Please note: The Research Ethics, Integrity and Compliance Office will be closed from 24 December 2025 - 5 January 2026.

Human Ethics:

The cut off date for all other applications (Low Risk, modifications and annual reports) was Mon 8 December 2025.

Animal Ethics:

The cut off date for the submission of modifications to approved Animal Ethics projects was Monday 8 December, 2025.  The first AEC meeting of 2026 is Wed 28 January 2026. 

Welcome to ResearchNow Ethics & Biosafety at Flinders University

(Please press 'Ethics & Biosafety Applications' or 'Work Area' in the top heading to enter your Work Area to start an application or view your already existing applications)

This online portal is used for:

All Human Ethics Applications and Exemption Forms

All Animal Ethics Applications and Online Training

All Biosafety Applications

Research Integrity Breach Report Form 

All new forms are created by selecting 'Create Project' on the left hand side menu and selecting the required form from the drop down menu.  Once created, each form will have additional instructions on the first page specific to that form.

See below to find the right form if you are unsure of the form to use and submit

Human Ethics Applications

All Greater Than Low Risk and Low Risk applications are submitted on the same 'HREC Application Form'. The risk level will be determined by the selections you make in the form and further review in the office.

If you have ethics approval from another HREC, you can submit a 'HREC Cross Institutional Application Form' to record your HREC approval here at the University.

If you are unsure if you need ethics approval, you can complete the 'HREC Exemption Application Form' to determine if your project is exempt from ethics review.  If so, you can be provided with an exemption letter based on your responses.

You can use the 'HREC Teaching & Learning Application Form' to submit an overarching application for the evaluation of multiple teaching activities at the University for research purposes.  These projects must be Lower Risk.  If your College already has this form approved, you need to submit a sub-form for your particular project (see sub-forms below) and contact the original project owner to gain access.

Additionally, if you need to submit an annual report, adverse event or modification request, please submit a sub-form (see sub-forms below).

Please note that clinical trials or research projects involving SA Health premises, staff and patients must be approved by an SA Health Human Research Ethics Committee, not the Flinders University HREC.

Animal Ethics Applications

Animal ethics applications for research projects or teaching are submitted on either the 'AEC Biological Application Form' or the 'AEC Biomedical Application Form', depending on where your animals will be held / your affiliated College. 

Before you can work with animals for research or teaching, you need to undertake the mandatory 'AE Online Training' course.  This must be undertaken every three years.  Once you complete the course, the Research Ethics, Integrity and Compliance Office will create an 'AEC Competency Skills Form' that will be shared with you as a certificate.  

If you are doing animal work that does not need full AEC approval (scavenging tissue, observing animals with no interaction, data mining already available animal data) you can submit an 'Animal Ethics Register Application'.

An 'AE Phenotype Report Form' replaces the paper forms that were originally completed for rodent strains held in the CMPH animal facility.

If you are a Co- or Other Applicant on a project approved by another AEC, provide this information to the Research Ethics, Integrity and Compliance Office via the 'AE External Approval Form'.  

If you need to submit an annual report, unexpected adverse event, modification or extension request please submit a sub-form (see sub-forms below).

Biosafety Applications

Select the 'Biosafety - NLRD Form' if your research or teaching project involves Notifiable Low Risk Dealings (NLRDs) and Exempt Dealings directly associated with an NLRD.

Complete the 'Biosafety - Microbiological Dealing (non-GMO) Application' form if you are applying to use risk group 2 or higher microorganisms for teaching or research purposes.

If your dealing is Exempt, complete the 'Biosafety - Exempt Dealing Form'.

If you are unsure of the form to use, please see the decision flowchart for assistance.

Sub-forms

Sub-forms are forms that link to an already approved project.

Human Ethics and Animal Ethics applications have the following sub-forms - Annual and Final Reports, Modification Requests and Unexpected Adverse Events (and Animal Ethics has an Extension Request form).

There are currently no sub-forms for Biosafety applications.

To create a sub-form, click on your approved project, select 'Create Sub-Form' from the left hand side menu and select the sub-form from the drop down menu on the pop-up.

Annual Report Forms are used to report yearly on your Human and Animal Ethics project.

Modification Request Forms are used to notify the office that your application form needs to be opened for changes to be made.

Unexpected Adverse Event Forms are used to report an issue that was not expected in your approved project.

In addition, the 'AE Extension Request Form' can be submitted to request an extension to your animal ethics project expiry date.

The 'HE Teaching & Learning Sub-Form' can only be submitted by a researcher who wishes to create a sub-project under the 'HE Teaching & Learning Application Form' overarching project, to evaluate teaching in their College.

 

Research Integrity Reporting

If you wish to report a research integrity issue, you can contact the Research Ethics, Integrity and Compliance Office via e-mail or phone directly, or submit a 'Research Integrity Breach Report Form'.

If you still require more assistance regarding the correct form to use, if you can not see your project on your Work Area or any other ResearchNow Ethics and Biosafety issues, please contact the Research Ethics, Integrity and Compliance Office below:

Human Ethics: 8201 2543 or 8201 2255 and human.researchethics@flinders.edu.au

Animal Ethics: 8201 2255 and animal.welfare@flinders.edu.au

Biosafety: 8201 3436 and ibcadmin@flinders.edu.au