Figure 1

Mean access, confidence and culture scores. Access 1: It is easy for me to access the most relevant research findings available as I plan programs and policies. Access 2: It is easy for me to access someone who can provide help in finding, interpreting and using research findings (e.g. librarian, epidemiologist or researcher). Access 3: I have access to government reports that I need to inform decision-making. Access 4: I have access to academic literature that I need to inform decision-making. Access 5: I have access to synthesis or collations of academic literature (e.g. systematic reviews) that I need to inform decision-making. Confidence 1: How confident do you feel about your ability to find academic literature? Confidence 2: How confident are you in assessing the quality or trustworthiness of sources of evidence? Confidence 3: How confident are you in combining different sources of research evidence to inform decision-making (e.g. different journal articles and reports)? Culture 1: Overall, the culture in my local government is one that highly values the use of research evidence in decision-making for program planning. Culture 2: Research evidence is consistently included in the decision-making process related to program planning, implementation and evaluation in my local government. Culture 3: This local government is influenced by research evidence when making decisions about public health programs.