13.1. All human remains shall be treated with respect, irrespective of age, condition, origin, ethnicity, religion, sex or nationality.
13.2. The relevant law and regulations shall be complied with at all times.
13.3. For any research proposal involving human remains, tissue or body fluids (other than standardised testing procedures such as blood sample tests), application must normally be made to the appropriate Health and Disability Ethics Committee. (refer also to Appendix O).
13.4. Arrangement and agreements about the treatment and disposal of human remains, tissue and/or body fluids must be stated in the application for ethical approval.
13.5. The wishes of the local community and relatives or guardians with respect to investigation, storage, and/or disposal shall be complied with wherever possible and reasonable.
13.6. Account shall be taken of the value of skeletal, mummified or other human remains, including fossil hominids, for scientific and other scholarly research. The potential value of remains should be demonstrable in the light of either current knowledge or foreseeable investigatory techniques.
13.7. Fossil, skeletal, mummified or other human remains shall be disposed of after negotiated agreement. Any agreement shall take into account the legitimate concerns of communities for the proper treatment of their ancestors and the legitimate requirements of science, education and other scholarship.
13.8. The concerns of various ethnic groups as well as those of science, education and of other scholarship and research shall be expressly recognised.
View the contact details for faculty representatives, research ethics advisor and AUTEC.