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Step 2: Check If You Need to Apply for Ethical Approval

The Department of Justice Human Research Ethics Committee (JHREC) needs to approve research:

• conducted by or for the Department of Justice or done under its auspices and involving departmental personnel
• involving people associated with or affected by the activities of the Department of Justice or people for whom the Department of Justice is responsible (such as people in custody)
• conducted by students as part of university courses
• involving the use of or access to information held by the Department of Justice.
  

Any project which has not been approved by the Ethics Committee but involves the collection, use or disclosure of personal and health information may have to undergo a form of privacy impact assessment to ensure compliance with Victoria's privacy laws. The department has a Privacy Impact Assessment process that begins with a privacy checklist. A copy of the Checklist can be requested from the Department's Senior Privacy Advisor on 8684 0071.

Definition of research

Research may involve direct contact with participants (for example, drug treatment or personal interviews), or may require access to case records or files (subject to privacy legislation).

National Health and Medical Research Council Guidelines distinguish research from audit or quality assurance functions. Among the issues they canvass, but do not necessarily concur with, is defining research as the '...systematic...collection of information to test a hypothesis'.

If you decide that your project is not research but is, instead, an audit or quality assurance activity, you may not need to submit it for ethical review by the JHREC. Various activities commonly considered non-research include 'monitoring', 'training', 'audit' or 'quality assurance'.

However, while some investigative projects might be considered audits, they too could require ethics clearance:

• if personal confidentiality is involved (such as access to personal records)
• where an intervention is involved (such as the use of different forms of counselling)
• where the assessment may possibly have deleterious or upsetting consequences (such as the use of an intrusive questionnaire).

If you are unsure about whether JHREC approval is needed, please contact the Secretary of the JHREC.