Human Research Ethics

The James Cook University Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) reviews all research and teaching applications in accordance with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2025

What activities require ethical review? All human research projects conducted at the University (both in JCU-Australia and JCU-Singapore), or by staff and students of the University, must undergo ethical review. The JCU HREC will accept applications from all JCU staff and students, and adjunct staff but only where the research is being conducted under JCU’s auspices.

The National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research defines human research as ‘research that is conducted with or about people, their data or tissue’, and may involve human participation in:

• Surveys, interviews or focus groups.
• Comparing or investigating psychological, physiological or medical research.
• Clinical trials.
• Observation by researchers.
• Researchers having access to oral histories, personal documents or other materials.
• The collection and use of body organs, tissues or fluids (eg skin, blood, urine, saliva, hair, bones, tumour and other biopsy specimens, etc.) or their exhaled breath.
• Access to their information (identifiable, re-identifiable or non-identifiable form) as part of an existing published or unpublished source or database.

Undergraduate Student Projects: Undergraduate students conducting small research projects involving human participants as part of their course assessment will need to ethical review for these projects. However, in some cases it may be possible for the lecturer in charge of the subject to submit a single ethics application for the course to cover these smaller projects. Please contact the ethics team to confirm requirements for your proposed projects.

Teaching activities: Teaching activities that involve physiological or psychosocial experiments, taking of tissue or blood samples, administration of any substances, any stressful activities, recording of any personal information and administration of surveys require ethics approval to be obtained.

Exempt Research: The National Statement allows certain human research to be exempted from ethical review, under certain circumstances according to Sections 5.1.15 - 5.1.18.

A request for an exemption to ethics review can be submitted using GECO.

Quality assurance activities: Quality assurance activities do not require ethical review, however they must be carried out according to ethical principles. For information on ethics in quality assurance activities read the NHMRC’s Ethical considerations in quality assurance and evaluation activities, and researchers are encouraged to read Section 2(e) Triggers for consideration of ethical review when deciding whether they need to request ethical review. If you feel that your research is a Quality Assurance activity, please send an email to the ethics team for an assessment and letter of confirmation.

If your research involves Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, please click here.

Unsure whether your research needs ethical review? If you plan to conduct research involving human participants, their data or information but are unsure whether your research needs ethical review, please check with the Ethics Office before beginning your work, as retrospective approvals cannot be provided.

Complaints, Concerns and Feedback

If you have any concerns, or wish to lodge a complaint about a human research project carried out by JCU, see the complaints processes below.

Researchers intending to apply for ethical clearance for their research should:

• Familiarise themselves with the National Statement and related guiding documents
• Read the HREC's Application Guide
• Undertake Training in Human Research Ethics

Human Ethics Advisors are academic employees of James Cook University who review ethics applications for teaching and research involving human participants in accordance with the National Health and Medical Research Council National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research, 2007. The Advisors are nominated for appointment by the Dean of College and review ethics applications in broad discipline areas and provide advice to academic staff and students on ethics matters.

The Advisor’s role is to offer advice on a draft of your application in relation to the National Statement and assist you to understand what is required before your application is submitted to the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) for review. The Advisor provides a recommendation to the HREC on the application. Advisors also review amendments to ethics applications for approval by the HREC.

Click here for the full list of Human Ethics Advisors at JCU.

If you are working on or conducting a human research project that has been approved by another Human Research Ethics Committee, you may not have to also submit an application to the JCU HREC, but you do have to notify the Ethics Office. We can then acknowledge the external HREC's approval.

Please notify the Ethics Team of your involvement in human research that has been approved by a non-JCU ethics review by providing the following:

• A copy of the ethics application that was approved including Participant Information Sheet and Consent Form, and all supporting documents (except CVs)
• A copy of any comments from the external HREC and the response to the comments (if applicable)
• A copy of the approval notice issued by the external HREC

Submit all the documents using GECO and attaching the documents to the submission. Once received and if the review meets the appropriate standards, a formal acknowledgement of the approval can be provided.

If you are doing human research in an Education Queensland facility/school, please refer to the  information provided in the link below:

• Research in Education Queensland Schools

HREC GECO Forms

Please note that from 1 January 2025, all Human Research Ethics Applications, Amendment Requests and Progress/Final Reports must be submitting using the GECO online system.

GECO Draft Templates

You can use the below forms to draft your application so you can cut and paste into the online GECO form.

• GECO Drafting Template - HREC Application (do not submit this form for review, please transfer to GECO if used as a drafting tool)

Participant Information Sheet and Consent Form Teamples

• Participant Information Sheet Template
• Consent Form

Ethics Advisor Review Report

Ethics Advisor Reviews will be done using GECO, but the below template can be used to assist int he reviews, and uploaded into GECO along with any comments made back to the researcher in GECO.

• Human Ethics Advisor Review Form (DOCX, 23 KB)

JCU HREC Terms of Reference

JCU HREC Terms of Reference

Click here for the meeting and closing dates for Human Ethics Applications for 2024.

Any ethics application received after the closing date to Human Ethics Advisors will be held over to the next meeting of the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). Meetings are held on the middle Tuesday of each month. There is no January HREC meeting.

HREC decisions will be released seven to ten working days after the meeting date. Most applications will receive a conditional approval at the meeting, but the HREC may request further details or amendments from applicants or a resubmission of an application to the next meeting. In planning your research project, please allow a maximum of two months for passage of your application from submission to approval.

Low/Negligible risk ethics applications can be submitted at any time as they are reviewed on a continual basis.