National mutual acceptance (NMA) supports the single review of multi-centre human research proposals as defined in the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2023) for which an application must be made to a HREC for the purpose of being conducted at a public health organisation. This includes lower risk research reviewed by a full HREC using the national human research ethics application (HREA) form.
To submit a research application for review under NMA, the application must be completed via Research GEMS online and submitted to a certified SA Health HREC. If an interstate, NMA certified HREC has already approved the study, only a governance review in the form of a site specific assessment (SSA) is required for each South Australian site. Contact the relevant research office for further information.
The following research proposals are excluded from consideration under NMA in South Australia:
The Department for Health and Wellbeing HREC is a specialist data linkage HREC and is certified to undertake review of national data linkage studies involving NMA public health organisations. Ethical approval from the DHW HREC will be accepted by participating jurisdictions in accordance with standard NMA approval processes.
Researchers are encouraged to contact the relevant data custodian/s or data linkage unit to discuss the requirements of their project as soon as possible in the planning stages of the project, prior to the submission of the ethics application.
The associated guidance document (PDF 325KB) should be reviewed by researchers seeking further information on data linkage application processes and requirements within the NMA scheme.
The Women’s and Children’s Health Network (WCHN) HREC is a specialist paediatric HREC and is certified to undertake review of national paediatric studies involving NMA public health organisations. Ethical approval from the WCHN HREC will be accepted by participating jurisdictions in accordance with standard NMA approval processes.
It is a requirement that a SSA application is submitted to each SA Health site where an NMA project is being conducted. The SSA should be submitted to the appropriate research office following their application processes.
For further information on NMA, please see the following documents:
Under the state mutual acceptance (SMA) scheme, one of the four SA public health system HRECs will undertake the ethical and scientific review of the research proposal as the ‘lead’ HREC. All other SA Health sites participating in the research will accept the outcomes of the ethical review of the lead HREC without additional review.
Research that is deemed lower risk as per the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2023) will also be reviewed under the state mutual acceptance scheme. The application procedure differs for each research office, and may be external to Research GEMS. Review the SA Health research application risk pathways flowchart (PDF 31KB) or contact the relevant research office before commencing the application.
When conducting research at any SA Health site, you must also submit a separate SSA application to each site where the research will be conducted. This enables each site to ensure that the site’s governance considerations are met.
All greater than low risk ethics applications must be submitted via Research GEMS and can be submitted either concurrently or independently to the ethics application. Lower risk SSA applications process differs for each research office, and may be external to Research GEMS. Review the SA Health research application risk pathways flowchart (PDF 31KB) and contact the relevant research office before commencing the application.
