The Australian national statement on ethical conduct in research: Application and implementation for 'insider' applied research in business

A National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans was issued in Australia in 1999 by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in accordance with the NHMRC Act 1992. This document was endorsed by the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee (AVCC) which is the council of Australia's university presidents, the Australian Research Council (ARC), Australian Academy of the Humanities, Australia Academy of Science, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and supported by the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. The Australian Health Ethics Committee (AHEC) is undertaking a review of these guidelines during 2003-2005. The National Statement can be seen to apply to all research that involves the collection of data from human subjects, as it was signed by the umbrella groups representing research in Australia this implies that all project funded research would be covered, and as all research outputs within Universities are reported to and attract funding from the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Technology (DEST) by extension this is similarly covered. There are some boundary issues such as the research/auditing definition distinction and also a recognition that those that involve low risk can have an expedited review.