3a. Expedited review (Lower risk review)
HRE applications that are deemed to be 'minimal' or 'low' risk may be eligible for expedited review. However, where a person's reactions may exceed discomfort and become distress, the project will be deemed 'greater than low risk' requiring full HREC review instead.
What's involved?
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Research that is deemed to be 'minimal' or 'low' risk and does not fall under any of the National Statement chapters listed for a full HREC review, can be sent to the expedited review process.
The expedited review process is completed by at least two experienced people (drawn from a small pool of 5 people consisting of the HREC Chair, Deputy Chairs, and the Ethics Coordinators).
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How long does it take?
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Expedited review is an ongoing process that operates between February and November - Lower risk applications can be submitted to the Ethics Office at any time during the period of operation.
Please allow up to 40 University business days for an expedited review to occur. If changes are required, your application will receive an outcome of either, 'Subject to modifications' or ‘Not approved (resubmit permitted)' and will be returned to you with feedback provided. The feedback will need to be addressed by the research team and the application re-submitted to the Ethics Office for further review to ensure feedback has been sufficiently addressed and the application satisfies approval. Please allow up to 20 University business days for the review of re-submitted applications.
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3b. Full HREC review (Higher risk review)
HRE applications that are deemed to be 'greater than low risk' or 'high risk' are not eligible for expedited review and must be review by the full UniSQ HREC. Refer to the UniSQ HREC meeting dates for information on submission deadlines and meeting dates. To determine if your project will need to be reviewed via this pathway, a list of conditions can be found on the Application support page.
What's involved? |
Research that is deemed to be 'greater than low risk' or 'high risk' will be referred to the next available HREC meeting. Your application will be reviewed via the full HREC on the meeting day.
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How long does it take? |
HREC meetings occur 10 times throughout the year between the months February and November. Once the meeting for which your application was referred to has taken place, please allow up to 15 University Business days following the meeting for an outcome to be provided. If your application receives a 'subject to modifications' outcome, your re-submission will be reviewed in office by the HREC Chair to ensure the HREC review feedback has been addressed. If your application receives a ‘not approve (resubmit permitted)’ outcome, your re-submission will need to be referred to the next available HREC meeting for full HREC review again.
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3c. Exempt from review
HREC applications may be exempted from ethics review if it meets the criteria outlined in sections 5.1.15 - 5.1.18 of the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2023). Refer to our Application support page for further details about whether your project can be exempt.
What's involved? |
If assessed as exempt, the Ethics Office will review the application to ensure all details provided sufficiently meet the exemption criteria before formally granting exemption. This process is completed by two experienced people (drawn from a small pool of 5 people consisting of the HREC Chair, Deputy Chairs, and the Ethics Coordinators).
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How long does it take? |
Please allow 20 University business days for this process to occur. If necessary, changes to your application may be requested by the Ethics Office to ensure your project sufficiently meets the exemption criteria.
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