“If we want safer, healthier workplaces tomorrow, we must invest in smarter, more inclusive research today. The Summit was a powerful reminder that when we bring diverse voices together – workers, employers, researchers and policymakers – we don’t just identify problems, we build solutions.”
Marie Boland, CEO
About the Research Summit
Following the release of its Research and Evaluation Strategy in June 2025, Safe Work Australia hosted the Research Summit on 9 and 10 September in Canberra. The Summit was opened by the Minister for Employment Relations, the Hon Amanada Rishworth MP and was attended by close to 200 experts and leaders.
The event featured thought-provoking keynote addresses by futurist Reanna Browne and workplace diversity practitioner Professor Nareen Young, 8 interactive workshops, and dynamic discussions and networking opportunities designed to foster collaboration and spark innovation. Over 2 conversation-rich days, participants collectively explored the Summit’s central theme: ‘How do we work together to design and deliver research that supports safe and healthy work?’
The Research Summit was a flagship event carried out under the Research and Evaluation Strategy as part of its ‘Translation and Promotion’ workstream, which focuses on engagement activities, showcasing innovative research in ways tailored to different audiences, and communicating the Agency’s research needs.
Feedback from the participants’ survey was encouraging:
- 88% positively rated their Summit experience
- 84% felt the Summit facilitated cross-sector and interdisciplinary collaboration, and
- 82% reported the Summit encouraged them to think about new research ideas or directions.
A common reflection shared by participants was that the Summit was successful in bringing our diverse stakeholders together to connect and engage in a way that hasn’t been done before. Being bold with our program design and moving away from the traditional conference format hit the mark for most. It was great to receive comments like...
"The Summit was the best ‘conference’ I’ve been to in years… format was brilliant."
"Thank you for making it interactive and experiential."
Highlights from the Summit
We thank all Summit participants for generously contributing their time, ideas and insights, ensuring that the event was a resounding success that delivered critical insights into emerging priorities and key evidence gaps across the work health and safety and workers’ compensation sectors.
Researcher videos series
Explore this video series, created to highlight the breadth and variety of research happening across the work health and safety (WHS) and workers’ compensation sectors.
Connecting with researchers
At its core, the Summit was about building lasting connections between researchers, governments, unions, industry, and employer groups – with the important goal of building a research agenda that supports safer, healthier work for years to come.
Feedback from participants following the event reflected their strong desire for further cross-sector and interdisciplinary collaboration and deep-dive conversations. This will inform Safe Work Australia’s research activities for 2026 and future events and forums with the research community.
The Research Summit Directory features information about the speakers at the Summit, as well as key researcher profiles, to support collaboration, visibility and knowledge‑sharing beyond the Summit. It is just one way we are working to support the vision set out in our Research and Evaluation Strategy of an engaged and connected ecosystem.
Safe Work Australia also compiles a range of workers’ compensation and work health and safety data. We have a streamlined process for sharing data with researchers for approved purposes through a data sharing agreement. Data requests are assessed based on the Five Safes Framework and the data sharing principles outlined in the Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022. If you would like to apply for access to help with your research, please start with the form on our Data website.
More information
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