Injury is a leading cause of mortality, morbidity and disability in Australia. In recognition of the national burden of injury, the area of injury prevention and control was endorsed as a national health priority in 1986. Despite this, however, there has been a substantial mismatch between the identification of injury as a problem and the level of funding available for injury research. Late in 2004, a NSW consortium of academic institutions (Box 1) was awarded a five-year National Health and Medical Research Council Capacity Building Grant in Population Health Research to build capacity in population approaches to injury prevention and control. Four injury domains were identified for ongoing research (road safety, falls, sports and work-related injuries) across a number of thematic areas, one of which includes the translation of injury research into policy and practice.