The Research for Development Impact Network (RDI Network) began in 2009 as a Committee of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), facilitating partnerships and collaboration between ACFID Members and Australian universities.
Formerly known as the Universities Linkages Network, and the ACFID University Network, RDI Network’s membership has grown steadily to more than 2,400 individual members around Australia and beyond.
A key contribution of the Network to the international development sector in Australia to date has been a series of cross-sector conferences, hosted in partnership with different universities around Australia. These conferences have advanced the profile of research produced by academics and practitioners in Australia with a series of peer reviewed volumes of the Development Bulletin.
The Network undertook a major project between 2012 and 2015 to produce the Principles and Guidelines for Ethical Research and Evaluation. The product of sector-wide consultation over several years, this resource continues to be valued by researchers around the world.
In February 2016, the Network launched with a new brand under its current name, continuing to work in close partnership with ACFID towards a renewed series of objectives, with the support of the Australian Government through the Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade.
In 2023 the RDI Network became a registered not-for-profit public company. The new structure offers an exciting time for the network to demonstrate, champion, advocate strengthened uptake and use of evidence in policy and practice.