Indigenous health research ethics in Australia: applying guidelines as the basis for negotiating research agreements

Abstract

The introduction of the National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines for the ethical conduct of Indigenous health research: Values and Ethics: guidelines for ethical conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research (NHMRC, 2003), has prompted renewed debate about the ethical assessment of Indigenous health research in Australia. Concern has been expressed that these guidelines provide inadequate protection of Indigenous interests and that their introduction will result in a rolling back of important Indigenous research reform gains of the past three decades. Another view is that the participatory focus of the Guidelines will help ensure that key Indigenous values are positioned as central to the development of research involving Indigenous interests. In this article we provide an overview of recent commentary on the Guidelines, and canvass practical proposals for their implementation into practice. In particular, we present a case for applying the Values and Ethics Guidelines as a foundation for establishing negotiated research agreements between Indigenous peoples and professional researchers at the local community level. The intention of this proposal is to give voice to the concerns and perspectives of Indigenous peoples through research, and to provide a framework for monitoring research after ethics approval has been granted.