Victorian Allied Health Research Framework
Research is an essential component of allied health practice, and part of the core business of allied health departments in Victoria. Engagement in research at all levels, by all areas of the allied health sector, will deliver long term benefits to patients, clients and the broader health and community services system by ensuring allied health professionals and assistants are providing evidence-based, high-quality care.
The Victorian Allied Health Research Framework aims to support and embed an integrated, sustainable and vibrant research culture within routine allied health practice.
The framework aligns five domains of actions and outlines the activities and attributes of a developed research culture at the statewide, organisational and individual levels.
An organised and strategic approach to allied health research will assist allied health to be more effective and efficient in pursuing, informing and delivering improvement in areas of greatest need for innovation and change.
Allied Health Workforce Research Program
The Allied Health Workforce Research Program (the Program) aims to better understand the demographics of allied health professions, what drives engagement and commitment to roles, and issues affecting workforce development and professions’ abilities to meet service demand.
Southern Cross University was engaged by the then Department of Health and Human Services to undertake the Program. The 3 year program involved gathering in-depth data from allied health employers and individual allied health practitioners and generated qualitative and quantitative information to inform future policy directions and allied health workforce strategies.
For further background information on the Program, see the Southern Cross University (opens in a new window).
Program outcomes
This multi-year program makes an important contribution to the allied health workforce evidence base, which will help inform future policies and program directions to assist the allied health and human services workforce in meeting community demand. It will also assist the sector to better understand and support the allied health workforce to meet current and future need.
The information captured through the Program will:
- Assist employers to understand what drives retention of their allied health staff and to develop approaches which optimise staff engagement and delivery of high-quality care across the health and human services sectors.
- Inform how allied health professionals work in the future and provide insights into new areas of work that utilise the full scope of their clinical expertise.
Final reports
Updated