NMHS Mental Health Research Ethics and Governance Office
Notice:
Please be advised that as part of the WA Health system ethics reform (external site), the North Metropolitan Area Mental Health Service Human Research Ethics Committee (NMAMHS HREC) is no longer accepting new ethics applications for review. New ethics applications will be redirected to either the WA Health Central HREC (external site) (for non-NMA projects) or South Metropolitan Health Services HREC (external site) (for NMA projects) for review.
Monitoring submissions (amendments, safety reports, annual progress reports and site and project final reports) for projects previously approved by the NMAMHS HREC will be reviewed by the NMAMHS HREC until you are advised otherwise.
If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact the Central Office for Research Ethics (CORE) at hrec@health.wa.gov.au or phone (08) 9222 4214.
2024 Important Dates
| HREC meeting | Submission cut off |
|---|---|
| 7 February | 29 January |
| 6 March | 26 February |
| 3 April | 25 March |
| 1 May | 22 April |
| 5 June | 27 May |
| 3 July | 24 June |
| 7 August | 29 July |
| 4 September | 26 August |
| 2 October | 23 September |
| 6 November | 28 October |
| 4 December | 25 November |
Authorisation Process for Research Projects
All human research projects conducted within the jurisdiction of North Metropolitan Mental Health Public Health and Dental Services (NM-MHPHDS) must undergo governance review and approval (i.e. ethics review/approval and site review / approval) by the North Metropolitan Health Service Mental Health Research Ethics and Governance Office (NMHSMH REGO). The requests for governance review must be lodged via the Research Governance Service (RGS) website (external site).
The RGS is a centralised IT system that enables the completion, submission, administration, tracking and reporting of ethics and site applications for research projects conducted in WA Health. The RGS must be used for all ethics and site applications submitted to NMHSMH REGO for approval.
The WA Health Research Governance Framework (external site) provides further information on WA Health governance review processes.
Please read the Users Guides (external site) on the RGS website for more information regarding the RGS and the submission process for new projects, amendments to approved projects and reports.
The NMHS MH REGO process of ethical and site approval for research conducted within the MHPHDS is outlined in the NMHSMH REGO Standard Operating Procedures (PDF).
For a quick guide on how to apply to the NMHSMH REGO for ethics and site approval, please read our Working with us (PDF).
Ethics Review
All human research conducted in MHPHDS must undergo ethical and scientific review, approval and monitoring by a WA Health system Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC).
The NMAMHS HREC is registered with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and operates in accordance with the NHMRC National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2023 (external site). For ethics application enquiries please contact us at NMAHSMHREGO@health.wa.gov.au or by phone at (08) 9222 4214.
Governance Review
All human research conducted within WA Health must undergo a governance review, which is the mechanism for professional, legal and financial accountability and transparency and is consistent with the NHMRC's Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research 2007 (external site) (‘the Code’).
The governance review is a separate process to the ethical and scientific review and should be conducted in parallel to the ethics approval process. It is not necessary to await the ethics outcome before preparing and submitting a governance application to the relevant RG Office. However, scientific and ethics approval must be obtained and forms part of the final governance review, prior to a request for authorisation to the relevant chief executive or delegate of the WA Health site/s you wish to conduct the research at.
The WA Health Research Governance Framework (external site) provides further information on WA Health governance review processes.
For governance application enquiries relating to NMHS MHPHDS sites please contact the Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group Research Governance Office at SCGH.RGO@health.wa.gov.au or phone (08) 6457 3254.
Ethics and Governance Amendments
All the requests for ethics and site amendments to approved projects must be submitted to the relevant research ethics and governance office/s via the Monitoring section in RGS.
- For NMHS MH ethics amendment enquiries please contact nmahsmhrego@health.wa.gov.au or phone 9222 4214.
- For NMHS MH governance amendment enquiries please contact scgh.rgo@health.wa.gov.au.
Quality Improvement (QI) and Case Studies / Case Reports
If your project is a QI study or a Case Study / Case Report, it should be submitted for approval to the MHPHDS Mental Health Safety, Quality and Performance (SQP) Unit. More information is available at the Safety, Quality and Performance Unit’s Quality Improvement page (staff intranet).
Do you need more help?
If you want to know more about conducting research in mental health, please see the documents below :
- Research Projects in NMHS MH (PDF) – What we expect the researchers and the service to adhere to
- Approval process for Human Research Projects (PDF) (for researchers)
- Governance Approval for Managers (PDF)
- Informed Consent (PDF)
Compliments, complaints and suggestions
If you have any compliments, complaints or suggestions regarding a research project undertaken within the NM MHPHDS jurisdiction, please contact us.