Office for Research news

Posted: 19 November 2025

Office Closure 19 December 2025 – 9 January 2025 (inclusive)

The Office for Research will be closed from COB Friday 19th December to Friday the 9th of January 2026 (inclusive). During this time, the Office will not be accepting submissions.For projects sponsored by Melbourne Health the Research Safety inbox will remain monitored. Similarly, during the shutdown period, any urgent matters can be emailed through to the Research Safety inbox to ensure your matter is reviewed, directed accordingly, and actioned in a timely manner.

Closing dates for submissions:

• Deadline for December RMH HREC meeting: Wednesday, 26th November
• New SSA (Governance) applications: Wednesday, 26th November
• New Quality Assurance applications: Wednesday, 26th November
• New Amendments: Wednesday, 26th November
• New MH Sponsor requests: Friday, 12th December
• SSA Priority Reviews: Not accepted in December 2025.
• Expedited Amendments: Not accepted in December 2025.

All submissions lodged after these dates will have a receipt date of 12 January 2026. Submissions will be addressed in order of receipt.

Due to the high volume of submissions received in the lead up to office closure, the Office for Research will not be able to guarantee approvals by Friday 19th December. If you have an urgent submission, contact us at research@mh.org.au to discuss with one of our team who will assist.

Note that the first HREC submission deadline for 2026 will be Wednesday, 28th January for a February meeting date. The Ethics Office HeadStart pre-review service will recommence in February 2026. This will be provided as a fee for service with the first deadline Wednesday, 11th February 2026. If you are interested in booking your project in for HeadStart, please contact the Office for the fee structure.

Posted: 18 January 2023

Progress and final reports 

Reports for all active projects are due 31 March each year

The Office for Research is streamlining the timeframes for submitting annual progress reports by implementing the same annual due date for all projects. Progress reports will no longer be due by the anniversary of HREC approval.