The academics have designed the Global Impact Analytics Framework (GIAF) to support better impact assessment, project design, organisational learning and effective direction of funding.

The open access suite consists of a taxonomy, glossary and measurement tools for impact analysis of implementation research.

Researchers and organisations can deploy the framework to test community service projects, education initiatives or new policies, for example.

Led by Professor Luis Salvador-Carulla and Associate Professor Sue Lukersmith from the university’s Health Research Institute, a team of 31 specialists in implementation science from Australia and Europe worked to develop the GIAF.

Movember and The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride have used the framework to assess the impact of their funding of 15 organisations to run 23 mental health initiatives for veterans and first responders.

The academics behind the GIAF have also used it to assess the Empower project, a European platform aimed at improving wellbeing and mental health in the workplace.

The GIAF doesn’t need to be used in a controlled lab or clinic setting, and its scales allow qualitative data to be translated into numeric data.

Professor Luis Salvador-Carulla said: “The GIAF can be used to run comparisons across heterogenous projects and contexts, and so allows us to conduct multi-project programme evaluation. We expect it to support researchers, policymakers and health service planners, by enhancing their capacity to evaluate complex interventions, compare outcomes across jurisdictions, and inform evidence-based decision-making.”

Associate Professor Lukersmith said: “The GIAF could be applied in any sector or context. It doesn't matter what sector or industry you’d like to apply it to – whether it’s implementing a work health and safety initiative in a workplace, or a policy in schools for an education program for at-risk children – the GIAF will reveal real-world impact and drive better design and evidence-based funding decisions.”

The GIAF team is running courses to help public agencies, universities, researchers and not-for-profit organisations to use the tools, under a Creative Commons licence.