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HREC Annual Reporting to NHMRC
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HREC Annual Report Form
The information supplied in the Annual Report Form helps AHEC identify problematic areas of compliance, about which additional information or guidance can be provided for HRECs, and provides an overview of the ethical review system in Australia, such as information about workload and processes used by HRECs. This form is used by the NHMRC to enable organisations to self report on HREC compliance with the NHMRC National Statement, the s95 and s95A Guidelines under the Privacy Act 1988 and to also collect descriptive information about HRECs.
The National Statement further requires that "an institution or organisation and its HREC shall report annually to the NHMRC information relevant to its procedures including:
- membership/membership changes;
- number of meetings;
- confirmation of participation [in the review of research protocols] by required categories of members;
- the number of protocols presented, the number approved, and the number rejected;
- monitoring procedures in place and any problems encountered; and
- complaints procedures and number of complaints handled".
The NHMRC, through AHEC, gathers information about HRECs and assesses the compliance of HRECs with the National Statement, and other guidelines, by requiring HRECs registered with the NHMRC to complete an Annual Report Form for the reporting period (1 July 2007 to 31 December 2007). This HREC Annual Report Form asks organisations and their HRECs to retrospectively self-report on the procedures of the HREC. In addition, the HREC Annual Report Form assesses the compliance of an HREC with the Guidelines Under Section 95 of the Privacy Act 1988 and the Guidelines approved under Section 95A of the Privacy Act 1988.
The information supplied to the NHMRC in the Annual Report Form is assessed and the organisation and its HREC are informed of the outcome of this assessment. AHEC reports annually on this information to the Research Committee of the NHMRC, since research funded by NHMRC must be reviewed by an HREC that is compliant with the National Statement requirements. It also reports to the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner in relation to HRECs application of the guidelines under Section 95 and 95A of the Privacy Act 1988.
» Download: Human Research Ethics Committee Report 2007 (Word, 595kb)
Appendix One should be completed by organisations that have a shared responsibility for an HREC. If multiple copies are required, Appendix 1 is provided separately here.
» Download: HREC Report form Appendix 1 (Word, 80kb)
Overview of information obtained from HRECs
Data is collected from the HREC Annual Report process to provide a ‘snapshot’ of HRECs after each annual report survey. This includes information about membership, procedures and activities and assists AHEC in identifying possible areas of concern or potential difficulties in meeting the requirements of the National Statement. ‘Snapshots’ are available for recent annual report surveys and are archived below.
Download: Overview of HRECs 2004/05 - (PDF 134kb) 
Contact for further information
| Postal address |
Program Assurance Section |
Email address |
|
Telephone |
(02) 6217 9050 |
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