Action 8: Improve data, research impact and innovation

Where do we want to be in 10 years?

Improved national dementia data informs policies and programs and enables improvements to be monitored over time. Innovative and translatable research informs practice for early detection and diagnosis, treatment and care.

Outcome statement for people living with dementia

Research is focused on improving my life and the lives of other people living with dementia. I have the opportunity to participate in research. Innovative practices are in place to make it easier for me to live well with dementia. Dementia data are regularly reported so I can see if improvements are being made.

How will we know if the National Dementia Action Plan has made a difference?

This web report presents specific metrics, called indicators, to track change over time, under each of the measures of progress (see Table 8). Measures of progress are part of the Action Plan and are broad statements on how governments will assess if the Action Plan is meeting its objectives.

Baseline values below represent the situation at the start of the Action Plan. In future years, data will be updated to assess if indicators are improving over time. More information about each indicator is presented in the next pages.

Table 8: Summary of indicators for Action 8 measures of progress

Measure of progress

Indicator

Baseline value

Baseline timepoint

Data source

8.1 Lived experience involvement1

National research guidelines require lived experience involvement.

Partial achievement*

2018–2024 for various guidelines

AIHW assessment of various Australian grant guidelines

8.2 Australian dementia studies1

Number of open access Australian dementia publications.

431*

2024

PubMed search of peer-reviewed articles

8.2 Australian dementia studies1

Number of all Australian dementia publications.

561*

2024

PubMed search of peer-reviewed articles

8.3 Dementia research grants1

Number of government-funded dementia research grants approved.

36*

2024

NHMRC, MRFF, ARC

8.3 Dementia research grants1

Value of government-funded dementia research grants approved.

$97.4 million*

2024

NHMRC, MRFF, ARC

8.3 Dementia research grants1

Value of dementia research grants as a proportion of all government-funded research.

4.0%*

2024

NHMRC, MRFF, ARC

8.4–8.5 Improved national dementia data1

Better estimates of the number of people living with dementia.

Substantial limitations*

2022–2024

AIHW assessment of key data sources

8.4–8.5 Improved national dementia data1

More national data sources include dementia information.

Partial achievement*

2022–2024

AIHW assessment of key data sources

8.4–8.5 Improved national dementia data1

Better dementia data on high priority groups.

Substantial limitations*

2022–2024

AIHW assessment of key data sources

Notes on data availability and completeness:

  1. Satisfactory data available.

For more information, see how data availability and completeness are assessed.

Notes on data status for this release: 
    *  Updated data.

Abbreviations:

  • AIHW: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
  • ARC: Australian Research Council
  • CALD: culturally and linguistically diverse
  • MRFF: Medical Research Future Fund
  • NHMRC: National Health and Medical Research Council