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Impact Research Grants

Research to boost action for a healthier, fairer Victoria.

Applications are now closed
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Program overview

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This grant round is now closed. Thank you to everyone who applied.   

You can view the list of successful projects below:

  • 2023 Impact Research Grant Recipients

    Aboriginal Australian dietary practices and place-making in public health equity

    Victoria University

    Academic team: Dr Kristina Vingrys, Karen Jackson, Prof. Christopher Sonn, Rowena Price, Assoc Prof. Alison Baker, Dr Megan O’Shea 

    Building on past investigations by Victoria University’s Moondani Balluk Indigenous academic unit, this project will progress research on  the importance of ancestral Aboriginal dietary practices, place-making and self-determination for Aboriginal people. By supporting Aboriginal cultural identity and self-determination linked to “deadly tucker” and cultural food practices, this project aims to strengthen sustainable, healthy food systems and reduce health inequities experienced by Aboriginal people living on Kulin Nation lands.

    Policy and practice partners: Western Health Public Health Unit, Nutrition Australia (Victorian Division), The Cairnlea Conservation Reserves Committee of Management, Community Identity Displacement Research Network, Koling wada-ngal Aboriginal Corporation Wunggurrwil Dhurrung Centre

    Co-designing healthier climate policies

    University of Melbourne

    Academic team : Prof. Kathryn Bowen, Dr Annabelle Workman

    Working with the Department of Health, this project aims to support policymakers to access Victorian-specific data and tools as they seek to develop healthier climate policies. Collaborating with partners across sectors, sectors and levels of government, this project will result in a co-designed healthy climate ‘toolkit’ that can support and enable policymakers to adequately account for health in the climate policy process.

    Policy and practice partner: Department of Health Victoria

    Developing tools for knowledge translation in transport and health modelling

    RMIT University

    Academic team: Dr Belen Zapata-Diomedi, Dr Afshin Jafari, Prof. James Woodcock (University of Cambridge), Prof. Rolf Moeckel (Technical University of Munich), Dr Alan Both 

    RMIT’s Healthy Liveable Cities Lab’s city-wide transport and health simulation model aims to support equitable access to walking and cycling across Greater Melbourne. This project will enable policymakers, practitioners and health advocates to understand, visualise and apply this complex modelling. The visualisation tool will provide policy-relevant evidence for built environment change scenarios to maximise active transport outcomes and redress health inequities.

    Policy and practice partners: Department of Transport and Planning Victoria, Bicycle Network

    TransformUs Wellbeing

    Deakin University

    Academic team: Dr Claudia Strugnell, Prof. Jo Salmon, Dr Natalie Lander, Dr Kristy Bolton, Assoc Prof. Serene Yoong, Dr Caderyn Gaskin, Andrew Brown, Dr Michelle Jackson, Prof. Steve Allender 

    Building on over 10 years of research and testing, this project will work with primary schools in the Victorian Great South Coast region toco-design and integrate meaningful opportunities for physical activity within all parts of the school environment – from lessons and curriculum, to breaks and recreation spaces. School communities will join participatory workshops to build common understandings of barriers and opportunities for meaningful movement in schools, before putting evidence-based solutions into practice together.

    Policy and practice partners: Barwon South West Public Health Unit, The Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER; Victorian Branch)

    It takes a village: A neighbourhood approach to improve health and wellbeing

    Deakin University

    Academic team: Dr Kristy Bolton, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), Dr Rebecca Lindberg, Dr Victoria Brown, Eloise Litterbach

    Expanding on the work of Norlane Community Initiatives, this community-led project aims to create healthy, sustainable, inclusive and resilient neighbourhoods. Taking a whole-of-neighbourhood and whole-of-person approach, this project will enable Norlane residents to address their interests in equitable and sustainable eating, food literacy, social connectedness, and community wellbeing. Knowledge generated about NCI’s approach will be used to inform  community health and wellbeing practices, at scale and across other Victorian communities.

    Policy and practice partner: Norlane Community Initiatives

    Social connections in Neighbourhood Houses

    RMIT University

    Academic team: Dr Ellen van Holstein, Imogen Carr, Dr Iris Levin, Assoc Prof. Sharlene Nipperess, Assoc Prof. Ian McShane, Assoc Prof. Ilan Wiesel (University of Melbourne)

    In partnership with the University of Melbourne, Neighbourhood Houses Victoria, and Network West, this project will identify how Victoria’s extensive network of 400 neighbourhood houses may be strategically deployed to offer increased opportunities for social connection, with and for those most at risk of loneliness.

