BACKGROUND TO HUMAN RESEARCH ETHICS
The Human Research Ethics Committees approval system as it is today has come about in response to some terrible harms that have occurred to very vulnerable people as a result of participation in research, particularly medical research, including the crimes committed against humanity under the guise of ‘human experimentation’ in the concentration camps of Auschwitz, the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments in the USA, and the New Zealand Cervical Cancer Experiments of the 1970’s.
To prevent such atrocities occurring again, the protection of the rights and interests of subjects of research has been recognised internationally in statements such as:
- The Nuremberg Code (1949), which was developed following the revelation of unethical practices during the Second World War; and
In Australia a Statement on Human Experimentation was produced initially by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in 1966, based on the Declaration of Helsinki. |
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The Statement on Human Experimentation has undergone several revisions and the current edition, the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007) is the national standard for the conduct of ethical research in Australia. The National Statement is the main source of all the ethical guidelines used by all the HREC of the HREC (Tasmania) Network.
What is the purpose of the National Statement?
The National Statement is intended for use by any researcher conducting research with human participants, any member of an ethical review body reviewing research (HREC), those involved in research governance and potential research participants.
The purpose of the National Statement is to promote ethically good human research. Fulfilment of this purpose requires that participants be accorded the respect and protection that is due to them. It also involves the fostering of research that is of benefit to the community.
What makes human research ‘ethically good’?
Ethically good human research holds basic ethical principles and values, set out in the National Statement (page 13):
Respect for Persons: researchers must treat individuals as autonomous agents and protect persons with diminished autonomy.
Research Merit and Integrity: has the potential to make a contribution to knowledge and understanding, to improve social welfare and individual well being. Research must be designed appropriately and conducted by persons with suitable experience qualifications and competence.
Beneficence: maximise possible benefits and minimise possible harm (physical, psychological, emotional, economic or social).
Justice: Distributive and procedural. Distributive justice: who bears the burden and who receives the benefits of the research? Procedural Justice: ‘Fair treatment’ in the recruitment of participants and the review of research. The use of public funds may also raise questions of justice.
Other key guidelines for researchers are:
Researchers must also abide by relevant legislation, including the following Privacy Acts:
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