MRFF Grants administered by NHMRC are offered in accordance with the MRFF Funding Agreement (November 2021) between the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care and the MRFF Eligible Organisation.
MRFF Funding Agreement
The 2021 MRFF Funding Agreement (refer to 'Downloads' section, below) replaced the February 2019 MRFF Funding Agreement (see clause 18.1). The 2021 MRFF Funding Agreement includes the following changes:
- References to MRFF 'Eligible Organisation' replacing NHMRC 'Administering Institutions' to reflect the new process outlined above.
- Amended wording to account for changes to NHMRC policies, including the discontinuation of the Administering Institutions Policy and Misconduct Policy and the addition of the Integrity Policy.
- Amended wording to account for the introduction of NHMRC's new grants management system, Sapphire, through removal of references to RGMS, and replacing them with 'NHMRC's Grants Management System'.
- Addition of clause 2.12, by which all active Schedules (for a Research Activity) issued under the February 2019 MRFF Funding Agreement are now taken to be Schedules under the 2021 MRFF Funding Agreement. The intention of this clause is to ease administrative burden on Eligible Organisations that already have an MRFF Funding Agreement executed with the Commonwealth, through alignment of all Schedules to the one funding agreement.
- Removal of clauses 10.22 and 10.23 due to the NHMRC managed 'Institution Annual Compliance Report' not being applicable to MRFF funded grants. Compliance reporting will be managed under 'Additional Reporting' which has replaced clause 10.22.
- Clauses 16 and 17 (relating to Events of default and Misconduct), currently limit the Eligible Organisations' responsibilities and the NHMRC's scope to take action under to misconduct and integrity matters involving Specified Personnel (as defined in the Agreement). The wording in these clauses has been broadened to include any other Personnel working on a Research Activity who are not explicitly defined as Specified Personnel.
Note
All active Schedules (for a Research Activity) issued under the February 2019 MRFF Funding Agreement are now following the issue of this notice, by virtue of the new clause 2.12, taken to be Schedules under the 2021 MRFF Funding Agreement.
The 2021 MRFF Funding Agreement continues to include an execution page for signatures. Whilst this is not necessary for the variation process, an execution page is required for new MRFF Eligible Organisations.
New MRFF Eligible Organisations who do not yet have an MRFF Funding Agreement in place must sign and return the 2021 MRFF Funding Agreement to mrff.postaward@nhmrc.gov.au for full execution. Once fully executed the final copy will be provided to the MRFF Eligible Organisation.
All active Schedules (for a Research Activity) issued under the February 2019 MRFF Funding Agreement are now following the issue of this notice, by virtue of the new clause 2.12, taken to be Schedules under the 2021 MRFF Funding Agreement.
The 2021 MRFF Funding Agreement continues to include an execution page for signatures. Whilst this is not necessary for the variation process, an execution page is required for new MRFF Eligible Organisations.
New MRFF Eligible Organisations who do not yet have an MRFF Funding Agreement in place must sign and return the 2021 MRFF Funding Agreement to mrff.postaward@nhmrc.gov.au for full execution. Once fully executed the final copy will be provided to the MRFF Eligible Organisation.
Compliance with laws
MRFF EOs and their Participating Institutions must ensure research activities and applications comply with any applicable Commonwealth, State, Territory or local government requirement. This includes:
- The Australian Government's Guidelines to Counter Foreign Interference in the Australian University Sector.
- The National Principles for Child Safe Organisations which set out a nationally consistent approach to promoting a culture of child safety and wellbeing within organisations.
- The National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse (the Redress Scheme). In accordance with the requirements of the Redress Grant Connected Policy (GCP), institutions named in applications to the Redress Scheme or to the Royal Commission that have not joined the Redress Scheme or signified their intent to join within the required timeframes, will be ineligible to access MRFF grant funding.
More information on these and other laws and obligations is available at laws and obligations.
Approved standards and guidelines
Under the MRFF Funding Agreement, EOs must comply, and require their Participating Institutions, research activities and applications to comply, with MRFF Governance Requirements. In addition to the Commonwealth, State, Territory or local government laws the following list provides guidance on relevant policies, codes, guidelines and standards that set out requirements that Grant recipients are expected to meet:
- A guide to the care and use of Australian native mammals in research and teaching (2014)
- Australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes 8th edition (2013)
- Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2018)
- Best practice methodology in the use of animals for scientific purposes (2017) (Updated July 2018)
- Competencies for Australian Academic Clinical Trialists (2018)
- Decision-making for pandemics: an ethics framework (2021)
- Ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities: Guidelines for researchers and stakeholders (2018)
- Ethical considerations in quality assurance and evaluation activities (2014)
- Ethical guidelines for organ transplantation from deceased donors (2016)
- Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technology in Clinical Practice and Research (2017) (ART Guidelines)
- Framework for Monitoring: Guidance for the National Approach to Single Ethical Review of Multi-centre Research (2012)
- Good Practice Process for Site Assessment and Authorisation Phases of Clinical Trial Research Governance (2018)
- Guidelines under Section 95 of the Privacy Act 1988 (2014)
- Medical Research Future Fund Grant Variation Policy (2022)
- National Principles of Intellectual Property Management for Publicly Funded Research (2017)
- National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007 – updated May 2018)
- NHMRC Direct Research Costs Guidelines
- NHMRC gender equality requirements
- NHMRC Guidance: Safety monitoring and reporting in clinical trials involving therapeutic goods (2016)
- NHMRC Research Integrity and Misconduct Policy (2019)
- Organ and tissue donation after death, for transplantation – Guidelines for ethical practice for health professionals, 2007 (Under review)
- Organ and tissue donation by living donors – Guidelines for ethical practice for health professionals, 2007 (Under review)
- Payment of participants in research: information for researchers, HRECs and other ethics review bodies (2019)
- Principles and accessing and using publicly funded data for health research (2016)
- Principles and guidelines for the care and use of non-human primates for scientific purposes (2016)
- Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2002
- National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Grant Connected Policy
- Relationship between NHMRC peer review and ethical review by institutional ethics committees
- Research Governance Handbook: Guidance for the National Approach to Single Ethical Review (2011)
- Statement on consumer and community involvement in health and medical research (2016)
Commercialisation requirements
To permit the Commonwealth's purchase of any Commercialised Products that result from MRFF-funded research, a set of clauses have been developed for use and are included within some MRFF grant schedules (refer to downloads to view a sample of these requirements). These clauses seek to ensure that the Commonwealth has an early opportunity to purchase these products – a ‘right of first offer.’
The Department of Health and Aged Care (Department) is responsible for identifying to which projects these Commercialisation Clauses should apply, and in consultation with NHMRC, managing all processes associated with the execution of the Commercialisation Clauses set out in each Grant Agreement.
Part of these requirements include grantees developing and submitting the Department a draft Commercialisation Plan or undertaking execution of a Commitment Deed Poll. Refer to Downloads for templates.
