ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates a conflicting understanding of beneficence – between the views held by contemporary artists and artistic researchers and the principle of beneficence enshrined in The National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research, 2007, the code of behaviour that underpins the ethical conduct of research within Australian universities. In Australia, all research, including artistic research, is conducted in accord with the National Statement, which establishes a set of working guidelines for the ethical conduct of research within Australian universities. The issue of identification and imaginative engagement raises a question that has been taken up by those committed to developing work around research ethics. Harm or the risk of harm can be an unavoidable part of the research process and to judiciously eliminate all risk from research projects, apart from being impossible, would produce a situation where research becomes neutered, inadequate to address the complex issues that face us living in the world.
