Communities and Justice

Research activities

Read about the different types of research activities in Communities and Justice.

Undertake internal research

Why is this research activity important?

Undertaking internal research is important as it:

  • harnesses the existing skills, experience and knowledge of Communities and Justice research staff to generate and capture new knowledge that can be directly implemented
  • provides timely advice for decision makers through the analysis of the most recent administrative data available
  • generates an organisational culture of contributing to evidence-based decision making, policy development and practice innovation
  • improves the rigour of policies as it will facilitate early and ongoing engagement with policy makers.

What will this look like?

  • Communities and Justice research staff continue to undertake new and rigorous research that focuses on closing evidence gaps
  • research staff synthesise existing research to inform service delivery and policy development in Communities and Justice focus areas, including literature reviews and evidence gap analyses
  • research staff apply rigorous statistical methods to analyse existing data to improve our understanding of client need, system performance and effective service delivery
  • specialist research areas collaborate with policy makers and practitioners to generate new knowledge about what works for clients and communities.

This research activity will be led by the Centres of Research within Communities and Justice. These are:

Commission external research

Why is this important?

Commissioning external research is important as it:

  • enables Communities and Justice to work with the human services research sector to close evidence gaps
  • facilitates technical and specialised research that require the skills and knowledge of subject matter experts
  • ensures that Communities and Justice investment in external research is focused on developing research that has an impact on improving client and community outcomes.

What will this look like?

Communities and Justice will establish a funded program of research in alignment with our Research Priorities. This will involve:

  • targeted calls for specific research priorities
  • researchers co-designing research studies with policy, practice and client peak organisations that directly close evidence gaps
  • supporting and funding Aboriginal research scholarships
  • funding rigorous research projects focused on:
    • flagship Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs)
    • Innovation development
    • implementation research.

Externally commissioned research will be supported by a Communities and Justice Research Advisory Committee that will review research proposals and support the use of rigorous methods.

Support collaborative research

Why is this important?

Collaborative research is important as it:

  • encourages Communities and Justice to work with other state and federal government departments through data linkage and collaborative research projects
  • enables Communities and Justice to collaborate with and support research led by the human services sector, including NGOs, community organisations and universities
  • encourages innovative, diverse and multi-disciplinary research.

What will this look like?

Communities and Justice will:

  • provide access for researchers to work with staff and use our administrative and research data sets
  • participate in cross-agency and sector-wide research networks
  • continue to provide in-kind support to researchers
  • participate in collaborative research projects, including cross-agency data linkage and research forums
  • collaborate with universities to close evidence gaps on a range of projects, from rapid reviews to major funded research collaborations.

Translate and communicate research

Why is this important?

It is important to translate and communicate research as it:

  • embeds new knowledge into the design and delivery of policy and practice
  • strengthens the capacity of Communities and Justice to use existing and new research throughout the department
  • supports the human services sector by communicating research findings
  • shares research findings with clients and communities so they can see how their voice is valued
  • ensures that research has an impact on improving client and community outcomes.

What will this look like?

  • Communities and Justice Centres for Research Excellence will continue to build capacity and develop resources about how to use new research
  • research will be embedded into Communities and Justice policy and program design and development
  • research findings will be presented at conferences, seminars and shared through peer-reviewed publications
  • Communities and Justice will establish a Research hub website that will:
    • showcase and promote high quality research
    • ensure that research findings are available and accessible for decision making
    • publish knowledge translation notes to inform policy and practice.
Last updated:

12 Nov 2021