NHMRC developed the Human Research Ethics Application (HREA) form as a concise application to facilitate timely and efficient ethics review for research involving humans. HREA assists researchers to consider the ethical principles of the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2023) in relation to their research.
HREA is free to use. Applications can be developed using HREA for submission to a Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC).
Resources
We have created a range of resources for using HREA including frequently asked questions and user guides.
HREA copyright
All site content © Commonwealth of Australia, 2023.
Copyright in the material hosted on HREA and in the HREA questions, guidance text and form logic is vested in the Commonwealth of Australia, and is intended for your general use and to assist in the creation of an HREA application. You may not distribute or commercialise the material without the Commonwealth's permission.
You may link to HREA, but permission is restricted to making a link without any alteration of the site's contents. Permission is not granted to reproduce, frame or reformat the files, pages, images, information, content, questions, form logic and materials from this site on any other site unless express written permission has been obtained from NHMRC.
For further permission to obtain a licence to use HREA material, contact:
HREA help
Email
Postal address
HREA Help
National Health and Medical Research Council
Level 1, 16 Marcus Clarke Street
GPO Box 1421
Canberra ACT 2601
Acceptance of HREA by institutions in the NMA Scheme
A National Mutual Acceptance (NMA) Scheme for ethics review operates in some states and territories. The NMA Scheme allows for the acceptance of a single ethics review by multiple public health organisations for most human research.
Research proposals should be submitted via ERM, Research GEMS and REGIS to Human Research Ethics Committees (HRECs) associated with public health institutions in the following jurisdictions: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, as well as Mater Research (Brisbane, Queensland). Researchers who start their ethics application using HREA can generate an XML file that can be imported into ERM, Research GEMS and REGIS.
If you are submitting a research proposal to an HREC that is located in the Northern Territory, Tasmania or Western Australia, contact that HREC to obtain their local submission requirements (if they are not listed in the HREA Directory).
For further information on the NMA Scheme, contact the relevant public hospital HREC or the state/territory Department of Health and Aged Care office:
- Australian Capital Territory
- Mater Research
- New South Wales
- South Australia
- Queensland
- Victoria
- Western Australia.
