External research and data application guidelines
The Education Directorate welcomes applications to conduct research in ACT public schools that has the potential to contribute to a greater understanding of educational issues and outcomes.
Our Strategic Plan - Education commits to a strong public education system in which every child and young person receives an excellent education, delivered and supported by highly skilled and valued professionals. Our educational mission closely contributes to the ACT Wellbeing Framework. It is expected that all research aligns to the four foundations of the Set Up for Success and the Future of Education strategies.
We assess all research project proposals. Approval is required before research in schools can proceed. Researchers wishing to conduct research in non-government schools should contact relevant schools or their associations for permission.
Applying to conduct research in ACT public schools
To apply for research approval, please read the following guidelines and then complete the following:
The Directorate has developed templates for an information letter and consent form for projects we have approved. Applicants must provide all necessary information letters and consent forms.
All enquiries and completed research applications should be emailed to DETResearch@act.gov.au.
Conducting educational research
All researchers who wish to conduct research in ACT public schools must submit a Research Application if the project involves:
- ACT public school students
- children, parents, caregivers or community members recruited via a school
- Directorate employees (including teachers, support staff and corporate staff); or
- data held by the Directorate that is not already publicly available and/or departmental intellectual property.
Requests for Directorate data
Requests for data are dealt with on a case-by-case basis and are addressed through the application process. Where data can be provided, the details will be agreed in consultation with the researcher and the Directorate data custodians and policy owners. The Directorate has an obligation to ensure research is carried out in an ethical manner and considers the potential burden placed on participants. The privacy of students and teachers must be protected and the research must be appropriate to the school environment and students’ age.
Directorate staff conducting independent research
Education Directorate staff, including teachers, who wish to conduct independent research within their school should contact the Research team to determine if a research application is required. An example may be a teacher wanting to conduct research for their postgraduate studies.
Any research that involves asking students to complete a survey will require research approval. This includes surveying students either at an individual school or across multiple schools.
Research applications must clearly state that the research is being conducted in an independent capacity as a researcher (e.g. postgraduate studies) and is not affiliated with their role in the Directorate. This must be clearly articulated in all communication and recruitment material, including information statements and consent forms.
When to consult with schools
Researchers should not consult with schools/principals before submitting a Research Application. If consultation has already occurred prior to a submission, it is important to note that in-principle support from schools/principals does not guarantee the Directorate’s support to conduct the research.
Researchers must not commence research activity without approval from the Directorate.
Directorate approval process
Approval to conduct research in public schools involves two stages: 'in-principle approval’ from the Directorate and ‘permission to proceed’ from individual school principals.
Stage 1: In-principle approval
The Directorate examines all research proposals to ensure that the subject matter and methodology is suitable for the target school(s).
Submission of the Application and supporting documents will initiate the first stage of the approval process. Applications that do not include required information will not be assessed.
Applications must be submitted using the National Application Form 
, developed between Australian education departments and the Australian Association for Research in Education.
The Directorate aims to communicate a decision to approve; approve subject to amendments; or reject an Application within 10 weeks of submission. In some cases, applicants may be requested to provided additional information to inform a final decision. It is unlikely that Applications will be approved for commencement in the same school term that the application is received.
Approval may be conditional on the researcher adjusting the research design/methodology for the following reasons: to ensure the reliability and validity of research, to consider the wellbeing of participants or reduce the participation burden on schools, students or school personnel.
The Directorate reserves the right to reject an Application that is assessed to be methodologically inadequate, investigating highly sensitive issues or is considered likely to impose an unreasonable burden on schools, students or school personnel.
Note: Consideration of an Application’s potential burden will also take into account factors including potential participating schools, students or school personnel involvement in other current or recent research projects (including those approved via the University of Canberra Affiliated Schools Program), competing demands on school resources (e.g. NAPLAN testing window), workforce capacity and local factors.
An Application that has been rejected may be revised and resubmitted.
The Directorate does not generally provide approval for research that is undertaken primarily for commercial or material gain.
Consideration of research involving sensitive issues
If a research project involves investigation of sensitive issues which could have the potential to cause distress to students, the project may be rejected. The Directorate considers research in the following areas highly sensitive and potentially distressing to students:
- 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, and
- Ethnic, race and gender issues and relations.
For positive consideration of research applications in the above areas, researchers are required to provide a risk management plan with their application. It is a condition of research approval in these sensitive areas that researchers or their sponsoring organisation will provide free of cost support services such as clinical or counselling services to participating students and their families in the case of potential mental health or psychological issues arising out of their participation in the research project.
Stage 2: Permission to proceed
The decision to participate in research is at a principal’s discretion and will be based on alignment with the schools’ improvement agenda, priorities and/or capacity. Participation of schools, staff and students remains voluntary.
