Apply to do research in ACT public schools

When you apply for approval, you need to provide a copy of the information statement you will use in your research.

For example, you need to tell people how you will do the research, what their rights are and how you will handle their information.

You need to provide the consent forms you'll use in your research. These must give active informed consent. You cannot use an 'opt out' form.

Depending on the research, these could be for:

• students and their parents or carers
• school principals
• teachers.

Students have the right to stop being involved in the research, even if their parents or carers gave consent.

When you apply for approval, you need to provide a risk management plan if your research involves sensitive issues that may distress students.

Researchers or their sponsoring organisation must provide free support services to students or families if there is a risk of mental health issues as a result of taking part in your research. For example, you could offer free access to counselling services.

Areas we consider highly sensitive include research about:

• mental health
• body image and eating disorders
• death, grief and trauma
• anti-social and criminal activities or behaviours
• alcohol, drug or substance abuse
• attitudes towards persons of different sex and sexual behaviours
• ethnicity, race and gender issues.

When you apply for approval, you or your sponsoring organisation need to provide evidence that you have public liability insurance of at least $10 million.

If your public liability certificates will expire mid-project, you'll need to provide us with the new ones as soon as possible.

Research in public schools must always follow ethical and privacy guidelines and requirements.

This includes, but is not limited to:

• Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2018)
• National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2023)
• Guidelines under section 95 of the Privacy Act 1988 (2024)
• Guidelines approved under section 95A of the Privacy Act 1988 (2024).

For a comprehensive list of links to the various guidelines and codes, visit the:

• Australian Research Council
• Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council.

If you are doing research on behalf of a university or research organisation:

• seek approval from your organisation's Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC)
• get an approval letter from the committee
• submit the approval letter with your application.

Contact us if you:

• are not doing this research on behalf of a university or research organisation
• are an undergraduate student doing a short research assignment (not more than one semester)
• do not have access to a third party HREC.

If you are working directly with students aged under 18, you may need Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) registration. Other states and territories may know this as the Working with Children Check (WWCC).

The Access Canberra website has details on how to apply for WWVP registration.

We accept current WWVP or WWCC registrations from other Australian states and territories.

We consider your proposed use of incentives when deciding if we will approve the research.

We do not support incentives that influence participants:

• taking part in the research
• responses during the research.

We may support an incentive that enables the research to occur. For example, if a person needs to use an app or device as part of the research, we may allow this during the research period even though the app or device usually costs money.

Sometimes, a staff member from the Education Directorate, including teachers, may want to do research in their school. This research is not tied to a university or other organisation. For example, a teacher may want to do research for their postgraduate studies.

To check if you need to submit an application, email us at DETResearch@act.gov.au.

Your application must clearly state that the research is:

• being done as independent research
• not related to your role in the Education Directorate.

You must clearly state this in:

• all communication and recruitment material
• information statements
• consent forms.

We send you a letter giving approval for you to approach the agreed list of public schools. You must give this letter to individual school principals.

Our approval letter includes any conditions that apply to your research. Researchers must follow these conditions at all times.

Any change in your methods, scope or timeframes need our approval. To get approval, email us and outline what changes you want to make.

As a condition of approval, you must provide us with a copy of the final research report within one month of completing the research project. This must include an abstract.

Research reports are held in an online library that our staff can access. We may use these reports:

• to inform policy and program development
• to help evaluate existing programs.

Criminal record check for researchers

You may need to have a criminal record check if the school principal decides that students may be at risk from the:

• nature of the research activity
• type of contact you will have with students.

You and your sponsoring organisation are responsible for arranging the check and paying any costs.

Anyone entering a school to do research must comply with the visitors in schools policy.

If your application is declined, you can revise and resubmit.

We may decline any applications that:

• have inadequate methods
• investigate highly sensitive issues
• are likely to impose an unreasonable burden on schools, students or school staff
• do not align with our current strategic priorities.

When we consider the burden on a school, we also consider:

• other current or recent research projects the schools have been involved in
• competing demands on school resources
• if staff have time to be involved
• other factors affecting individual schools.