The Australian Government is now in caretaker period. During this time, updates on this website will be published in accordance with the Guidance on Caretaker Conventions, until after the election.
NHMRC National Certification Scheme of Institutional Processes Related to the Ethical Review of Multi-centre Research.
We developed the National Certification Scheme of Institutional Processes Related to the Ethical Review of Multi-centre Research (National Certification Scheme) to enable the single ethics and scientific review of human research that is occurring at multiple institutions in Australia.
Under this scheme, certified institutions (that is, institutions and their HRECs) whose ethics review processes have been evaluated and certified by NHMRC against criteria outlined in the Certification Handbook and guidance in the National Statement can have their ethics review accepted by other institutions participating in the research project. The list of certified institutions is available in the Downloads section below.
Certification respects institutional decisions about research governance matters, including whether research should be conducted at a given site.
Monitoring, renewal and reporting
In 2020, NHMRC discontinued the current renewal and extension processes, replacing them with a process of ‘continuous certification’ from 1 July 2020. Please also refer to the guidance note in the Downloads section below.
As part of the scheme, certified institutions and their HRECs are required to report to us on their multi-centre research activities.
How to apply for certification
Participation in the scheme is voluntary.
While the Certification scheme remains active, resource constraints and policy development since its conception mean that we are unable to operate the scheme as we did during its early years. For this reason, we will assess each institution’s interest in certification on a case-by-case basis.
Before commencing steps to apply for certification, please contact us at HREC.admin@nhmrc.gov.au for further advice.
Additional resources
You may wish to view the below documents that were used to inform the development of the scheme. Please note that these documents may not reflect current practice, but still provide valuable information.
- Framework for Monitoring: Guidance for the National Approach to Single Ethical Review of Multi-centre Research (see Downloads section below)
- Research Governance Handbook: Guidance for the National Approach to Single Ethical Review (see Downloads section below)
- Indemnity and insurance arrangements for multi-centre research (see Downloads section below)
- Indemnity and Insurance Arrangements for Clinical Trials in the Public and Private Sectors in Australia
National Mutual Acceptance Scheme
All Australian states and territories take part in the National Mutual Acceptance (NMA) scheme. This scheme supports the acceptance of a single scientific and ethical review for multi-centre research conducted in publicly-funded health services.
Further information on the NMA scheme is available from the websites of health departments in participating jurisdictions:
As the NMA scheme is a state/territory-based system, policy decisions are made at the jurisdictional level and do not involve NHMRC.
Further information
Email address: HREC.admin@nhmrc.gov.au
Related resources
This handbook outlines the requirements and procedures for the certification of institutions under…