The WA Health system currently has eight HRECs and ethics administrative offices. These HRECs and their associated offices will be consolidated into one HREC, the WA Health Central HREC, which will be supported by CORE.
The move to the central model will be progressively integrated across the system and is anticipated to be complete by mid-2025.
The transition will occur in two phases:
Phase 1
- The establishment of a CORE to facilitate the triaging of projects between existing HREC’s and to provide administrative support to the planned WA Health Central HREC.
- The redirection of new, more than low risk project applications intended for review by the WA Country Health Service (WACHS), North Metropolitan Health Service – Mental Health (NMHS–MH), and Women and Newborn Health Service (WNHS) HRECs to the existing WA Health HRECS which are certified to participate in the National Mutual Acceptance (NMA) scheme.
- The establishment of the WA Health Central HREC.
Phase 2
- The redirection of the new, more than low risk project applications intended for review by the Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) HREC to the WA Health Central HREC
- The redirection of the new, more than low risk project applications intended for review by the Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group (SCGOPHCG) HREC into the WA Health Central HREC
- The redirection of the new, more than low risk project applications intended for review by South Metropolitan Health Service (SMHS) HREC into the WA Health Central HREC
- The redirection of the new, more than low risk project applications intended for review by the Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS) HREC into the WA Health Central HREC
The existing HRECs will continue to review monitoring submissions (for example, amendments, safety reports, final reports) for existing projects and new applications that are eligible for review via low-risk review pathways until the WA Health Central HREC becomes fully operational.
Oversight of all previously approved projects will then be transferred to the WA Health Central HREC with the system-wide integration anticipated to be complete by mid-2025.
The progression of the integration will be informed by ongoing evaluation.