Ethics Review Manager (ERM)

The Ethics Review Manager (ERM) is the cloud-based platform most Australian universities, hospitals and health services use to run their human research ethics and governance workflow — from an investigator first drafting a Human Research Ethics Application (HREA) through to the site-level Site-Specific Assessment (SSA) that authorises a study to actually run at a given location. It is built on software from Infonetica, a UK-based ethics-management-software vendor, but each institution runs its own branded instance — Monash, the University of Melbourne, QUT, Swinburne and Queensland Health all operate separate ERM portals on the shared platform, and New Zealand’s Ministry of Health runs a closely related instance for its own ethics committees. ERM is the system, not the committee or the form: the HREC is who reviews an application, the HREA is what gets submitted, and ERM is the platform that hosts, routes and tracks both.

What actually happens inside ERM

A researcher creates an account in their institution’s ERM portal (or the portal of whichever institution’s HREC will review their study) and completes the relevant application form electronically — a full Human Research Ethics Application for a new study, an amendment or annual report for an already-approved one, or a Site-Specific Assessment for a site joining a study already approved elsewhere. Per Queensland Health’s own description, ERM “helps you complete your research ethics approval and governance authorisation applications electronically,” replacing what used to be paper-based or ad hoc email-based submission with a single tracked workflow, version-controlled against the current edition of the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research.

Ethics review versus governance/site authorisation

ERM deliberately separates two distinct approvals that a multi-site Australian study needs: HREC ethics review of the research itself (usually done once, by a single reviewing HREC, and in many cases recognised at other sites under the National Mutual Acceptance scheme), and site-specific governance authorisation, which confirms that a given site — a particular hospital, health service or research institute — has the resources, indemnity and local approvals to actually host the study. A study can hold full HREC approval and still be unable to start at a second site until that site’s own Site-Specific Assessment has cleared through ERM.

Example

A researcher planning a multi-site health study logs into their lead institution’s ERM portal, completes and submits a Human Research Ethics Application to the reviewing HREC, and once ethics approval is granted, submits a separate Site-Specific Assessment through ERM for each additional participating hospital, so each site’s own research governance office can confirm it is able to host the study.

Counter-example

A researcher running a project that is exempt from HREC review entirely — for example, analysis using only pre-existing, de-identified, publicly available data — generally has nothing to submit through ERM. ERM hosts the paperwork for studies actually going through ethics and/or governance review; it is not a general research-activity register.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is ERM in ethics review?

ERM (Ethics Review Manager) is the online platform, built on Infonetica software, that most Australian universities and health services use to submit and track human research ethics applications and site-specific governance authorisations. Each institution runs its own branded ERM portal.

Is ERM the same as an HREC?

No. The HREC (Human Research Ethics Committee) is the committee that reviews and approves a study. ERM is the software platform through which the application is submitted to that committee and the review is tracked — the system, not the reviewing body.

Do I need to use ERM for a site-specific assessment as well as ethics review?

Yes, at most Australian institutions. ERM hosts both the initial Human Research Ethics Application submitted to the reviewing HREC and the separate Site-Specific Assessment each additional participating site requires before the study can start there.

Does every Australian institution use the same ERM system?

They use the same underlying Infonetica platform, but each institution or health service (Monash, University of Melbourne, QUT, Queensland Health, and others) operates its own separately branded ERM portal with its own account system and locally configured forms.