    Neighbourhood house participants will be recruited and trained as community researchers. They will work alongside the project team to shape and design workshops and programming. The project will create a replicable, scalable and participatory process that is expected to generate sustainable social connections and mental health outcomes for Victorians connected to neighbourhood houses.

    Policy and practice partners: Network West, Neighbourhood Houses Victoria

    Enhancing the capacity of Victorian sport to tackle racism

    Monash University

    Academic team: Prof. Ruth Jeanes, Prof. Ramon Spaaij (Victoria University), Prof. Karen Farquharson (University of Melbourne)

    This project plans to improve the capacity of the community sport sector to respond to  and  address racial discrimination in sport.  It will review current policies, education and practices, and co-design anti-racist improvement approaches with community sports participants who have lived experience of racism in sport.  The project aims to enhance equity and inclusion across the Victorian community sport sector so that everyone can enjoy the health benefits of safe and inclusive community sport.

    Policy and practice partner: Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMSport) 

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For more than thirty years, VicHealth has been investing in cutting-edge research to help shape a healthier Victoria. We support and champion equitable and innovative research relevant to health promotion and prevention. And we boost its impact by investing in knowledge translation into policy and practice.

VicHealth has invested in 17 Impact Research Grants since 2018 and we are excited about expanding this program in 2023.

Our 2023 Impact Research Grants Round will support research that can reshape systems and radically advance the promotion of fairer health and wellbeing outcomes for all Victorians. In this round, we anticipate we will fund five grants, with projects to commence by July 2023.

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Focus areas

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In 2023, our Impact Research Grants round aims to focus our investment on this gap. We will fund research proposals that can build on an already initiated body of work and catalyse its potential to create greater health promotion impacts in the real world.

For this round, the priority themes are:

Area Theme
Healthy and sustainable food systems Place-based systems interventions focusing on increasing equitable access to nutritious and affordable food from sustainable food systems
Active communities and sport Improvements in the built and social environment to promote physical activity in geographic areas or communities that experience greater systemic inequities
Social connection and mental wellbeing Community-centred, strength-based models to improve mental wellbeing of people and communities facing significant systemic inequities
Climate, environment and health Place-based research to support improved community health, wellbeing, and resilience in areas in Victoria that are more vulnerable to climate change impacts

In addition to addressing at least one of the priority themes, proposals must satisfy the following criteria:

  • Build on a successfully initiated research project
  • Embed equity considerations throughout all stages of the research project
  • Actively work in partnership with policy makers, practitioners, and communities
  • Specify how the research findings will be strategically disseminated and communicated to communities, policy makers, practitioners and the public more broadly

See our funding guidelines for full details.

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What's in it for you?

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  • Funding support over 18-24 months of between $180,000-$230,000.
  • Access to the Victorian Health Promotion Hub, located at VicHealth head office in Melbourne’s CBD. As a grant recipient and VicHealth partner, you’ll be able to book a range of workspaces and meeting rooms and connect with partners, allies and the VicHealth team.
  • Access to training opportunities to enhance knowledge translation and communication for health skills.
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Key dates

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Opening date for applications 12noon AEDT, Thursday 12 January 2023
Closing date for applications 12noon AEDT, Wednesday 1 March 2023
Assessment period March - April 2023
Notification to successful and unsuccessful applicants By 30 June 2023
Commencement of projects From July 2023
  • How will I hear about the outcome of my application?

    VicHealth will notify you of the outcome of your application by email. You can expect to hear back from VicHealth by late June 2023. If you do not receive an email, please make sure you check your junk/spam folder. 

  • Will I receive feedback on my application if unsuccessful?

    VicHealth Impact Research Grants are extremely competitive, and we receive far more eligible applications than can be funded. Due to such high volumes, generalised feedback will be provided on notification to unsuccessful applicants; however, we are unable to provide individualised feedback.

Artwork by Dexx (Gunditjmara/Boon Wurrung) ‘Mobs Coming Together’ 2022
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Artwork Credit: Dexx (Gunditjmara/Boon Wurrung) ‘Mobs Coming Together’ 2022, acrylic on canvas. Learn more about this artwork.