Research Ethics and Governance

Townsville HHS is committed to the highest standards of research integrity. The processes to ensure that research in Townsville HHS is conducted according to the appropriate regulatory, ethical and scientific standards involves a two-step process:

1. Ethics approval from a Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC)

• A HREC reviews research proposals to ensure that they are ethically acceptable and in accordance with relevant standards and guidelines e.g. National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research
• If conducting a single centre research project only within THHS you must submit your study to the Townsville HHS HREC for review and approval
• If conducting a multi-centre research project your study can be submitted to a HREC which is NHMRC certified to review and approve multi-centre research studies and accepted under the national Mutual Acceptance Scheme

The Townsville HHS Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) is certified by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to review and approve multi-centre research under the national approach.

2. Site authorisation at each facility you are intending to do the research

• Review for site authorisation (commonly termed Research Governance review) is undertaken through a Site Specific Assessment (SSA) process.
• This assessment reviews the:
  • Appropriateness of the research project in terms of the research goals of the Townsville HHS, Townsville HHS strategic plan and Townsville HHS Research Strategy
  • The resource (financial, human, equipment, infrastructure) implications for the HHS and whether these resources are considered to be appropriate, accountable and available
  • The expertise and experience of researchers at the site
  • The compliance with relevant laws, policies and codes of conduct relating to matters such as privacy, confidentiality, consent, bio-safety, professional standards, contracts, intellectual property and radiation safety

All HREC and SSA applications must be submitted on the ERM platform

It is recommended that HREC and SSA applications are submitted concurrently. This has shown to decrease the start-up times for commencement of a research project

Contact Us

HREC

HREC Coordinator
Name: Kelly Parker
Phone: (07) 4433 1440
Email: Send Email

HREC Chairperson
Name: Dr Hudson Birden
Phone: (07) 4433 1440
Email: Send Email

Research Governance

Research Governance Administrator
Name: Leanne Griffiths
Phone: (07) 4433 1351
Email: Send Email

Research Governance Officer
Name: Sara Potts
Phone: (07) 4433 1358
Email: Send Email