Research

Test tubes in a rack on a labratory bench

Our commitment to quality research

St Vincent’s Private Hospitals are at the forefront of research, clinical education, and training in the private health sector. We are committed to quality research in the areas of acute and chronic care, innovative healthcare delivery, translational research, and vulnerable communities.


We draw on the expertise of our people and form collaborative research partnerships with experts who share our vision and values. We believe in holistic care informed by the latest evidence, and continuously strive to improve to ensure the best practice.


Human research is research conducted with or about people, or their data or tissue. St Vincent’s Health Australia understands the vital role that research plays in improving health outcomes across the service. Supporting research initiatives is part of the organisational strategic plan to achieve exceptional care.

Human Research Ethics Committees

St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney HREC

St Vincent's Hospital Sydney HREC is accredited as a Lead HREC by NSW Ministry of Health and is also a Certified Institution under the National Mutual Acceptance Scheme (NMA). The St Vincent's Hospital Sydney HREC is able to extend ethical and scientific review to projects being conducted at public and private health sites nationally.

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St Vincent’s Hospital 
Melbourne HREC

The St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne (SVHM) Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) is fully constituted and operates in accordance with the NHMRC National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2023.

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St Vincent’s Health and Aged Care HREC

The SVHAC HREC is registered with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (NHMRC Registration No: EC00324). It is constituted in accordance with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2023.

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Human Research at St Vincent’s Private Hospitals 

All research undertaken at St Vincent’s Health Australia sites that involves human participants, their data and/or tissue must be approved by a registered Human Research Ethics Committee. Ongoing research is monitored to ensure compliance with national standards and legislative requirements.

Being part of a Catholic health and aged care organisation, it’s also required that all research submissions comply with the Code of Ethical Standards for Catholic Health and Aged Care Services in Australia – Catholic Health Australia (cha.org.au).

SVHA Research

Research application process

We welcome applications to conduct research at, or in collaboration with, any of the St Vincent’s Private Hospitals.


Prior to submitting a research ethics application to the appropriate human research ethics committee (HREC), investigators should consider whether the project is appropriate for the nominated hospital. Investigators need to obtain authorisation to conduct their project at the nominated facility from the facility’s designated Executive Responsible for Research before applying for ethical or governance approval.


The possible outcomes from assessment of the project from the facility research review include:


  • Approval of the project if it is a simple quality assurance (QA) project
  • The project is identified as needing ethics approval and investigators will be notified to submit the project to the appropriate HREC
  • The project is identified as already having appropriate ethics approval from an ethics committee credentialed for National Mutual Acceptance. Investigators will be notified to submit a Site-Specific Assessment (SSA) form to apply for governance authorisation at the St Vincent’s Private Hospital facility.
  • The project is rejected as not being appropriate for the St Vincent’s Private Hospital facility.

Please note that applying to conduct the project at the hospital is not equivalent to submitting a HREC application. To learn more about the HREC application process for each facility, please refer to relevant section/s below.

Our Human Research Ethics Committees

Our Human Research Ethics Committees includes St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney HREC, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne HREC and St Vincent’s Health and Aged Care Human Research Ethics Committee

Both St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney and St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne HRECs are credentialed with National Mutual Acceptance status. To find out how to apply for ethics and governance at either HREC, please visit their webpages below:  

All research projects being conducted at or recruiting participants from SVHA facilities in Queensland require ethics approval, either by the St Vincent’s Health and Aged Care Human Research Ethics Committee (SVHAC HREC) or an appropriately credentialed HREC with National Mutual Acceptance status. All research projects require local research governance approval prior to commencement. 


Research

A long-standing commitment

The SVHAC HREC is registered with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (NHMRC Registration No: EC00324). It is constituted in accordance with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2023. SVHAC HREC is not credentialed to consider multi-site studies through the National Mutual Acceptance (NMA) scheme.

The SVHAC HREC Research Ethics and Governance Office has extensive experience reviewing submissions to the SVHAC HREC and can provide advice and assistance with submissions to the committee, as well as site-specific applications for governance review.

We encourage all researchers wishing to undertake projects involving humans across Queensland sites to contact the SVHAC HREC Research Ethics and Governance Officer at svhac.hrec@svha.org.au.

SVHA Research

Submit a Compliment or Complaint

In relation to your rights as a participant or researcher, if you wish to submit a compliment, make a complaint to someone independent of the research team, or discuss a study that has been reviewed and approved by one of the SVHA Human Research Ethics Committees, you may contact:


For studies approved by the St Vincent’s Health and Aged Care HREC:

Research Ethics and Governance Officer 

Email: svhac.hrec@svha.org.au 

Tel: (07) 3435 1615 

 

For studies approved by the St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney HREC: 

Research Office 

E-mail: SVHS.Research@svha.org.au 

Tel: (02) 8382 4960

 

For studies approved by the St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne HREC:

Patient Liaison Officer at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne 

Email: PLO@svhm.org.au 

Tel: (03) 9231 1954

Better and fairer care. Always.

In a rapidly transforming world, St Vincent's has created a refreshed vision and strategy to help shape Australia's health and aged care future.