Human Research Ethics

This site provides information on applying to Human Research Ethics Committees at the Victorian Department of Health and elsewhere.

Research may be conducted at one (single-site) or more sites (multi-site). As part of a national approach to streamline ethical review the process for ethical review of multi-site studies will change. In Victoria, a project to implement a centralised system for ethical review is being progressed. Pending establishment of the centralised ethical review system, single-site ethical review will remain the same and will occur at respective institutions which have a Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC), including the Department of Health.

For information about applying to the Department of Health Human Research Ethics Committee, see DH HREC.

The following definitions are for your guidance when deciding how to apply for Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) review of a research project.

• A research site is defined as the location of an Institution where human research is conducted and requiring ethical review by a Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC).
• A single-site study is conducted by one investigator or one group of investigators according to a single protocol at one study site. For more information, see Single-site research.
• A multi-site study is conducted by several investigators according to a single protocol at more than one study site. For more information see Multi-site research.

A national initiative to harmonise ethical review of multi-centre research is being developed by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Harmonisation of Multi-centre Ethical Review (HoMER).