The Institute was pleased to contribute to the Deakin Faculty of Health’s collective response to the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) on its draft Statement on Consumer and Community Involvement in Health and Medical Research.
The submission calls for stronger recognition of lived experience, meaningful partnerships and practical support to embed consumer and community involvement across the research system.
What is the Statement about?
The Statement aims to strengthen consumer and community involvement in health and medical research by providing national guidance and practical examples to support consistent, effective involvement practices across Australia. It seeks to align research more closely with community priorities and enhance the real-world impact of research outcomes.
Key points
- Meaningful involvement: Consumers and communities should be genuine partners in research, not involved in tokenistic ways.
- Value lived experience: Lived experience should be recognised as expertise and included throughout the research process.
- Improve inclusion: Research systems should remove barriers and support accessible, culturally safe and equitable engagement.
- Fair remuneration: Consumers and community members should be consistently and fairly compensated for their contributions.
- Build capability: Researchers, institutions and funders need better training, resources and support for effective engagement.
- National consistency: Funding bodies, research guidelines and institutions should adopt a more aligned approach to consumer and community involvement
What do we recommend?
- Mandate consumer and community involvement across health and medical research.
- Recognise lived experience as valuable expertise.
- Add stronger safeguards against tokenistic engagement.
- Provide clear guidance on fair remuneration.
- Invest in training, support and funding for meaningful involvement.
- Align national policies, funding requirements and research guidance.
In summary
Deakin University’s Faculty of Health supports a stronger national approach to consumer and community involvement in research. The submission calls for practical action, consistent standards and genuine partnerships to ensure lived experience helps shape research that delivers real-world impact.
Outcomes
The Statement on Consumer and Community Involvement in Health and Medical Research (the Statement) was released by NHMRC and the Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF) in 2026. The Statement was developed with consumers, community members, researchers, and representatives from consumer organisations, research institutions and funders. Its aim is to guide consumer and community involvement in all aspects of health and medical research.
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