University of New South Wales Human Research Ethics Committee –

The HREC reviews research projects that involve humans from many disciplines at UNSW, with origins in all UNSW Faculties. The role of the HREC is to protect the welfare, rights, dignity and safety of research participants.

Individuals are sought in the following categories:
• Laywoman: A general public member who does not have an affiliation with UNSW and does not currently engage in medical, scientific, legal or academic work.
• Layman: A general public member who does not have an affiliation with UNSW and does not currently engage in medical, scientific, legal or academic work.
The Committee’s membership comprises a chairperson, external lay members, external professional care members, external lawyers, pastoral care members and experienced researchers encompassing the range of disciplines at UNSW.

UNSW has two committees that meet on a monthly basis at the Kensington campus. HREC A meets on the first Tuesday of the month and HREC A meets on the third Tuesday of the month.
• Meetings start at 1pm and generally continue until 5pm. The number of applications to be reviewed varies between 15 and 25 submissions per committee per month.
• Each member of the Committee is assigned as a lead reviewer for about 2-3 applications per month and as a second reviewer on a similar number of applications.
• Each member receives an email which includes a link to the agenda, minutes from previous month’s meeting and a combined file of each application to be reviewed. Members are expected to complete all pre-reading before the meeting. Preparations for the meeting usually takes between 5 and 10 hours a month. Members are appointed for a term of 3 years.

Submissions of Expressions of Interests:
All submissions for expressions of interests must be emailed to humanethics@unsw.edu.au and must in the following documentation:

Cover letter
A supporting statement of up to two pages addressing following points;
• Specify the membership category that you are expressing an interest in and outline the reason you are interested in becoming a member.
• Outline how your current role, interests and/or your personal, professional or academic experience will assist you in carrying out your role as a member of the human research ethics committee.
• Confirm that your current workload can accommodate the additional time commitment as a volunteer member of the committee and specify whether the 1st or 3rd Tuesday of the month is your preference of attending meetings.
• Indicate whether you would be interested in a leadership role on the HREC.

Curriculum Vitae
• A copy of your CV, including email, preferred telephone contact number, and names of two referees.