If the Application is approved by the Directorate, a letter will be issued granting permission to approach public schools. The approval letter must be presented to individual school principals.
The approval letter provides information on conditions of conducting research. Researchers must follow those conditions at all times. Any changes in the methodology, scope and timeframes require Directorate approval through a written application for continuing research.
Following Directorate approval, permission to conduct research in a particular ACT public school rests with the school principal. Permission will be dependent on curriculum requirements and a determination that the research project does not place undue burden on the school, students or school personnel.
Information to support workload management and responder burden within our schools
In order to manage staff and student workload and to reduce responder burden, following recruitment of schools to participate in your research you will be required to provide the Directorate research team at DETResearch@act.gov.au the names of participating schools and the approximate number of teachers and students that will be involved.
Limitations on approval
Approval to undertake research in schools does not extend to obtaining individual or aggregate student achievement data (e.g. BASE, National Assessment Program, year 12, etc).
Access to data must be requested from relevant data custodians and granted and their discretion, with any associated conditions for its use, publication and destruction.
Data holders may include the school principal, Directorate, the Office of the ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority and the Australian Council for Educational Research.
Reporting requirements
It is a condition of approval that the Directorate be supplied with a copy of the final research report/paper/thesis, including an abstract, within one month of the completion of the research project. All researchers are required to agree and comply with this condition.
Research reports are placed in an online library accessible to all Directorate staff and may be used to inform policy and program development and evaluation purposes.
Checklist consideration for researchers
Researchers will need to consider the following when conducting research and making an application:
Participant information statements
These statements must be provided to all research participants. These must include clear information about:
- the purpose of the research and what participation in the research entails (likely activities and timeframes)
- participation being voluntary, and that participants may withdraw at any stage without penalty
- any potential risks of participation, including if they are being asked to provide sensitive information, participate in activities that may be sensitive and any potential mandatory reporting requirements
- confidentiality and privacy, including how personal information will be de-identified
- who to contact with questions or concerns
- contact details for support services in the event of distress experienced during research activities (if sensitive topics are being discussed)
- how their information will be stored and used, who will retain ownership and how long for
- if and when their information will be destroyed or if it may be used for a secondary purpose in the future.
Consent
If the research project involves students under the age of 18 years, consent of both students and their parents/carers is required. Active informed consent (opt-in) forms for both students and their parents/carers must be included with the application for research.
An opt-out form is not acceptable.
Students have the right to withdraw from the project despite consent from their parents/carers.
Consent forms must:
- confirm participants understand the purpose of the research and what their participation in the research involves (including how their information will be used) and they have had the opportunity to ask questions
- confirm participants understand that participation is voluntary, they can withdraw their consent at any time, and they can understand what withholding consent means for them
- confirm participants understand any potential risks of participating in the research, including activities that may cause potential distress and potential mandatory reporting obligations of the researcher
- confirm participants understand that confidentiality will be maintained, and data stored securely
- allow participants to choose not to be videoed, voice recorded or photographed
- allow participants to choose if samples of their work (e.g. work sheets, artwork, lesson plans) can be collected.
Public Liability Insurance
Any researcher, or their sponsoring organisation, applying to conduct research in ACT public schools must have public liability insurance of at least $10 million. Evidence of public liability insurance must be attached with the Research Application. Permission to conduct research in schools is usually granted for the duration of public liability insurance cover.
Ethics
Research in public schools must always be conducted in accordance with ethical and privacy guidelines and requirements as determined in the following publications of the Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council:
- Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2007)
- National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007)
- Guidelines under section 95 of the Privacy Act 1988 (2000)
- Guidelines approved under section 95A of the Privacy Act 1988 (2001).
Researchers from universities or research organisations must seek approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) of the university or their organisation and enclose the approval letter with the application.
Researchers, that are not associated with universities or organisations with an HREC or who cannot submit their research proposals to a third party HREC and undergraduate students undertaking a short research assignment (not exceeding a semester), must submit the Ethics Statement 
(28kb). The statement must be countersigned by supervisors.
Screening of researchers
If the principal assesses that the nature of the research activity and/or the type of contact with students may place students at risk then the researcher will be required to undergo screening. The researcher and sponsoring organisation are responsible for arranging the screening, criminal record check, and any associated costs.
A person entering a school to conduct research is considered a visitor to a school. Visitors must comply with the Visitors in Schools Framework located on the policies page of the Directorate’s website.
Incentives
The Directorate does not support incentives that influence participation and/or responses from research participants; however, provision of support to facilitate the research will be considered. For example, if the participant is required to use an app on a device to be able to participate in the research, the provision of credit for the period of the research would be deemed appropriate. Providing a participant with credit or a device after this period would not be considered appropriate.