6th Australian & New Zealand HREC Conference 2025 resources

Pre-conference workshop 1

National Ethics and Governance Coordinators Community of Practice

Led by Sara Hubbard, Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service

Pre-conference workshop 2

Paediatric Research

Led by Sophie Gatenby, Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne

HREC Conference opening

Adjunct Professor Gordon McGurk
Southern Cross University, Greg Pratt, Central Queensland University, QAIHC

Associate Professor Stephen Adelstein, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, NSW Health Pathology, RPA Institute for Academic Medicine, University of Sydney

Dr Elizabeth Fenton, University of Otago

Agentic AI - Its impact on health & ethics

Aaron Zamykal, Actualisation

Would we want generative artificial intelligence in institutional review boards?

Joel Seah, National University of Singapore

AI = All In? How can HRECs address the 'new research normal'?

Professor Michael Martin, Australian National University and Australian Health Ethics Committee

Human-in-the-loop: balancing innovation and accountability in law enforcement use of AI

Andrew Chen, New Zealand Police

Technology & AI panel discussion

Chaired by Associate Professor Tam Nguyen, Monash Health

Social media and ethics review: identifying potential scandals and protecting participants

Professor Paula Swatman, Bellberry

Can 16- and 17-year-olds give consent to participate in research without parental consent?

Professor Richard Gray, La Trobe University

The InFormed Project

Dr Lisa Eckstein, CTIQ
James Cokayne, NSW Ministry of Health

Using personal information in research: some recent legal cases

Sonja Read, MinterEllison

Creepy or just complex? Making ethical decisions in a messy world

Emma MacDonald, Stats NZ

New horizons: a draft governance framework for synthetic health data in Australia

Keren Pointon, Carly Olsen and Dr Amir Marashi, Digital Health CRC

Embedding Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles across organisational research practice: practical strategies for ethical governance and community benefit

Nicole Hewlett and Imelda Ryan, Mater Research

But who owns the data? A case study from the evolving digital health landscape

Liesel Higgins, CSIRO

Brief overview of changes to the National Statement

Jeremy Kenner, NHMRC

Ethics of advising

Associate Professor Monique Jonas, University of Auckland

Revisiting the 2024 Declaration of Helsinki: critiques and implications for human research ethics review

Dr Ehsan Shamsi Gooshki, Monash Bioethics Centre

Crossing the line: the contested space between quality and research

Rachel Kerr, Monash University

The ethics of intentional infection research

Professor Seema Shah, Lurie Children’s Hospital, Chicago

Trial design – adaptive platform trials

Professor Steve Webb, Monash University

Structuring your HREC for CT review

Jerneen Williams, Cathy Stevens and Sally Gordon, Bellberry

What can HRECs learn from the ShED project: waivers, secondary data usage, exemptions and HREC quality assurance

Adjunct Professor Gordon McGurk, Southern Cross University

Healthcare quality, mystery shopping and research ethics

Dr Sharon Schembri, James Cook University

Applying a translational ethics model to facilitate rigorous, high-quality postgraduate health services research

Dr Robyn Taylor, Dr Claire Deakin, Dr Shayema Khorshed, Kellie Hansen, Jason Lawrence, Simon Radmore & Professor David Greenfield

University of New South Wales, Western Sydney Local Health District, South Western Sydney Local Health District & Northern Sydney Local Health District

The Victorian Ethics Network: building collaboration and capacity in human research ethics

Dr Peter Burke, RMIT University

What needs to change to ensure LGBTQ+ people are included in cancer clinical trials?

Celine Daignault, Cancer Institute New South Wales

Sharing clinical research results with Australian participants

Gudrun Wells

Implementation of AI assistant for training of IRB analysts: a novel educational approach

Chong Xue Jun Jaylynn, NHG Health Singapore

Redesigning Queensland Health’s approach to translational innovation – shining a light on improvement, innovation, evaluation and audit activities

Beth Wray, Clinical Excellence Queensland

Lived experience people in research design and conduct

Lisa Treverrow, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

Research adequacy, AI, and the creation of mHealth Apps

Dr Dana Wensley, University of Auckland

ACT HREC PAT Authorised Prescriber Update and Issues

Professor Nick Glasgow, Australian National University

A new era for psychedelic-assisted therapy trials: safety, ethics, and progress

Professor Susan Rossell & Associate Professor Vanessa Beesley, QIMR Berghofer

Charter for healthy volunteer trials

François Bompart, VOLRETHICS Association France

Ethics & governance review of adaptive platform trials: practical guidance for HRECs and research officers

