Feedback on key activities

Building the evidence base and translating evidence into practice were the two highest rated activities, followed by building research capacity.
 

Developing the evidence base

• Any structure and use of research funds must lead to actionable research that builds on existing research programs rather than to fragmented one off projects, and must be designed for impact in terms of disability practice and policy.

• We suggest the NDRP initially prioritise delivering on the national disability research agenda, with a strong focus on ensuring that knowledge reaches the right people involved in developing policy and implementing practice improvements.

• Hopefully NDRP will have ability to be responsive to emerging trends, issues and needs within the disability ecosystem, and to adjust its research agenda accordingly.

• Support for the potential role of the NDRP to build the evidence base for successful implementation of the new National Disability Strategy.

• Find a way to reduce duplication across and within the sector - disability, mental health, suicide prevention segments, for example.

• The consortium / partnership approach will be important: particularly in regional areas where having a local stakeholder will help build trust and ensure research and knowledge translation are respectful and impactful.

• We hope this initiative will help build evidence in smaller areas of disability as well as the ‘big’ areas; e.g. CHARGE syndrome.
   

Knowledge translation 

• Would like to see NDRP make a real impact in the translation of research into resources that are available freely; especially in regional, rural and remote communities.

• A curated resource bank would be good; APO Disability Research Collection is a good start but would be good to have this curated and editorials included. A ‘one stop shop’ for work that is funded by the sector, resulting evidence and practice advice.

• DPOs want good data that is easy to access for our advocacy work. We don’t have access to the academic journals, so we can’t draw on the links when new evidence is shared.

• The disability sector desperately needs mechanisms such as these to put existing research into the hands of end users.

• In Australia, there is no equivalent of the UK Social Care Institute for Excellence which facilitates access and application of research into practice and policy through synthesis and reviews but also undertakes translational work through, for example, development of practice guidelines.

• There is huge potential for the NDRP to focus on the translation and use of research rather than duplicate existing funding bodies as a creator/funder of research. The disability field is much in need of such approaches.

• For service provides, NDRP could help by facilitating something like an “innovation concierge” where providers can initiate new models, seek advice about how to evaluate, document and/or successfully scale models, and identify other providers to work with.

• Demonstrate what change is happening as a result of research. This will help build trust with people who participate in research who can see that their input has helped create change.
   

Building research capacity

• Building research capacity for disabled people is very much needed and can be done.

• NDRP could support networks or communities of practice, e.g. disabled researchers, practitioner researchers, disabled people with expertise in graphic design, infographics etc.

• I'm nervous NDRP will remain a closed shop like previous efforts. With research, please think about people at all levels of career. Fund PhD's, fund post docs and other fellowships. Funding shouldn't just be going to the senior researchers, rather we should be establishing a pathway for junior researchers to become those senior researchers of the future.

• Could the NDRP host innovation awards? Or fund overseas study trips to share knowledge and build capacity? There are international models that were ‘implementation ready’ and could be brought to Australia, but there are limited opportunities to seek funding to test them here.

• Expand on existing hubs like Remarkable to provide greater scale.

​