About ANZCTR

The Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) is an on-line register of clinical trials being undertaken in Australia and New Zealand. It is funded for 5 years by an National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Enabling Grant..

The ANZCTR includes trials from the full spectrum of therapeutic areas trials of pharmaceuticals, surgical procedures, preventive measures, lifestyle, devices, treatment and rehabilitation strategies and complementary therapies. It has coverage all clinical trials involving Australian/New Zealand researchers or participants. Trials that do not involve Australian/New Zealand researchers or participants will be accepted if there is not a more appropriate national registry with which they should be lodged.

The ANZCTR aims to:

• be a comprehensive, prospective, national register of clinical trials
• include trials of any health care interventions
• make information on ongoing trials readily accessible
• increase participation in ongoing clinical trials
• provide a reliable and unbiased source of information for systematic reviews, prospective meta-analyses and evidence-based guidelines

The ANZCTR has been designed to comply with the requirements of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), although there is currently no formal certification process. The ANZCTR is actively involved in the international platform for trials registers (ICTRP) proposed by the WHO and has also taken advantage of the specifications published online by clinicaltrials.gov

Key points about the ANZCTR:

• At this point in time, all data submitted is made publicly available
• Registration is voluntary, but if a Sponsor chooses to register a trial, certain fields are mandatory
• Registration is free of charge
• Responsibility for registration lies with the Sponsor
  • A Sponsor is defined by the NHMRC and TGA as "an individual, company or institution or organization which takes responsibility for the initiation, management and/or financing of a clinical trial".
  • It is the Sponsor's responsibility to ensure that the information submitted is accurate and up-to-date.

Phased development of the ANZCTR:

Although the need for a national clinical trials register has been recognised for many years, the establishment of the ANZCTR was expedited by the ICMJE call for trials registration for new trials from 1st July 2005. Consequently the first version of the ANZCTR was developed within a very short time period, and further improvement of the registry will be accomplished by phased development over several years (please see FAQ What are the future plans for the registry?).