Faculty human research ethics

As a Deakin researcher, it’s compulsory to demonstrate an understanding of human research ethics by passing an online quiz prior to submitting your first human ethics application to either Deakin University Human Research Ethics Committee (DUHREC) or a Faculty Human Ethics Advisory Group (HEAG).

If you have already been listed as a researcher on a successful application that was submitted prior to 2 April 2012, you are exempt from this requirement. External researchers listed on Deakin applications are also exempt from this requirement.

Online training

To get access to online training:

1. Log into CloudDeakin (if you are not logged in already)
2. Click on ‘self-register’
3. Select the Office of Research Integrity and the site will then appear within the My Sites area of your CloudDeakin homepage.

In person training

Deakin Research Integrity provides ongoing training sessions regarding the ethics process.

Deakin Research run pre-submission clinics for students new to ethics.

View sessions and enrol online.

The Faculty HEAG has no set meeting dates or deadlines and will assess and review applications deemed Low Risk research throughout the year.

Low Risk research applications must include:

• Low Risk Research application form (ensure current version used)
• Plain Language Statement and Consent form (use templates provided)
• Organisation Consent coversheet when recruiting Deakin staff and/or students
• email confirming completion of the compulsory online Human Ethics quiz, please note that this is different to the Research Integrity quiz
• other documents related to your project including:
  • advertisements
  • questionnaires
  • interview questions/schedules
  • flyers

Deakin organisational consent

Where you want to conduct research with Deakin staff and students as participants, your research will be approved by the:

• Unit chair  if you are enrolled in a unit (including  combined courses where your research relates to your enrolment in that unit)
• Faculty Executive Dean or Institute Director if you are enrolled in more than one unit or
• Dean of Students if you are in two or more faculties or institutes

Please note, it is Deakin policy that approval should only be given where staff and student participation is appropriate and necessary for the research and other options are not available. Such research will minimise the number of staff and students involved. Where the research is by an external party it must also be of benefit to the University and relevant results provided to staff or students involved.

Working with children checks

If your project entails interaction with young people under the age of 18 you are required to hold a Working with Children Check. Please provide a copy of this with your application.

More information on working with children.

Ethics online

Many faculty researchers have begun researching online. While most ethical considerations are similar to the issues raised in the concrete world, there are some that have specific demands. The links listed below may be of interest in relation to these ethical issues.

AOIR ethics guidelines (PDF, 562.0KB)
AOIR internet research (PDF, 73.6KB)

Data storage

Information on how and where to store data collected as part of research projects can be found on the Library website and the Data Management website .

Policy and procedure

Deakin's human ethics website is updated regularly to reflect changes in policy and procedure. The website includes our Human Research Ethics Manual, which should be your principal reference.

Reviewer checklist (DOCX, 41.4KB)

You must submit applications (signed by all parties) and attachments via email to artsed-ethics@deakin.edu.au.

You will typically receive the Faculty HEAG recommendations and details of the review by email, within 15 working days after acknowledgement of your submission.  You should then make any necessary amendments to satisfy the Faculty HEAG Committee.

You will then receive a formal letter of approval that outlines the conditions of approval or any further requirements to be completed before the project can commence.

If you apply for Faculty HEAG review but they assess it as higher than ‘low risk’ you will be notified and requested to submit a completed Human Research Ethics Application (HREA) with supporting documentation to DUHREC for full review.

If you consider your project is ‘higher than low risk’ you should:

• prepare the online HREA and supplementary documents
• submit directly to DUHREC in time for the next scheduled meeting. Note, all meeting deadlines are strictly 9am.

Deakin Research will notify you the outcome of the full review by email within 3–4 weeks of the meeting.

DUHREC meetings and submission details are available on the human research ethics review bodies webpage. Links to the HREA and ‘higher than low risk’ templates are also available on the applications webpage.

Please note, the National Ethics Application Form (NEAF) has been replaced by the Human Research Ethics Application (HREA). Examples of high-quality HREAs will be provided as they become available. In the meantime, the NEAF examples provided may continue to assist first-time applicants understand the type of responses and language expected in a successful ethics application.

Information and templates for annual/final reports and modification requests of previously approved projects are available on the human ethics applications page.

Deakin Human Ethics Index by subject.