Adj. A/Prof Jennifer Campbell, Dr. Mark Petrich
1Chief Allied Health Office, WA Health, East Perth, Australia, 2Chief Allied Health Office, WA Health, East Perth, Australia
Biography:
Mark Petrich is Western Australia’s A/Chief Allied Health Officer, providing professional leadership for more than 30 allied health professions with priority areas including workforce, clinical practice, education and research. Mark is also responsible for WA Department of Health portfolios including assistive technology and homeless health. From a physiotherapy clinical background, Mark has worked in Director roles for the WA Department of Health in Community Services and System Clinical Support & Innovation. With a passion for innovations including community-based service models, Mark is a former lecturer in Health Policy and Management at Curtin University, and holds a Bachelor of Science, a Master’s in Public Health, and a Doctor of Philosophy.
Abstract:
Over the past 20 years, government jurisdictions have developed allied health research capacity building (RCB) frameworks based on Jo Cooke’s 6 principles of RCB operating ‘close to practice’ at individual, team, organisation and system levels.
WA Health’s version published in 2018 was the result of extensive collaboration to provide a strategic vision and evidence-based strategies to support WA Health to embed allied health research and knowledge translation as core practice.
Seven years later, there is the opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the achievements, including the successful delivery of two National Allied Health Conferences in 2021 and 2023, RCB grant rounds, partnerships formed, and research positions established.
However, as Cooke noted the policy landscape can dramatically influence the trajectory of RCB. The repurposing of WA legislation resulted in the Future Health Research and Innovation Fund commencing in 2020 as a sovereign wealth fund and the 2023 creation of a 10-year WA Health and Medical Research Strategy set an enduring approach for WA health research. In addition, a 10-year WA Health Workforce Strategy commenced in 2024 with specific implications including for allied health workforce direction.
It is critical for allied health alignment with this changed workforce and research policy landscape in WA, so the WA Allied Health Research Strategic Framework was updated in 2025 through further consultation. The 2018 key strategy areas were reiterated, with a more focused set of priorities for the next 5 years. These priorities and potential focus areas for action will be outlined.