A national system for multi-centre ethics review
National Mutual Acceptance (NMA) is a national system that enables a single ethical and scientific review of multi-centre human research projects conducted across all Australian states and territories.
This page is hosted by Safer Care Victoria on behalf of all Australian states and territories. It provides national information and resources about the NMA system.
Purpose of NMA
NMA supports a more consistent and efficient approach to research ethics review. It aims to:
- reduce duplication of ethics reviews across sites
- streamline the start-up of multi-centre research
- provide a consistent ethical review process across jurisdictions
- improve access to research opportunities across health services.
How NMA works
Under NMA, eligible multi-centre research:
- is reviewed by one Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC)
- receives a single ethics review for all participating sites
- does not require additional local ethics review.
Each participating organisation remains responsible for:
- site-level authorisation through research governance
- ensuring local requirements are met.
Resources
NMA resources are approved collectively by all Australian states and territories. They are housed on the Safer Care Victoria website for all states and territories to access.
NHMRC National Certification Scheme
The National Certification Scheme of Institutional Processes Related to the Ethical Review of Multi-centre Research (National Certification Scheme) enables the single ethics and scientific review of human research that is occurring at multiple institutions in Australia.