Health Service Districts and External HREC Approvals

In accordance with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research, 2007, if your research project has already been reviewed by a HREC, JCU will not duplicate any ethics review and accepts the decisions of external ethics committees. All ethics applications for research involving patients (whether they reside in hospital or in the community) of a Health Service District must be reviewed by the appropriate Health Service District Human Research Ethics Committee. (James Cook University HREC is unable to approve access to patients of health service districts.)

Please contact the Ethics Officer of the relevant Health Service District for advice on submission of ethics applications.

Contact details Queensland Health Service Districts HRECs can be found at:

http://www.health.qld.gov.au/ohmr/html/regu/hrec_contacts.asp

As you are conducting research under JCU auspices, JCU must confirm that all the appropriate approvals have been sought to conduct this research.

To confirm this oversight, if your project has already received approval from a Health Service District HREC or any external HREC, you must forward in one pdf file:

The JCU Acknowledgement External Approvals Cover Sheet titled ‘Acknowledgement External Approvals’;

A copy of the ethics application submitted to the external HREC (including signature pages, informed consent forms and information sheets, and any other attachments);

The approval notice from the external HREC; and

Any requested amendments, your response and any other correspondence.

Please submit an electronic copy of all documents in one pdf file to ethics@jcu.edu.au. The application MUST be submitted in ONE pdf file, i.e. application and all attachments as one pdf document. If it is not submitted as one pdf file it will NOT be accepted and you will be asked to resubmit in one pdf file.

JCU will release a JCU Acknowledgement External Approval letter to you to confirm that the University is satisfied that the necessary approvals have been obtained to conduct your research project.