NMA Projects

The following information is for researchers who wish to submit their research proposals for review under the National Mutual Acceptance (NMA) scheme. This information will tell you where to complete Ethics applications and Site Specific Assessment (SSA) applications for NMA studies.

From late 2020, all Australian State and Territory jurisdictions now participate in National Mutual Acceptance. Applicants still only create and submit one Human Research Ethics Application (HREA) form. This is done in whichever online system is being used in the jurisdiction where the reviewing Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) is located. For further information, please refer to the NSW Health & Medical Research website.

• NSW & ACT REGIS website: https://regis.health.nsw.gov.au/
• QLD & VIC ERM website: https://au.forms.ethicalreviewmanager.com/
• SA Research GEMS website: https://gems.sahealth.sa.gov.au/
• WA RGS website: https://rgs.health.wa.gov.au/Pages/Home.aspx
• NT: https://hrea.gov.au/
• TAS: For guidance on governance applications in Tasmania, consult the Tasmanian Research Governance Unit website.

• VIC: a Victorian Specific Module (VSM) must be completed 
• WA: a WA Specific Module (WASM) must be completed via the RGS 
• ACT specific forms must be completed 
• NT specific forms must be completed and further ethical and scientific review may be triggered

Generating an SSA in REGIS for NMA projects

REGIS has been developed with the intention of supporting NMA projects. For projects that have been reviewed by a participating public health jurisdiction HREC (VIC/QLD/WA/SA) but involves a NSW Health site, the SSA for the NSW Health site should usually be generated in REGIS.

Each project should only be registered once in REGIS. If a study with this identifier has already been registered in REGIS DO NOT complete another project registration. A warning message will appear to advise of the Project ID, the CPI’s name and HREC. Contact the CPI/lead to request that they add your site to generate an SSA to complete.

For a step-by-step guide on how to register the project and create an SSA in REGIS, please refer to the quick reference guide here.

Definitions:

NMA - National Mutual Acceptance: the system of single scientific and ethical review of multi-centre human research across Australian jurisdictions (for research conducted in public health organisations).

CPI or CI – Co-ordinating Principal Investigator or Chief Investigator: the person who has overall responsibility for the research project and submits the project for ethical review. For single-centre research, Co-ordinating Principal Investigator and Principal Investigator are synonymous.

PI – Principal Investigator: the person responsible for the conduct of a study at a site.