This section of the site contains information about the composition, role and work of the Australian Health Ethics Committee (AHEC). One of the CEO’s functions under the NHMRC Act is to inquire into, issue guidelines on, and advise the community on ethical issues relating to health. This function includes the issuing of human research guidelines. Under Section 10(2) of the NHMRC Act, the Council may only provide human research guidelines to the CEO under Section 9(1) precisely as developed by the Australian Health Ethics Committee (AHEC).
Functions and Membership of AHEC
AHEC advises the NHMRC on ethical issues relating to health and the development of guidelines for the conduct of medical research involving humans.
AHEC projects and activities
AHEC establishes working parties for select projects, under Section 39 of the National Health and Medical Research Act 1992. Some examples of contemporary projects that are of interest to the Australian public and research community are provided. The working parties established by AHEC address contemporary issues in health and medical research. There are health ethics working parties and research ethics working parties. Examples of their projects can be viewed here.
Current guidelines for human research
A listing of all current guidelines and publications relating to ethical conduct of human research.
Other ethical guidelines
A listing of all current guidelines and publications relating to ethical issues and advice.
NEAF - National Ethics Application Form
The National Ethics Application Form (NEAF) is a dynamic, interactive, web-based tool for researchers of all disciplines to complete research ethics proposals for submission to Human Research Ethics Committees.