All institutions involved in research must meet high ethical standards and must comply with national and international laws and guidelines that are in place to protect research participants, and to ensure good research conduct and appropriate research oversight and governance.

The key document that guides and supports the ethical conduct of research in Australia is the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2023. The Barwon Health Human Research Ethics Committee (BH HREC), with the support of the RDU, is responsible for the oversight and monitoring of research proposals involving human participants, to ensure that all research activities under the auspices of Barwon Health meet high ethical standards, in accordance with relevant guidelines including The National Statement.

The following meeting and submission deadlines apply for the Barwon Health Human Ethics Committee.

NB: There is no deadline for negligible risk/ QA applications, site-specific assessment applications and amendments.

The HREC’s feedback from the meeting will be sent on the Friday following each meeting.

Submission Close Date

Final Wednesday of the previous month*

 Meeting Date

Second Wednesday of the month*
2025 Dates
29 January 12 February
19  February* 5 March*
26 March 9 April
30 April 14 May
21 May* 4 June*
25 June 9 July
30 July 13 August
27 August 10 September
24 September 8 October
29 October 12 November
26 November 10 December

*Note earlier submission and meeting date due to public holiday

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’.

 

Following ethics approval, the Principal Investigator must complete an annual progress report (due August 1st 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.

Click below to download the HREC Terms of Reference via PROMPT

Click below to download the HREC member list, operating procedures, conflict of interest guidelines and KPIs:

The Barwon Health Human Research Ethics Committee is made up of members from diverse backgrounds including researchers, consumers and members of the community, as set out in the National Statement.

Staff, external researchers and community members are welcome to enquire about current vacancies on the BH HREC.

The committee is seeking expressions of interest from registered psychologists and geriatricians to join the committee.

The Royal Commissions into mental healthcare and aged care in Australia have resulted in increased research activities in mental health and aged care research. Psychologists and geriatricians are required to meet this demand.

For further information and to express interest, please contact Richard Larsen, HREC Executive Officer, on Richard.Larsen@barwonhealth.org.au or Dr Giuliana Fuscaldo, HREC Chair, on Giuliana.Fuscaldo@monash.edu.

Page last updated: November 26, 2024