Sophie Gatenby, RCH Melbourne

Facilitators and barriers to the clinical trial recruitment of older people: a qualitative study

Sue Markham, University of Sydney

HREC member panel discussion: Role and challenges for HREC members

Alison Bradshaw, Central Adelaide Local Health network
Lucy Lopez,The University of Queensland HREC
David Luttrell, RPA HREC
Geoff Vass, Women's and Children's Health Network HREC

Building a new framework for research tissue regulation in Australia: the Australian Law Reform Commission’s proposals for reform

Dr Meaghan Toews, Australian Law Reform Commission

Update: quality standards and accreditation scheme for HRECs and their host institutions

Michael Swarbrick, Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing

TGA update on psychedelic assisted therapy

Professor Robyn Langham, Therapeutic Goods Administration

TGA principles to practice: governance, regulation and compliance for AI-enabled human research

Bridgette Basnayt, University of Southern Queensland

The canReview Project

Susan Marlin, Clinical Trials Ontario

Research our way: exploring the ethics governance experiences and preferences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled health organisations and HRECs of Queensland

Greg Pratt, Central Queensland University, QAIHC

Beyond tokenism: recruiting for and sustaining equitable representation on a Northern Territory Human Research Ethics Committee

Hayley Germaine, Charles Darwin University

STILETTO: SupporTIng quaLity EThics applications and timely respOnses

Dr Sarah Moberley, Hunter New England Local Health District

Data sharing for secondary research in Australia: results from a Shared Ethical Debate (ShED) exercise

Dr Rebekah McWhirter, Australian National University

Redefining the boundaries: research, quality activities and clinical registries

David O’Halloran, Department of Health Tasmania

Community-based participatory research (CBPR)

Associate Professor Adam Becker, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Pre-ethics: Relational groundwork for ethical encounters

Sebastian J. Lowe, Aarhus University & James Cook University

Ethical gaps in the inclusion of people with dementia in self-advocacy: beyond research protocols

Kate Swaffer, University of South Australia

“Do we need ethics for that?” A provocation from a project to grow James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships in Australia

Dr Bec Jenkinson, The University of Queensland

Involving people with disability as consumer research partners

Associate Professor Margaret Wallen, Australian Catholic University

Advancing health equity in randomised controlled trials: a collaborative implementation science approach

Mark Liu, The University of Queensland

The role of familial carers in palliative care for terminal cancer: the ethics of autoethnography

Associate Professor Susan Hemer, University of Adelaide

Enabling decentralised clinical trials in NSW and ACT

Anna Hartley, Cancer Institute NSW

Inclusivity in informed consent

Natalie Day, Parenting Research Centre

Simplifying consent: a user-centred approach for people with schizophrenia

Gabrielle Ritchie, The University of Queensland

Consent and command: ethical dilemmas of studying the military

Ofelia Carreno, University of Adelaide

Increasing CALD recruitment in cancer clinical trials by engaging interpreters and clinical trial staff

Dr Suzanne Grant, Western Sydney University

HREC chair debate

Panellists:
Professor Michael Martin
Associate Professor Mandy Downing
Associate Professor Suzie Ferrie
Professor Andrew Crowden

The Rob Loblay Oration

Associate Professor Stephen Adelstein, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, NSW Health Pathology, RPA Institute for Academic Medicine, University of Sydney

The Rob Loblay Prize

Presented by Associate Professor Suzie Ferrie, Sydney Local Health District

The 2025 Rob Loblay Prize, sponsored by Sydney Local Health District, went to Joel Seah for his talk on 'Would we want generative artificial intelligence in institutional review boards?'.

The Rob Loblay Prize was awarded for the best presentation on the following criteria:

1. Be concise
2. Be impactful
3. Be informative
4. Include a Rob Loblay element!

Read the article on the Rob Loblay Prize 2025 winner.

Conference close

Closed by Adjunct Professor Gordon McGurk, Southern Cross University