Why ethical review matters for good policy
Ethical review is sometimes seen as a hurdle in the path of getting a research or evaluation project completed. This post from Gerard Atkinson, Managing Director of Iris Ethics, outlines the benefits of ethical review for better evidence, and better social policy .
Before we get into it, a quick distinction worth making: ethics and ethical review are not the same thing.
Ethics, in the everyday sense, is about how we behave. It's the values we bring to our work and the honesty we apply to our findings. Ethical review is more specific. It's an independent, structured assessment of a project, one that examines whether the design and methods adequately protect the people involved.
Both matter. But in policy development, it's ethical review that tends to get overlooked.
Ethical review isn't only relevant to large-scale academic research. It applies across the range of work that involves collecting information from or about people, including policy evaluations, community consultations, and social research. The level of review should be proportionate to the scope and risk of the project, but the principle doesn't change based on who commissioned the work.
But why should those involved in social policy research and evaluation seek it out? Here are five reasons.
1. Get ahead of government requirements
Government agencies are increasingly formalising their expectations around ethical conduct. Procurement processes and grant conditions are starting to embed requirements for ethical oversight, sometimes explicitly, sometimes through risk management clauses.
Waiting to be asked for ethical review is a losing strategy. Proactively integrating ethical review into your project design signals to agencies that you understand their legal and regulatory obligations. It can smooth approval processes and reduce delays. It also means you're not scrambling to demonstrate ethical rigour after a contract has been signed.
2. Boost credibility with participants and the public
People asked to participate in research or evaluation are increasingly aware of, and concerned with, what happens to their information. In policy contexts where participants are often from marginalised or vulnerable communities wariness is entirely reasonable.
Independent ethical review provides genuine assurance, not just to clients, but to the people whose voices you are trying to capture. When participants know a project has been independently assessed, they have stronger grounds for trusting that their involvement will be handled with care. That trust translates into better engagement and richer data.
There is also a broader public accountability dimension. Policy research is conducted in the public interest. Ethical review is one mechanism by which that interest is actively protected.
3. Improve stakeholder engagement
Ethical review doesn't just assess risk. Under Australia's National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2025, it also considers the merit of a project, including whether the methods are appropriate to the questions being asked.
A project that has been independently scrutinised before anyone was asked to give their time is better placed to engage meaningfully with community groups, advocacy organisations, and government partners. That scrutiny builds credibility with stakeholders who have, often with good reason, developed a healthy scepticism of research processes.
4. Embed ethical integrity into policy development
Policy development relies on making claims about people's lives and needs, then using those claims to justify decisions that affect them. The stakes are high.
When ethical review is integrated into the research and evaluation that informs policy, rather than treated as a box to tick, questions about consent, privacy, and potential harm get asked at the design stage, when they can still shape the work. Over time, that embeds a standard of practice that strengthens policy development as a whole.
5. Improve policy outputs
This is perhaps the least obvious connection, but it's a real one. Research and evaluation that has been ethically reviewed tends to be better designed. The review process surfaces methodological weaknesses, gaps in sampling, and issues with how findings will be reported. Addressing those issues early produces more reliable evidence.
And better evidence produces better policy.
Moderator: Ruth Pitt