Key dates

The following dates and submission deadlines apply to the Barwon Health Human Research Ethics Committee meetings held throughout 2025/26.

Submission Close Date	Meeting Date
2026 dates
28 January	11 February
*4 March	*18 March
*1 April	*15 April
29 April	13 May
*20 May	*3 June
24 June	8 July
29 July	12 August
26 August	9 September
30 September	14 October
28 October	11 November
25 November	9 December

*Note changed submission and meeting dates due to public holidays

Review Process

All research applications and monitoring documents will undergo some form of review, either in office by the Research Development Unit (RDU), or by the full HREC, as per the below:

• Minimal risk, quality assurance (QA), audit and minor amendment applications are reviewed out of session by the RDU and ratified by the HREC. These reviews are conducted on a rolling basis, therefore documents can be submitted at any time through ERM.
• Low and high risk applications, major amendments, safety items, and progress/final reports are reviewed by the full HREC. These items should be submitted as per the timeframes in the above table for review by the HREC.
• Please note that high risk projects and student projects are subject to Peer Review. Please see the RDU website for pro forma and application guidelines.

For further information about research applications and committee processes, please refer to the following webpages – ‘How to prepare an application’ and ‘About HREC’.

Following ethics approval, the Principal Investigator must complete an annual progress report (due August 1^st each year) for HREC approval to remain in place. Any modifications to the project post approval are to be lodged through the amendment request processes for review by the RDU or HREC. Failure to comply with these regulations will result in suspension of ethics approval.

Please contact the RDU with any queries via email: RDU@barwonhealth.org.au. To save this information as a PDF click here.

Research Management Committee meetings are held every Wednesday at 2pm.

Principal Investigators (PIs) may be invited to attend the meeting to discuss their project and answer any queries that arise. The RMC encourages PIs to discuss complex projects with RMC early in development. If you would like to attend an RMC meeting for an early discussion of your project, please contact Nicola Cooley on nicola.cooley@barwonhealth.org.au.

Expected timeframes for commercially sponsored trials:

• Receive Research Governance Officer (RGO) review within 7 working days of submission
• Once RGO deems submission complete and satisfactory, project is sent to the next RMC meeting
• RMC feedback is sent to researchers by the Friday/Monday following each meeting

Expected timeframes for non-commercially sponsored trials:

• Receive RGO review within 14 working days of submission
• Once RGO deems submission complete and satisfactory, project is sent to the next RMC meeting
• RMC feedback is sent to researchers by the Friday/Monday following each meeting

Delays in answering RGO or RMC queries will result in an extended timeframe.

The Coordinating Office for Clinical Trial Research offers online ERM training for applicants, sponsors and CROs throughout the year.

The schedule for ERM training is distributed through the Coordinating Office’s Streamline eBulletin which outlines upcoming training sessions and information on how to register. Training occurs on either a Tuesday or Thursday each week from 2-4pm via Microsoft Teams. There are three training sessions:

• Introduction to ERM
• SSA Applications
• Post Approvals/Post Authorisations

To be added to the distribution list for the eBulletin, please email multisite.ethics@health.vic.gov.au, or click here to view the most recent eBulletin.

You may also find the answers to your ERM questions here.

Commencing in 2024, progress reports for all research projects are now due 1 August each year

This applies to all studies reviewed by the Barwon Health HREC and those reviewed by external HRECs with Barwon Health governance authorisation.

Progress reports for all projects are now due on 1 August each year, as opposed to the anniversary of project approval. Reports should encompass the time period from the last progress report submitted.

In addition, the annual progress report template has changed to a REDCap survey that is easier for Investigators to complete and collects data that is more relevant to Barwon Health’s requirements. Investigators no longer need to submit a progress report via ERM. Find out more here.