Recognising Excellence in COnsumer Partnership in Research In AUSTRALIA

The Idea

In May 2025, AccessCR will host a virtual event to showcase and celebrate excellence in consumer engagement and involvement in health and medical research in Australia. In December, a portal will open for submissions to be showcased at this event.


Why?

Every day we hear stories of excellent practice and impact in consumer engagement and involvement in research. However, those stories are not always in the public domain. We want to celebrate great practice and inspire the community and researchers to realise the potential that working together provides to achieve better, faster outcomes from research.

This event will be provide a unique platform for showcasing the contributions and impact of consumers to research. Though there will be an opportunity for recognition through awards, in our view, every story, every action, is a step in the right direction to fully embedding the consumer voice in research. As such, all video entries deemed to add value to the knowledge base around what's possible and what's happening in Australia will be made public as a resource for learning and sharing.


Planning in progress

This will be a no-cost/low-cost virtual event held over 2-3 days. Entrants to the awards will provide video submissions through a portal. There will be a couple of rounds of judging (including a public voting round) to select finalists for each Award. Finalists will present through a 'conference' and a winner selected for each award. Winners will be presented with a team momento and cash reward.


We are currently finalising our Steering Committee, and plans, with a view to launching the submission portal in mid December.


A Sponsorship brochure will be available early December, with a range of sponsor levels. In the first instance, if your organisation would like to publicly endorse and promote the conference to its networks, please contact us as soon as possible to discuss free and future paid options for supporting this event.

When To Submit?

The submission portal will open in mid-late Dec through to mid-late Feb. Individuals and teams can submit a 2 minute video outlining their consumer activity, its purpose, what was done, and its impact to research.

When Will Judging Occur?

There will be private and public judging rounds through late Feb-Mar. Finalists will notified in early April. 

When Will Finalists Present?

The presentations are likely to be held via a public online platform in early May. Dates will be announced at launch.

How Can I Get Involved?

We are currently seeking CCReW (consumers with experience in research) to volunteer for the Steering Committee ASAP to help finalise plans.

Post launch of the submission portal, we will be seeking CCReW and researchers to volunteer for Award judging panels.

Sponsors are being sought to help ensure we can make this conference as free and accessible globally as possible, and as sponsors of the Awards. Please reach out if you would like to discuss the options to help us showcase Australian Excellence to the world in partnering with consumers in research.

Drop a line to CCReW@AccessCR.com.au to let us know of your interest in getting involved or sponsoring this event.