INTERNAL BREACHES of RI

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is a statutory agency established under the National Health and Medical Research Council Act 1992 (the NHMRC Act) and is a ‘listed entity’ under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (the PGPA Act). In accordance with these Acts, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NHMRC has a duty to govern NHMRC affairs in a way that promotes the efficient, effective, economical and ethical use and management of public resources for which NHMRC is responsible.1 NHMRC expects the highest levels of research integrity and conduct to be observed in the research that it funds. Institutions that administer NHMRC funding are bound by a Funding Agreement and, as part of this agreement, agree to observe the requirements of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, 2018 (the Code). 2 This policy also applies to research funded through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and administered by NHMRC. The purpose of this policy is to clarify the roles and responsibilities of institutions receiving research funding from NHMRC or the MRFF, including NHMRC Administering Institutions (collectively referred to as Institutions) about notifying NHMRC of potential and actual breaches of the Code, including research misconduct. It sets out NHMRC’s approach to managing and mitigating risks to the use of public resources that may arise from suspected or proven breaches. This policy also clarifies the role and responsibilities of Institutions to notify NHMRC of fraud and other forms of serious misconduct where these involve NHMRC-funded or MRFF-funded research or researchers. Adherence to the requirements of this policy forms part of an Institution’s obligations under the Funding Agreement.