Research ethics

Before commencing a research project at Western Health, researchers require both ethics approval and governance authorisation. 

All research involving people and their data must be conducted ethically, responsibly and in accordance with national guidelines and legislation. 

The Office for Research supports researchers in meeting the highest ethical standards. We do this by providing guidance on applying for ethics approval, ensuring compliance with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (NHMRC), and managing ongoing ethical obligations throughout the research lifecycle. 

Determining your ethics review pathway 

All research projects must be submitted for ethics review and be approved before they can begin.  

Before submitting a new project, you’ll need to determine the level of risk and which criteria your project will fall under. 

To find out which pathway is right for you and your project, visit our Ethics Review Pathways page.  

Submitting a new ethics application 

The process for submitting an ethics application for review depends on which of the below categories your project falls under. Click on each link to find out more.  

• Quality assurance, clinical audit and minimal risk projects
• Low risk research projects
• Higher risk research projects

Making amendments post-approval 

Once a research project has received ethics approval, any changes to the approved protocol, documents, investigators or study procedures must be submitted as an ethics amendment for review and approval before implementation. 

Learn more by visiting our Amendments to Approved Research Projects page.

Reporting requirements for research projects 

All research projects which have received ethics approval and Site-Specific Assessment (SSA) authorisation are subject to ongoing monitoring and reporting obligations to ensure compliance with national guidelines.  

Find out about your responsibilities and how to submit relevant reports on our Research Reporting page.

Related resources 

• Determining ethics review pathway
• Quality assurance, clinical audit and minimal risk projects
• Low risk research projects
• Higher risk research projects
• Amendments to approved research projects
• Research reporting requirements