The National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research

This article is part of the Iris Ethics Knowledge Base; you can find a directory of all articles here.

Overview

The National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2025 edition) is organised into five sections:

1. Values and principles of ethical conduct (Section 1);
2. Themes in research ethics: risk and benefit, consent (Section 2);
3. Ethical considerations in the design, development, review and conduct of research (Section 3);
4. Ethical considerations specific to participants in research (Section 4); and
5. Research governance and ethics review (Section 5).

The full document is available on the NHMRC website. Iris Ethics has also produced a Plain English Summary of the National Statement for a more accessible introduction.

How to use the National Statement

The sections of the National Statement should not be read in isolation. For most research and evaluation projects, multiple sections will be relevant. The structure of the document moves from foundational principles through specific design requirements and contextual considerations, before addressing institutional governance.

A practical approach for practitioners:

1. Start with Section 1 to understand the values and principles that must be reflected throughout the project.
2. Apply Chapter 2.1 to assess the risk and benefit profile of the project and Chapters 2.2 and 2.3 to determine whether consent is required and in what form.
3. Work through Section 3 to address specific design elements: recruitment, consent, data management, and dissemination.
4. Identify whether any Section 4 chapters apply, given the population, context, or techniques involved.
5. Refer to Section 5 for governance requirements relevant to institutions and review bodies, including how ethics review relates to research governance authorisation (see Ethics review and other approvals).

Key navigation points

The following parts of the National Statement are most frequently relevant to market research, social research, and program evaluation applications submitted to Iris Ethics:

• Assessing risk and benefit (NS 2.1)
• Consent

• Research/evaluation design elements (NS 3):

  • Scope and methods
  • Recruitment
  • Consent
  • Data management
  • Communicating findings to participants
  • Dissemination planning

  • After the project

• People in dependent relationships (NS 4.4)

The Common scenario decision trees provide quick-reference guidance for common scenarios encountered in these fields. The National Statement Navigator also provides a more general approach to identifying relevant review pathways for projects. 

This page was last updated on 16 September 2026.

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This article makes reference to the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2025. It is intended as practical guidance and does not constitute legal advice.

AI Disclosure: Resources in this library were prepared using Large Language Models with input from Iris Ethics staff who guided the scope and design. Subsequent revisions and final versions were developed and approved by Iris Ethics staff.