Who approves research
Once you’ve planned your research, you can apply for ethics approval through the Far North Queensland Human Research Ethics Committee (FNQ HREC). This committee considers ethics applications for research at:
- Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service
- Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service.
The HREC will assess your study in line with the National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines (NHMRC). Torres and Cape HHS also accepts ethics approval from NHMRC certified HRECs, under the National Mutual Acceptance scheme. You can downland the list of certified institutions from the NHMRC website.
You must also have governance authorisation for each of your study sites. If this involves more than one hospital and health services, you will need to complete a site-specific assessment for each one.
Exemptions
Some projects don't need to go through a full ethics review process, such as quality improvement projects and clinical audits. To help you work out the correct pathway for your project read our guide for research and quality at TCHHS [PDF 155.46 KB].
How to apply
The Cairns and Hinterland HHS website has information to help you apply for ethics approval, including:
- how to get approval
- the application process and closing dates
- what you need to apply for multi-site research
- research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons.
Research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
If your research is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons focused, you must apply to the FNQ HREC for approval. Also, for more details and what you need please refer to research focusing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Quality assurance activities
Quality assurance (QA) is any activity done to improve patient care through the monitoring or improvement of health services.
QA and research have much in common, but they have different purposes:
- research leads to new knowledge
- QA reviews current practice.
To work out if your project is research or a QA activity, read our guide for research and quality at TCHHS [PDF 155.46 KB]. If you’re not sure, email torres-cape-research-governance@health.qld.gov.au.