Issues in the impact of educational research on educational policy and practice in Australian schools are addressed in this paper, which provides an overview of the numerous research and evaluation projects being conducted in Australian education. Specific questions examined are the extent to which: (1) the research subjects (schools) benefit from the research; and (2) decision makers in other parts of the system are informed and act upon research findings. In the paper, the director-general of the Department of School Education describes the importance of school-university collaboration and asserts that any high-level decision contemplated by the director-general must consider relevant information of various kinds from multiple sources. It is recommended that the department adopt a set of formal structures to oversee the role of research in departmental activities and to provide for ongoing data collection, storage, and analysis. A conclusion is that the department's own research program is more likely to be directly beneficial because it is applicable to departmental needs and decision-making purposes. Such decision-oriented research is distinguished from basic, or conclusion-oriented, research. Appendices list Australian research and development projects and funding amounts for 1989, research and evaluation projects for 1991, Department of School Education steps for commissioning research, and characteristics of useful decision-oriented research. Six figures and one table are included. (LMI)