Frequently Asked Questions

Our company delivers ethical review services to the evaluation, market research and social research communities. This includes a full Human Research Ethics Committee review as a registered committee with the NHMRC (HREC EC00484), as well as a review pathway for lower risk projects, statements of exemption, and expert determination on ethical issues in projects.

We don't have fixed dates for meetings. Unlike many HRECs, we choose to review each application individually, matching reviewers to your project, and meeting within 10 business days of submission. That makes sure that your application gets reviewed quickly by the right people.

The scope of our HREC is limited to the assessment of projects within the following sectors:

• Policy and program evaluation
• Market research
• Social research

Our HREC does not accept projects involving clinical trials of pharmaceutical compounds or medical treatments/devices.

At this stage, we do not normally undertake Full HREC Reviews of projects delivering research/evaluation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities where the guidelines of Chapter 4.7 of the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2025 apply. This is because at this time our HREC membership does not meet the criteria of the National Statement with respect to the capacity and composition of the HREC to deliver such reviews. However, we are actively exploring how we can meet the criteria in future, including the engagement of members with the relevant lived experience, expertise and recognition in the community to ensure that we can make informed and culturally safe assessments of projects. Please contact us if you are unsure whether the guidelines apply to your project, as we can advise you on possible options.

For confidentiality reasons, we do not publicly share the contact details of committee members, apart from our Chair and Deputy Chair. However, if you have an application that is under review, you can contact the committee through our digital portal. For other enquiries, please use our contact form or email info@irisethics.com.au.

Yes. We are registered with the NHMRC as organisation ORG00598 with HREC EC00484, and are subject to the NHMRC's requirements in relation to the operations of our committee and regular reporting.

We are reviewing all applications against the 2025 National Statement, which will be taking effect nationally from 1 October 2025, but per NHMRC guidance can be adopted earlier than this date. 

We are open for applications now.

We wanted to make the process as easy as possible. Our online platform allows you to submit an application much like you would by a product online. You sign into our system, select the kind of service you need, add it to the cart and on checking out you will be able to upload your details and documents, and pay relevant fees. Your account has a secure portal where you can access current and past applications and respond to comments from our committee and administrative team.

You can choose to pay on application by credit card using our secure payment platform (delivered by Stripe), or you can choose to pay by invoice.

Our ABN is 70 685 357 313

You can find more information at our Complaints Policy page, or by contacting complaints@irisethics.com.au