Accreditation practice pointer: our practice has all research approved by an ethics committee

C3.6 A Our practice has all research approved by an ethics committee.

RACGP Standards for general practice

This Criterion is not applicable to general practices that do not conduct any research.

There are general practices and clinicians who participate in research. Before they commence, they must seek approval for the research from a human research ethics committee (HREC), which is registered with the National Health and Medical Research Council. There is more information, as well as a list of HRECs registered with the NHMRC, available on the website: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/research-policy/ethics/human-research-ethics-committees

Practices engaging in research must:

• keep evidence of ethics approval for research activities

• maintain records of any research activity that has gone through the ethics approval process

• retain documentation of patients’ consent for the required period.

The Guidelines for ethical research in Australian Indigenous studies can be referred to by practices when the patient sample includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Practices might also maintain a policy about participating in research that complies with the NHMRC National statement on ethical conduct in human research 2007 (updated 2018).