/Prof Nikos Papastergiadis (Chair), Dr Richard Trembath, A/Prof John Murphy and Dr Sara Wills.

For further information regarding submitting applications for ethics approval to the Australian Centre DHEAG, please contact Caroline Hamilton on hamc@unimelb.edu.au

For more information on the roles and responsibilities of the DHEAG, please go to http://www.research.unimelb.edu.au/humanethics/policy/committees/dheags/