Research & Research Study

The pages for the Ethics Review Committee (Human Research) are currently being revised and updated. Some of the information on this page is currently unavailable. There are detailed Guidelines available to assist you with completing each question of the ethics application form. These Guidelines can be found on our forms page.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have any inquiries please do not hesitate to contact the Secretary to the Committee on + 61 2 9850 7850 or Email: ethics.secretariat@vc.mq.edu.au. We thank you for your patience and look forward to providing you with a more informative and user friendly Web service in the near future.

It is the responsibility of each researcher to ensure that their research and teaching projects comply with all legislation, relevant external and internal guidelines and policies.

If you are in any doubt as to whether any of the following requirements applies to your work, please contact the Ethics Secretariat ethics.secretariat@vc.mq.edu.au.

• Legislation
• Guidelines
• Policies

Legislation

• World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki (5th revision)
• National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans - 1999 
• NHMRC's Human Research Ethics Handbook
• NHMRC Statement on Human Experimentation and Supplementary Notes - 1992
• The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
• Guidelines under Section 95 of the Privacy Act 1988 developed by the Australian Health Ethics Committee, accepted by the NHMRC and tabled in Parliament. 
• Guidelines under Section 95A of the Privacy Act 1988 endorsed by NHMRC and approved by the federal Privacy Commissioner on 19 December 2001.
• The Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 No. 133 (NSW)
• Child Protection legislation - This legislation introduced to NSW in July 2000 applies to all people working with people or individuals under 18 years of age (Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998 and Child Protection (Prohibited Employment) Act 1998).
• State Records New South Wales - applies to retention and disposal of research data. (Note that other considerations affecting retention of research data may need to be taken into account). Generally, the Committee requires that you securely store research data for a minimum of 5 years from the date of the most recent publication of the research. If the research is not published, research data should be securely stored for a minimum of 5 years from completion of the research.

Guidelines

• Values and ethics:
  Guidelines for ethical Conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research
• Bibliography of relevant materials to assist researchers preparing ethics protocols involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research
• Australia Council for the Arts Protocols for Producing Indigenous Australian Music
  (available for reference in the Research Office)
• Australia Council for the Arts Protocols for Producing Indigenous Australian Performing Arts
  (available for reference in the Research Office)
• Australia Council for the Arts Protocols for Producing Indigenous Australian Visual Arts and Craft
  (available for reference in the Research Office)
• Australia Council for the Arts Protocols for Producing Indigenous Australian New Media
  (available for reference in the Research Office)
• Online Research Guidelines
• Consent in Research Involving Child or Adolescent Participants
• Department of Education and Training - Guidelines for approving applications from external agencies to conduct research in NSW Government Schools
• Oral History Association of Australia 'Guidelines of Ethical Practice' (RTF)
• Oral History Association of Australia Model 'Conditions of Use' Forms (RTF)

  The Committee recommends you read the above Oral History Association of Australia guidelines if you will be conducting oral histories.

  Note that the Oral History Association of Australia advises that in relation to the various Conditions of Use forms, it is sometimes appropriate for researchers to add the following statement for participants to sign:

  'During my lifetime all requests for permission to publish or broadcast from this interview (or these tapes) should be referred to me.'

  This is usually offered if people are anxious about who will be quoting from their interview.

• Burnside's Research Code of Ethics (RTF)
  Uniting Care Burnside has set a new research benchmark for Australian welfare organisations with the release of its own set of research guidelines to protect the interests of its clients. Burnside's Research Code of Ethics is available for researchers wishing to conduct research with vulnerable children. Contact Burnside's Social Justice and Research program on (02) 9768 6866.