Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF HEALTH ETHICS COMMITTEE AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2002 (NO. 1) 2002 NO. 62

STATUTORY RULES 2002 No. 62

Issued by authority of the Minister for Health and Ageing

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 1987

Australian Institute of Health Ethics Committee Amendment Regulations 2002 (No. 1)

Section 32 of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Act 1987 (the Act), provides that the Governor General may make Regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted to be prescribed for the purposes of the Act.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Ethics Committee Regulations (the Regulations) outline the functions and composition of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Ethics Committee (the Committee).

The purpose of the amendments to the Regulations is to reflect changes made to the Act contained in Schedule 1 (Part 2) of the Health Legislation Amendment Act 2002 (No. 2) and to include minor changes to ensure that (as a Human Research Ethics Committee) the Committee operates consistently with the National Health and Medical Research Guidelines.

This extends the legislative coverage of the Committee to include welfare-related information and statistics. The amalgamation of the two previously separate committees now provides the same legislative base for both health and welfare related data, enabling the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (the AIHW) to make available identifiable welfare-related data for research purposes. The amendments also include minor changes to ensure that (as a Human Research Ethics Committee) the Committee operates consistently with the National Health and Medical Research Guidelines.

The amendments to the Regulation:

•       Substitute reference to the title of the Institute's Ethics Committee from the 'Health Ethics Committee' to the 'Health and Welfare Ethics Committee' to reflect legislative changes to extend the Committee's scope to include welfare-related information and statistics, in accordance with Schedule 1 (Part 2) of the Health Legislation Amendment Act 2002 (No. 2);

•       Add a clause referring to the release of identifiable data for research purposes. This is to appropriately reflect a major function of the Committee; and

•       Amend the previous composition of the Committee to ensure consistency with the membership as specified by the National Health and Medical Research Council for Human Research Ethics Committees.

The proposed Regulations commenced on gazettal.