Research undertaken by staff and students (postgraduate and undergraduate) that is considered to have minimal or higher ethical impact must receive approval from either the Human Research Ethics Advisory Panel (HREA) or the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC).
Researchers who consider that their project has at least minimal ethical impact should apply to one of these bodies for approval. The HREA Panel can consider all projects that have minimal ethical impact including those that are funded by outside bodies such as the Australian Research Committee. Projects that have higher than minimal ethical impact must be submitted to the HREC. Projects which have minimal ethical impact and are funded by the Australian School of Business (Special Research Grants etc) should be submitted to the Panel.
Application submission and meeting dates
All submissions should be emailed to Patricia Blunt by 5:00pm on the submission deadline. Applications received after the deadline will be deferred to the subsequent meeting.
Meetings are held in Room 3054 Quad and start at 10am.
Applicants
All applications must be reviewed and signed by your HREA representative. The representative must sign and date the checklist section of your application. In the event your school does not have a representative on the HREA committee, your application must be reviewed by the chair of the committee.
In extenuating circumstances (eg. time constraints on external research funds) an application may be fast tracked by the HREA Panel prior to the scheduled meeting. In such circumstances the applicant must provide supportable documents and/or reasons for unscheduled consideration.
Honours students
All applications must be reviewed by a supervisor and the school's ethics panel member before it is submitted. Honours students are able to submit an application at any time.
Your application should be 1 PDF file only containing your application form and all supporting documentation. If you submit multiple attachments they will be returned to you and your application will be dealt with at the next monthly meeting.
Session 1, 2013
| Application submission deadline |
Panel meetings (Thursdays) |
| 7 February |
14 February |
| 18 March |
28 March |
| 15 April |
24 April (Wednesday) |
| 27 May |
6 June |
| 8 July |
18 July |
Session 2, 2013
| Application submission deadline |
Panel meetings |
| 12 August |
15 August |
| 9 September |
19 September |
| 4 October |
17 October |
| 1 November |
14 November |
| 5 December |
12 December |
Applications for ethics clearance
- Download and complete a Human Research Ethics Application form (word) and an Ethics Consent form (word).
- Submit the two forms to your HREA representative for review and approval signature
- Combine the application form, the consent form plus any other supporting documentation into a single Adobe PDF file
Note: if you submit multiple attachments they will be returned to you and your application will be dealt with at the next monthly meeting
- Email your signed application to Patricia Blunt.
Further information
Further information can be obtained from the UNSW Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) including the templates and proformas.
If you have a query regarding the HREA panel (Business) please contact Professor Gary Monroe or the UNSW Ethics Secretariat.