Ethical issues and resources

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is the application of laboratory or clinical technology to gametes (human egg or sperm) and/or embryos for the purposes of reproduction. All reproductive medicine units offering ART services should comply with the Ethical guidelines on the use of assisted reproductive technology in clinical practice and research, 2017 (updated 2023) (ART guidelines).

• More information about ART and the ART guidelines

Clinical Ethics

AHEC has developed a Consensus Statement on Clinical Ethics and a resource manual for use by healthcare organisations considering developing a clinical ethics service.

• AHEC Consensus Statement on Clinical Ethics
• Clinical Ethics Capacity Building Resource Manual

COVID-19 Pandemic – Ethics Framework

Decision-making for pandemics: an ethics framework was developed by the Australian Health Ethics Committee of the NHMRC. It is designed to support ethical health and medical related decision making and ethical policy development during a pandemic.

• More information or to access the Framework.

Ethical guidelines for research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

Information on Ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities: Guidelines for researchers and stakeholders and Keeping research on track II.

• Ethical guidelines for research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

Our role in the health privacy framework

The primary focus of the NHMRC with respect to privacy is in relation to research, balancing the need for the protection of personal privacy in data, and the need to facilitate access to data for research purposes.

• More information on health research privacy framework

Organ and tissue donation and transplantation

NHMRC has released revised guidelines on cell, tissue and organ donation and transplantation. Information on the Ethical guidelines for cell, tissue and organ donation and transplantation in Australia, published in May 2025, is available on the NHMRC website.

Payment of participants in research

NHMRC has developed advice that is designed to provide information for researchers and reviewers of research to assist in decision-making about when payment of participants in research is ethically acceptable.

This advice does not replace or override guidance provided in the National Statement and provides additional information to assist those designing and reviewing human research.

• Payment of participants in research: information for researchers, HRECs and other ethics review bodies

Peer review and ethical review

NHMRC has provided clarification of the relationship between peer review conducted by NHMRC and ethical review conducted by an institutional ethics committee, and the expectations of NHMRC with respect to NHMRC funded research.

• Relationship between NHMRC peer review and ethical review by institutional ethics committees (see Downloads section below).

Embryo research, stem cells and human cloning

In 2002 the Australian Parliament passed two Acts to legislate on issues around human cloning and research involving human embryos.

• Information about embryo research and the prohibition of human cloning for reproduction
• Information about the Embryo Research Licensing Committee

Quality assurance and evaluation activities

Quality assurance (QA) and evaluation are important to ensure effective work and the best outcomes. However, confusion may arise about whether an activity is research, evaluation or QA, as each may use similar methods of data collection and/or analysis, and those conducting any of these activities may wish to publish their results or findings.

NHMRC has developed advice to assist organisations in developing policy and appropriate oversight of these activities.
•    Ethical considerations in quality assurance and evaluation activities 

Additional resources

Standardised participant information and consent forms (PICFs)

The PICF templates on the NHMRC website are the product of work done as part of the NHMRC’s National Approach to Single Ethical Review of Multicentre Research. The “NHMRC PICF templates” were developed by a reference group including the Australian States and Territories and other stakeholders. They were initially drafted by the Victoria Department of Health and endorsed by the reference group. The PICF templates were finalised in 2012 and have been on the NHMRC website since that time. These templates are available in the Downloads section below.

Use of these templates is not now, nor has it ever been, required by NHMRC. They were designed as tools to assist researchers in developing PICFs by suggesting standard structure and wording suitable to a wide range of projects and to conform to some jurisdictional requirements. However, as templates, they are not intended to be rigid and unchanging and information can be added and removed from the templates as required. The appropriateness of any changes in language or structure in a PICF that is proposed for an individual project is subject to the discretion of the researcher and/or the reviewer during the drafting and review processes.

NHMRC recognises that individual jurisdictions or institutions may introduce a requirement that use of the NHMRC PICF template is mandatory. While this is their prerogative, this decision should not be interpreted as their use being mandated by the NHMRC.

Genetic study

• PICF Genetic for Self
• PICF Genetic for Parent and Guardian
• PICF Genetic for Person Responsible

Interventional study

• PICF Interventional for Self
• PICF Interventional for Parent and Guardian
• PICF Interventional for Person Responsible

Non-Interventional study

• PICF Non-Interventional for Self
• PICF Non-Interventional for Parent and Guardian
• PICF Non-Interventional for Person Responsible

Health/Social Science Research

• PICF Health and Social Science for Self
• PICF Health and Social Science for Parent and Guardian
• PICF Health and Social Science for Person Responsible

Australian Teletrial Program PICF

Information on the PICF recommended for use in the Australian Teletrial Program (ATP) is located at Resources - Australian Teletrial Program. The Stand Alone Teletrial PICF is in the section called Trial Documents. The Trial Documents section also contains guidance for inserting the wording from the Stand Alone Teletrial PICF into the PICF templates that are currently published on this NHMRC webpage.