Research Ethics and Governance Submissions

East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS) has a centralised area-wide approach to research ethics and governance approvals, overseen by the EMHS Research Hub. The aim of centralised area review is to improve the efficiency and quality of ethical and governance reviews, especially for multi-site projects and clinical trials, and to support local clinical researchers to understand and meet their regulatory obligations.

The Research Hub provides ethical and governance review of proposed research projects and monitoring of approved research for all EMHS sites including:

• Armadale Kalamunda Group, consisting of Armadale Hospital and Kalamunda Hospital
• Royal Perth Bentley Group, consisting of Royal Perth Hospital and Bentley Hospital
• East Metropolitan Health Service
• Community, population and mental health programs.

EMHS researchers, study coordinators, external researchers and industry sponsors should contact the Research Hub as early as possible when planning a new research project or when considering adding an EMHS site to an existing project.

Making a submission

Ethics and governance submissions are made online via WA Health's Research Governance Service (RGS).This can be accessed 24/7 from anywhere on the RGS website (external link).

First Time RGS Users: download the RGS User Guide (PDF 470KB) for a step-by-step guide through your applications.

WA Health Human Research Ethics Committees (HREC), including the Royal Perth Hospital HREC, accept either of these forms:

• WA Health Ethics Application Form (WAHEAF)
• Human Research Ethics Application (HREA)

It is preferable to use the WAHEAF for projects to be conducted at a single site within WA Health or for multi-site projects only conducted within WA Health. The HREA is optimised for projects conducted across multiple jurisdictions and should be used for these projects.

The governance review forms are available from the Department of Health Research Governance forms website. In addition to Site Specific Assessment Forms that are used to complete site governance reviews, this site has many useful resources, including WA Health specific templates for research agreements, funding agreements and forms for indemnification.

Audits, quality assurance projects and case studies

EMHS has specific processes in place for the review and approval of non-research projects, including:

• Audits
• Quality assurance projects
• Service improvement and evaluation initiatives

These processes are overseen by institutional safety and quality teams.  Staff planning to conduct such projects should contact these teams directly.

While the Research Hub is not responsible for the review of these projects, our team can assist staff to correctly classify a project and ensure the required approvals are obtained. 

• If you are unsure of the classification of your project, it is critical that you speak either to your safety and quality unit or the Research Hub prior to commencing the project.
See our brief guide to help classify your project as quality assurance or research.

The publication of a case report or series is considered anecdotal and can proceed without research ethics and governance approval.

• See the attached brief guide to the publication of case studies or series.

Research ethics and governance review fees

Review fees apply to commercially sponsored research projects.

Applications for non-commercially sponsored research or grant funded research do not attract an application fee.

• EMHS Schedule of Fees (PDF 40KB)

Research ethics and governance guidelines

• Standard Operating Procedures for the Approval of Research within EMHS (2021) (PDF 830KB)