Further information and resources on ethical research practice

Templates

The following templates may be downloaded and used to help guide the development of your own documents. Please note that they need to be adapted and tailored to your individual projects and may not be suitable for specific research activities or research with or about specific groups or legal problems.

• Template Participant information sheet and consent form
• Informed consent checklist

Resources

If there is a topic you would like more information on or would like to discuss how we might support you to develop your research project, please contact the Grants team

Digital data management

Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (2024), Digital Impact Toolkit, Stanford PACS. This tool was developed by the Digital Civil Society Lab to support civil society organisations to use digital data ethically, safely, and effectively.

Intellectual Property (IP) and Indigenous Data Sovereignty

The National Principles of Intellectual Property Management for Publicly Funded Researches were developed by a working party of the Australian Government’s Coordinating Committee on Innovation and adopted by the NHMRC in 2013. They support the ethical management of IP arising from publicly funded research.

The Lowitja Institute, Indigenous Data Sovereignty Readiness Assessment and Evaluation Toolkit has been developed to support a whole-of-organisation approach to embedding Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles and practices in research organisations and is available to Lowitja members.

Collecting gender, sex and sexuality information

Data about sexual orientation is considered sensitive and its collection has privacy implications. Ensure that you consult relevant privacy legislation, including the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) and the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic).

Government guidelines on collecting gender, sex and sexuality information, including the Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender and the ABS Standard for Sex and Gender Variables (2016) can provide some basic guidance on when and how to collect information on gender, sex and sexuality. However, these guidelines and standards have limitations in how they suggest researchers collect information on gender/sex categories, including by suggesting terminology for intersex and non-binary people that can be stigmatising or inaccurate such as ‘other’ or ‘indeterminate’. It is important to include gender diverse people from your community/ies in your research and ensure that your data collection methods are sensitive, appropriate and equitable in how they operate. Staff training and other resources that may assist your organisation to conduct ethical research with LGBTQIA+ people include:

• Member Training Courses from LGBTIQ+ Health Australia member organisations
• Rainbow Health Australia’s Rainbow Tick Standards

Collaborative research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities/organisations

Williams, M. & Ragg, M. (2024). Checklist: Where does power lie in a partnership? Yulang Indigenous Evaluation. This is a useful tool for both parties in collaborative or partnered research where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and/or communities are working with non-Aboriginal bodies, including government and CLCs.

Trauma-informed research practice

If you are working with people who are likely to have, or are continuing to experience trauma, it is vital to undertake research using trauma-informed principles. This is critical both for participants and for researchers.

A trauma-informed research practice involves understanding the impacts of trauma on people involved in the research (participants, researchers, and other key stakeholders) while applying strategies to minimise further trauma, including through the research methods and outputs. It involves supporting people to safely navigate through the research process with appropriate recognition of individual agency and autonomy.

It is important to undertake a context-specific and culturally safe approach to developing your trauma-informed research practice.

Additional information and support can be found at:

• AIFS Practice Guides: Principles for doing trauma-informed research and program evaluation and How to do trauma-informed research and evaluation
• DFFH Victoria Framework for trauma-informed practice
• CASA House professional training sessions

Ethics and AI in research

The use of AI (including generative AI and machine learning) in research requires careful consideration. While AI can provide efficiency benefits in under-resourced environments, there are risks that will require appropriate mechanisms to be put in place, depending on the nature of the research and the tasks that AI is undertaking.

Key considerations include:

• Data privacy and security – ensuring that the use of AI does not interfere with respect for individual privacy and adherence to data protection laws
• Risk of bias – considering the risk of doing further harm to marginalised or discriminated individuals and communities if learning is built on biased data
• Transparent decision-making – ensuring that the legitimacy of the research and its findings is not undermined by a lack of clear reasoning (the ‘black box’ of AI decision-making)
• Responsibility and oversight – understanding the importance of the human element at every stage, particularly in checking for ‘hallucinations’ and contextual accuracy.The use of AI in any part of the research process should be declared by the research team to promote transparency and ensure appropriate verification can be made by any audience, including reviewers.

Further support:

• Australia’s AI Ethics Principles