November 27, 2017
The Australian Partnership for Preparedness Research on Infectious Disease Emergencies (APPRISE) is an NHMRC-funded Centre of Research Excellence (CRE). The Centre is a nationally-distributed, multidisciplinary team of experts conducting high-impact research to strengthen Australia’s emergency response to infectious diseases.
Announced in June 2016, this CRE is unique on the basis of the total funding and the scope of work. In the first year, the remit was to complete a targeted consultation of stakeholders across Australia to determine what research activities and protocols, training opportunities and pathways, collaborative partnerships and cross-sectoral linkages should be prioritised to ensure Australia is equipped for a more coordinated, effective and evidence-based response to infectious disease outbreaks.
APPRISE engaged Nous Group (Nous) to facilitate and support engagement with stakeholders to support this process in a highly complex health environment. Nous prepared the Stakeholder Consultation Report.
The report summarises the results of the consultation process and provides some observations and recommendations for APPRISE on how it can position itself to have the greatest possible impact on our preparedness and ability to respond to infectious disease emergencies.
The report and APPRISE’s response to the report were tabled in June 2017 and evaluated by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee and and the NHMRC. Approval for funding was given in October 2017.