Status: Completed

Overview

The purpose of this project was to develop greater clarity and encourage clearer thinking about consent in research involving children.We conducted key informant interviews with researchers and ethics committees.  We asked researchers about the difficulties they encounter, and we asked ethics committees about the main issues they discuss, the main things that need amending and whether some things do not get approved. We asked both about issues warranting further investigation.  

The outcomes of this project included:

• An educational resource providing guidance for researchers and Human Research Ethics Committees (HRECs)
• A national ethics training program delivered to 4 centres, reaching several hundred key stakeholders. 
  
  

Educational resources - Handbook for researchers and Human Research Ethics Committees (HRECs)

The questions in this handbook have practical value because it is based on actual issues of concern expressed by members of HRECs who review research involving children and researchers who conduct that research.

• Understanding Consent in Research Involving Children: The ethical Issues, 2010PDF 553.37 KB

Research team

• Lead Investigator, Dr Merle Spriggs, Honorary Research Fellow

Co-investigators

• Professor Lynn Gillam – Director, Children's Bioethics Centre / University of Melbourne / Royal Children’s Hospital
• Professor Justin Oakley - Director of the Centre for Human Bioethics, Monash University
• Professor Colin Thomson – A former Chair of the Australian Health Ethics Committee (AHEC) and Professorial Fellow of the Faculty of Law, University of Wollongong