Ethics

Submit a completed Peer Review Proforma. This is the required format for documentation of the reviewer’s comments on the protocol and contains all the required elements for the review. Peer review of a project should be undertaken after the scientific protocol has been developed and must always occur before the application is submitted for HREC approval.

• The investigators must allow sufficient time to find a reviewer, allow the reviewer to conduct the peer review, and to address the reviewer’s comments adequately, prior to submission to the HREC.

For more information about this new process please refer to the Peer Review Process document.

Contact the Office for Research to obtain a Local HREC Project Number (example - 2018.001).

The Local HREC Project Number must appear in the top right-hand corner of all hard copies of each component of your application.

Complete the Ethics Checklist.

The Coordinating Principal Investigator (multi-site projects) or the Principal Investigator (single-site project) should complete the Ethics Checklist when preparing the ethics application.

For all research projects with a site in Victoria, the Victorian Specific Module (VSM) is mandatory. Complete the Victorian Specific Module.

For projects with a site(s) in NSW, also complete the NSW Department of Health Privacy Form.

For projects with a site(s) in WA, also complete the Western Australian Specific Module (WASM).

Complete a Participant Information and Consent Form (PICF) if the study involves participants from whom you are obtaining consent.

Note that PICFs must be submitted electronically in MSWord format - not PDF.

Different templates are available on the Department of Health website. Use the template(s) that are appropriate for the type of research you are conducting.

Download a guide for writing PICFs.

Contact details for the PICFs:

Where Melbourne Health is the reviewing HREC

Reviewing HREC approving this research and HREC Executive Officer details

For Melbourne Health site complaints

Complaints contact person

Where radiation (including pre-MRI safety screening examinations) is not additional to standard care

For Melbourne Health sites: If radiation exposure (including pre-MRI safety screening examinations) in a research project is not additional to standard clinical management/care, an independent assessment report by the Royal Melbourne Hospital Medical Physicist must be included in the ethics application.

For non-Melbourne Health sites: If radiation exposure (including pre-MRI safety screening examinations) in a research project is not additional to standard clinical management/care at the site, the site Principal Investigator must provide a confirmation letter. The letter should be based on the template - available on the Department of Health Clinical Trials and Research website - and must be included in the ethics application submitted to the reviewing HREC.

Where radiation (including pre-MRI safety screening examinations) is additional to standard care

If radiation exposure (including pre-MRI safety screening examinations) in a research project is additional to standard clinical management/care, an independent assessment report by a Medical Physicist must be included in the ethics application (one report for each applicable site).

Special Consideration

Where the procedures in which exposure to ionising radiation are considered to be additional to standard care at some sites and standard care at other sites and/or the exposure dose is markedly different from site to site, the Coordinating Principal Investigator must investigate this difference with the respective site Principal Investigators and complete and submit the “Ionising Radiation Variation Form part A”. The Coordinating Principal Investigator must provide the reason for the variation and his/her opinion as to whether the differences are reasonable and acceptable.

Where the Research Protocol allows the Principal Investigator at each site to choose the modality of the investigations eg: CT scan or MRI; Echocardiogram or MUGA, CT scan or plain X-ray, the Coordinating Principal Investigator must complete the “Ionising Radiation Variation form Part B” for all sites where the ionising radiation modality is the chosen procedure and provide the rationale for this decision and his/her opinion as to whether this is reasonable and acceptable.

More information

Find out more about ethical review of research projects involving ionising radiation.

Submit the signed, original application by the 11am deadline day. No extra copies are required. Find our more about HREC submission dates and deadlines.

• submit the original documents complete with CPI/PI authorisation via one of these three options:
  • HREA digital authorisation function via ERM; or

  • scanned copies of the original wet ink signatures; or

  • an email from CPI/PI authorising the submission (must reference the project number in the email)

Submit the original application to:

Manager, Human Research Ethics Committee
Office for Research
Level 2 South West, 300 Grattan Street
PARKVILLE VIC 3050

Complete an application for Research Governance where Melbourne Health is a participating site.

Note: Research governance applications for projects reviewed by the MH HREC MUST BE submitted within 12 months of obtaining ethical approval. Where research governance applications have not been received in this time frame the ethical approval will be withdrawn.

It is strongly recommended that governance applications are submitted together with the ethics application on the HREC submission deadline day. This will ensure faster approval and earlier commencement of your project by allowing the Office for Research to review everyone’s project in the most efficient manner possible.

Concurrent submission of ethics and governance applications is strongly recommended where MH is providing ethical review and is also a participating site. ERM (effective 16 July 2018), the new online platform for ethics and governance applications, will allow ethics and governance applications to be generated and submitted concurrently. Governance applications for MH as a site where ethical review is undertaken by another HREC can be submitted at any time.

For investigators submitting SSA applications in states other than Victoria and Queensland

Instructions for investigators on how to create an SSA form for jurisdictions that do not use ERM can be found under the heading NMA Research Governance/Site Specific Assessment (SSA) Application on the DHHS website at: https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/about/clinical-trials-and-research/clinical-trial-research/national-mutual-acceptance.