Ethics
The AH&MRC Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) operates as a fully constituted HREC under the National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) legislation.
The AH&MRC must also review all applications as greater than low-risk and approval is for all participants, not just Aboriginal participants.
A role of the AH&MRC Ethics Committee in considering applications for ethical approval for research projects and to ensure that the project represents the views and interests of Aboriginal people across New South Wales.
Why does AH&MRC have an Ethics Committee?
The AH&MRC Ethics Committee deals with not only ensuring that research is conducted in an ethical manner, but that research is also undertaken with Aboriginal people in a culturally appropriate manner. This means that there is community consultation at all levels and that the project is designed with the Aboriginal community.
Meetings
The Committee currently meets every six (6) weeks. An application must be received electronically on the Application Closing Date, failure to do so will result in your application being submitted to the next round.
The planned meeting dates are as follows:
| Meeting | Application Closing Date | Meeting Date |
|---|---|---|
| Final 2019 Meeting | 26th November 2019 | 10th December 2019 |
| 1 – 20 | 21st January 2020 | 11th February 2020 |
| 2 – 20 | 3rd March 2020 | 24th March 2020 |
| 3 – 20 | 14th April 2020 | 5th May 2020 |
| 4 – 20 | 26th May 2020 | 16th June 2020 |
| 5 – 20 | 7th July 2020 | 28th July 2020 |
| 6 – 20 | 18th August 2020 | 8th September 2020 |
| 7 – 20 | 29th September 2020 | 20th October 2020 |
| 8 – 20 | 10th November 2020 | 1st December 2020 |
Application process
Application process
Who should submit an application?
The Committee considers applications relating to research that may affect the health and well-being of Aboriginal people and communities.
The project should involve research in, or concerning, New South Wales. Where projects also involve research outside New South Wales, an ethics application must also be made to the relevant Aboriginal HREC(s) in the other states and territories.
An application should be made for research for which any one of the following applies:
- The experience of Aboriginal people is an explicit focus of all or part of the research;
- Data collection is explicitly directed at Aboriginal peoples;
- Aboriginal peoples, as a group, are to be examined in the results;
- The information has an impact on one or more Aboriginal communities;
- Aboriginal health funds are a source of funding.
The above criteria is endorsed by the NSW Ministry of Health Office of Health and Medical Research and can be found under the NSW Ministry of Health Policy Directive PD2010_055.
Desirable and Additional Criteria
The Committee advises an application should be made if your project meets any of the below criteria:
- Any of the five factors listed above are present; or
- The Aboriginal experience of the medical condition being studied is known, or is likely, to be different from the overall population; or
- There are Aboriginal people who use the services being studied in distinctive ways, or who have distinctive barriers that limit their access to the services; or
- Aboriginal people are known, or likely, to be significantly over-represented in the group being studied (compared to the 3.4% of total NSW population) and/or it is proposed to separately identify data relating to Aboriginal people at any stage in the project.
Templates and guidelines
The AH&MRC Ethics Committee Templates are used to support your application:
- AH&MRC Ethics Committee Application Cover Sheet
- AH&MRC Ethics Committee Model Consent Form – Individual Participant
- AH&MRC Ethics Committee Model Consent Form – Aboriginal Community Organisation
- AH&MRC Ethics Committee Amendment Request Form
- AH&MRC Annual Progress Report 2018
The AH&MRC Ethics Committee assess research proposals under the criteria in the following guidelines:
- National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research
- Ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities: Guidelines for researchers and stakeholders
- Keeping Research On Track
The AH&MRC Ethics Committee operates under the following Terms of Reference
The AH&MRC Guidelines for Research into Aboriginal Health Key Principles must be read before submitting an application.
What happens after you submit an application?
Following the closing date your application will be reviewed by two or more committee members (if required, an external reviewer) and then all reviews will be provided to the committee to be discussed at the upcoming meeting. An external reviewer will be chosen on the basis of their expertise and experience in the subject of research. The entire review and approval process can take 4 – 8+ weeks, however, this is dependent upon whether the applicant has provided the appropriate documentation and undertaken the appropriate measures to meet the criteria as required.
Please note that all efforts will be made to provide review feedback to the researchers as soon as possible. Some delays may occur and researchers will need to adjust their project timeframe accordingly.
Complaints
Complaints Handling Procedures
The AH&MRC Ethics Committee have established procedures for addressing complaints about ethical matters in current research in Aboriginal health. In general, this is meant to for research projects that have been approved by the Ethics Committee, but assistance may be provided for complaints relating to Aboriginal people or communities in general health research.
If you would like to submit a complaint regarding an AH&MRC Approved Application, please submit it below to ethics@ahmrc.org.au