A self-paced eLearning module providing an introduction to consumer and community involvement, planning, ethical principles and describing consumer and community involvement in ethics applications, connecting with consumers, working with them on steering committees and co-design.

Here is a template for consumer and community involvement organisation policy that can be adapted for your own needs.

The IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum is a commonly used framework to highlight different ways of working with consumers and community members.

The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Alliance Model of Consumer Engagement incorporates the National Framework for Consumer Involvement in Cancer Control to focus on five tiers of consumer participation.

This National Health and Medical Research Council document breaks down the research process to highlight how consumers can be involved throughout the project cycle.

The NHMRC and CHF Statement of Consumer and Community Involvement in Health and Medical Research suggests different ways that researchers are able to involve consumers in their projects throughout the process.

Key considerations when evaluating consumer and community involvement for clinical trials.

Practical resources and templates to support evaluation of consumer and community involvement.

This report, as part of an AHRA consumer and community involvement initiative, documents a rapid review of existing tools to measure the impact consumer and community involvement on health research and its usability.

Guiding statement on consumer and community involvement in health and medical research from the Australian government research agency and consumer peak body organisation. This statement is currently under review in 2025.

Key guiding principles when working with consumers in health and medical research developed by the Medical Research Future Fund with their Consumer Reference Panel.

Resource to guide the strengthening of partnerships in preventive health with the community. This resource is currently in draft form and will be finalised as part of the National Consumer Engagement Strategy for Health and Wellbeing to support the National Preventive Health Strategy 2021-2030.

A co-designed framework that highlights what good community engagement in research looks like and how that can be adapted to different situations.

Guiding framework for understanding principles, advice and examples on trauma-informed practice when working with young people, individuals and families.

Guiding principles to ensure safe, respectful, responsible, high quality and beneficial involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities in research from the Australian government research agency.

Guide on how to engage ethically with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander for research developed by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS).

A discussion paper following a national study on the implementation of ethical processes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research (Murru Minya study). The paper provides an overview of research principles and governance for ethical and culturally appropriate ways of working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

A discussion paper and literature review on participatory research methods to centre and increase Indigenous voices in Indigenous research.

Tips and resources for co-designing health projects with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities.

Adapted from the 8 Aboriginal ways of learning, this toolkit has been developed to support co-design with Aboriginal communities.

A framework highlighting different strategies when working with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.

A summary report with case studies from a conference held by the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health in 2005 that discusses key considerations for working with CALD communities when designing and implementing strategies. 

A resource with key tips on engaging with diverse community members as part of the Department of Health and Aged Care’s National Consumer Engagement Strategy for Health and Wellbeing

An interactive map providing guidance and tools to help plan, deliver, evaluate and report consumer and community involvement and engagement activities with a focus on clinical trials.

A comprehensive handbook with resources and templates for organisations, researchers, consumers and funders on consumer and community involvement. 

A self-paced eLearning module providing an introduction to consumer and community involvement, planning, ethical principles and describing consumer and community involvement in ethics applications, connecting with consumers, working with them on steering committees and co-design.

Free 30 minute self-paced online course that describes the basics of consumer and community involvement in health research. Participants will receive a certificate of completion at the end of the course.

Free 30 minutes self-paced online course on including consumer and community involvement in grant writing. Participants will receive a certificate of completion at the end of the course.

Searchable database of peer-reviewed articles specific to patient engagement in health research.

Snapshot of global peer-reviewed literature relating to consumer and community involvement in health and medical research to identify underlying good practice.

This online resource is a database of peer-reviewed health-related community-engaged outputs that are in forms other than journal articles, such as tools and resources.

Project or Steering Committee Consumers may be involved as members of a larger project or steering committee to provide broad oversight and input from a lived experience perspective. This involvement may be for a government, professional body or organisation level committee, a board or board sub-committee or a research project. All committees should have a […]

A consumer advisory panel is a high-level group made up of consumers and or community representatives. Established by health, research or healthcare organisations, consumer advisory panels can provide consumer perspectives on relevant issues across a range of research projects, provide input into the design of research and grant proposals, review policies, advocate for people with […]

Consensus Building Consensus building is when consumers are engaged in a deliberative, democratic process to reach a shared agreement on key issues using a variety of participatory approaches. Consensus building approaches encourages open discussions with diverse perspectives from all stakeholders including those with lived experience, clinicians and researchers and uses structured methods to guide agreements […]

