NMHS Mental Health Research Ethics and Governance Office

2024 Important Dates

Authorisation Process for Research Projects

All human research projects conducted within the jurisdiction of the 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 NMHS MH Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC).

MHPHNMHSMHHREC is registered with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and operating in accordance with the NHMRC National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2007 (external site). For ethics application enquiries please contact us at NMAHSMHREGO@health.wa.gov.au or by phone at (08) 6159 6502.

Governance Review

All human research conducted within MHPHDS must undergo a site 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 site review is a separate process to the ethical and scientific review and is conducted in parallel to the ethics approval process.

It is not necessary to await the ethics outcome before preparing and submitting a site application to the relevant RG Office. However, scientific and ethics approval must be obtained and form part of the final site review, prior to a request for authorisation to the NMMHPHDS Executive Director or their delegate.

For governance application enquiries please contact us at NMAHSMHREGO@health.wa.gov.au or by phone at (08) 6159 6502.

Ethics and Governance Amendments

All the requests for ethics and site amendments to approved projects must be submitted to the NMHS MH REGO via the Monitoring section in RGS.

For ethics/governance amendments enquiries please contact us.

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. Information is available at the Safety, Quality and Performance Unit’s Quality Improvement page (staff intranet).

QI and Case Studies/Case Reports investigators who wish to publish their findings from such studies need to apply to the NMHSMH HREC for ethical review or an exemption from ethical review.

Please note, projects applying for HREC review exemption must provide evidence that their project has been authorised by the MHPHDS Mental Health SQP Unit. In order to be considered for ethical review, or prior to requesting an exempt letter from the HREC, the Principal Investigator needs to submit an Ethics Review Exemption Form for QI/Case Studies (Word) to the NMHSMH REGO.

Annual / Final Reports

To meet the requirements of research monitoring, researchers are required to submit safety, annual or final reports to the MHPHDS Mental Health REGO on the safety, progress or outcome of their research. The safety, annual and final reports must be submitted to the NMHSMH REGO via the Monitoring section in RGS, by the due date (which is the research approval anniversary date).

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)

You may also want to check Statoolio – the statics app (external site), if choosing a statistical test for your project proves to be challenging. Stratoolio can help you decide which statistical test is most appropriate for your project.

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.