Expressions of interest are sought for voluntary membership of the Swinburne University Human Research Ethics Committee in the following categories:

• Lawyer
• Professional care (clinical trial specialist)
• Pastoral/spiritual care

Swinburne is a global university of technology and design, focused on creating solutions that transform the future for the benefit of people and their environments.

The Swinburne University Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) is responsible for the ethical review and approval of Swinburne staff and student research involving human participants. The committee reviews a wide range of research projects to ensure that they are conducted in accordance with the highest ethical standards. The HREC is required to maintain a mixture of members with a variety of expertise and knowledge and is currently seeking expressions of interest from people interested in joining the committee in the capacity of a lawyer, professional care person (clinical trial specialist) or pastoral/spiritual care person.

A lawyer member is a person from outside of Swinburne University, and who is not engaged to provide advice to Swinburne (National statement on ethical conduct in human research, 2018, section 5.1.30[e]).

A professional care member is a person with knowledge of, and current experience in, the professional care, counselling or treatment of people; for example, a nurse or allied health professional; (National statement on ethical conduct in human research, 2018, section 5.1.30[c]). The committee is specifically seeking a person who has knowledge of and experience with clinical trials.

A pastoral/spiritual care member is a person who performs a pastoral care role in a community, for example, an Aboriginal elder, a minister of religion; (National statement on ethical conduct in human research, 2018, section 5.1.30[d]).

Lawyer members, pastoral/spiritual care members and clinical trial specialists provide a valuable perspective on applications being considered by the committee. Membership involves reading and assessing applications, making recommendations regarding approval, attending meetings and participating in discussions. Members of this committee make a significant contribution to the research life of the university.

The Swinburne HREC meets approximately every 4 weeks at the Hawthorn campus on Friday mornings (currently meetings are held via MS Teams) and uses an on-line ethics review system.

If you have any queries about the position(s) or would like further information please contact Dr Astrid Nordmann, Research Ethics Co-ordinator, Ph: (03) 9214 3845 or Email: [email protected] using the subject line: Human Research Ethics Committee Members (Voluntary) enquiry via EthicalJobs.