Consultation is a structured approach that focuses on gathering insights, feedback or advice on specific research, healthcare improvement or project activities, policies, strategies or priorities. The consultation may occur as a once off, ad hoc, over a short period of time (weeks to months), or for a specific purpose/outcome. There are various methods that consultation […]

Consumer Advocacy Consumer advocacy is an approach where individuals with lived experience work to champion the rights, needs and priorities of the broader patient and carer community across healthcare, research and policy development. By doing so, consumer advocates can ensure that the lived experience perspective is embedded in decisions being made. Consumer advocates take on […]

Consumer Co-researcher A co-researcher approach is when people with lived experience actively collaborate as an equal member of the research team and are embedded in project processes alongside academic researchers. Using a co-researcher approach, consumers may undertake specific training to build their capacity to engage and conduct research activities. Consumer roles as a ‘co-researcher’ could […]

Consumer Partnerships Consumer partnership in health and medical research is an approach in which researchers and/or healthcare providers and consumer organisations actively and meaningfully work together to design and conduct research or healthcare improvement projects. Consumer partnerships usually refer to a broad collaboration between researchers and consumer organisations or groups and may involve one or […]

Employment Consumers may be employed through a formal contract for their lived experience expertise to actively contribute to research, healthcare improvement or policy development. Some of examples of these roles may include:

An interactive website showcasing various methods of consumer and community involvement that can be filtered by target population, level of participation and objective of activity.

An interactive roadmap to plan successful consumer involvement in health and medical research.

This resource provides an overview of where and how to involve consumers in research with a focus on clinical trials.

This resource, as part of the Western Australian Health Translation Network (WAHTN) Consumer and Community Involvement handbook, shows different ways of working with consumers across various levels of the organisation and project.

Guidelines for remuneration and reimbursement of consumers across different levels of involvement in health and medical research with good practice examples.

General guidelines for payment, reimbursement and recognition of consumers across different levels of involvement and examples of what those activities may look like. These guidelines provide general advice taking into account the range of contextual factors that need to be considered for each project or activity. Please note, some funders or organisations may have their […]

Guide on grant budget preparation to include remuneration and reimbursement for consumers.

Key considerations and good practice when reimbursing consumers involved in health research.

A visual flowchart to determine ethics requirements for consumer and community involvement in research.

Specific to those in the health service sector, this website provides various guides and resources on partnering with consumers in line with Standard 2 for the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare.

This handbook has been developed specifically to support researchers who are working with consumers in health and medical research and contains guides and resources on supporting consumers throughout the project cycle.

An involvement agreement is a document that outlines the roles, expectations and commitments of both the researchers and consumer and community members in the project.

A Terms of Reference (ToR) outlines the purpose, structure, and expectations of consumer and community engagement in the project. Here, we have provided an example of a ToR for the purposes of a consumer advisory panel to showcase the information it would typically contain. Please feel free to adapt this template to suit your project.

A recruitment information document serves as a guide for potential consumers to the opportunity. The document should outline key details about the role, expectations and benefits of participation.

A flyer for finding the right consumer for your project should be easily shared on various platforms including social media or printed out and posted on community noticeboards. These flyers need to include eye-catching images and contain enough information for people to consider the opportunity. Free software such as Canva or PowerPoint are ideal to […]

An Expression of Interest (EOI) process is often a process used to gather information from individuals who are interested in participating in a consumer and community involvement opportunity. The process offers a transparent method to find individuals best suited for the project.

A media release form grants permission for the organisation to use an individual’s image, video, audio or statement to be used in media and communications as stated on the form. This could include images to be used on social media or presentations. Please note that the media release form does not replace a participant information […]

Here is a template for consumer and community involvement organisation policy that can be adapted for your own needs.

A practical handbook to support consumers when working with health researchers.

A visual guide on how to start getting involved with healthcare improvement and research projects.

A practical guide to understand co-production, its application in research and health service settings and putting learnings to practice.

Information on co-production principles, and guidance on ethics applications, tools, exemplars and templates to support co-production methods in research and health service settings.

Digital resource to understand the co-design principles and process with supporting resources such as templates, case studies for practical implementation and key literature to support use of co-design.

An interactive practical resource to support researchers, consumers and clinicians in the co-design process.

A practical framework to understand what co-design is, its underlying principles, processes, case studies and additional resources to support your work.

Learn more about the Double Diamond framework to support the co-design process.