REDCap
The WA Department of Health supports REDCap use and many health service providers are switching to REDCap as the database of choice for safely entering, storing and reporting on data.
The Research Education Program, with support from our colleagues at Department of Health Data Library and The Kids Research Institute Australia, provide a suite of seminars, workshops and online resources designed to inform and improve your REDCap user experience.
Upcoming 2026 workshops at Perth Children's Hospital
All REDCap Workshops are held at the Perth Children's Hospital, in The Kids Seminar Room, level 5 (west). In-person sessions only.
Attendance is open to all WA Health and The Kids Research Institute of Australia staff.
Workshops are presented by 2026 Research Education Fellow Dr David Cullingford.
| Topic | Date | Time | Register |
Basic Walkthrough |
Thurs 27 March | 1.00- 3.00pm |
Register |
Basic Walkthrough |
Tues 28 April | 2.30 - 4.30pm | Register |
Intermediate |
Tues 2 June | 1.00 - 3.00pm | Register |
Advanced |
Tues 21 July | 1.00 - 3.00pm | Register |
Resources and recordings
Select the recorded seminars and workshops dropdown below to access previous sessions run by CAHS Research for self-paced learning.
Also head over to the new REDCap Wiki | Datalibrary for a series of modules and guides provided by WA Department of Health Data Library.
REDCap is a secure, web-based tool for data collection and management. It was initially developed in 2004 at Vanderbilt University in the United States for clinical research purposes. The REDCap Consortium, also founded by Vanderbilt, is a collaborative network of more than 4,000 institutions from over 130 countries that freely contribute to ongoing development of the software. REDCap is open sourced and free to use by non-profit or governmental institutions.
REDCap is used worldwide by over 1.3 million users, particularly in the academic research community and informatics teams. In Western Australia, REDCap is currently used by UWA, Curtin University, The Kids Research Institute Australia and WA Health Translation Network (WAHTN). Additionally, REDCap is currently used by WA Health employees on independent internal (behind firewall) instances within the South Metropolitan Health Service (SMHS) and North Metropolitan Health Service (NMHS).
Key features
- Simple, powerful interface for building surveys, forms and databases
- Free to use by all WA Health employees
- Secure and web-based – integrated into WA Health Active Directory with two-factor authentication
- Only requires internet access – users do not need to download software
- Project owner control of user permissions
- Easy to send surveys/forms and track responses
- Full Audit trails of data access, entry and revision
- Advanced features such as calculated fields, branching logic, file uploading and data piping
- API (Application Programming Interface) – automated integration into applications such as PowerBI
- Export data into analysis packages e.g. Microsoft Excel, R, SAS, STATA and SPSS
- Ad hoc reporting tools
- Download forms and surveys as PDFs
- Free and established online training resources.
Advantages for WA Health
- quality and compliance of data collections
- processes and procedures in Safety and Quality initiatives
- quality and compliance of research projects
- streamlining and digitisation of paper-based processes
- collaboration and sharing of data
- automated capture of Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs).
Some other benefits include:
- compliance with the Information Management Policy Framework.
- delivers on Sustainable Health Review recommendations surrounding investment in digital healthcare, using data wisely and innovation for sustainability
- alignment with the 2020-2030 WA Health Digital Strategy.
We've broken down our most popular recorded REDCap Basics workshop into bite-sized videos that focus on the essentials, just to get you started. From logging in to building your first project, this series of mini vids is intended to familiarise new or novice users with REDCap.
Click on each access link and complete a simple REDCap form to be granted access to both the recording and accompanying handout for your chosen topic.
Handout documents include a copy of the presentation slides for your own personal use. We ask you not to distribute these, but rather share the access link when sharing or forwarding these resources as they are regularly updated.
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REDCap Advanced Walkthrough 2025 Presented by REP Fellow Dr Hannah Benschop Duration 50:19 | Recorded 9 Sept 2025 | Access link |
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REDCap Intermediate Walkthrough 2025 Presented by REP Fellow Dr Hannah Benschop Duration 60:00 | Recorded 26 Aug 2025 | Access link |
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Presented by REP Fellow Dr Hannah Benschop Duration: 53:18 | Recorded 27 May 2025 | Access link |
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Presented by REP Fellow: Dr Giulia Peacock This workshop offers an introduction to building databases in REDCap and covers basic concepts and best practices to equip researchers in building a database for their research project. Workshop duration: 1:16:24 | Recorded on 27th February 2024 | Access link |
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REDCap Intermediate Walkthrough 2024 - Beyond the Basics Presented by REP Fellow: Dr Giulia Peacock This level offers a more comprehensive look at creating a database and using surveys, and builds upon the topics in the REDCap Basics Workshop. This workshop is most beneficial to those who have identified an upcoming need for the REDCap's advanced functionality. Workshop duration: 1:08:33 | Recorded on 12th March 2024 | Access link |
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Advanced REDCap - Creating Surveys 2024 Presented by REP Fellow: Dr Giulia Peacock
This workshop explores a more in-depth look at advanced features in REDCap and how to design and distribute a survey through REDCap.
Workshop duration: 57:31 | Recorded on 30th April 2024 | Access link |
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Using REDCap for Data Capture and Management This presentation covers how to access REDCap, basic functionality and where to go for further assistance and resources. Seminar duration: 59:29 | Recorded on 5th May 2023 | Access link |
The WA Department of Health also provide access for researchers and clinicians to their own instance of REDCap.
To set up an account or find out more visit the new REDCap Wiki | Datalibrary which contains multiple resources in an easy to nagivate user interface (internal WA Health access only).
Enquiries
For general enquiries please email DataLibrary@health.wa.gov.au.
Useful links
- About REDCap (internal WA Health only)
- Login to REDCap (internal WA Health only)
- Register for REDCap (internal WA Health only)
Resources
All resources are centralised in the REDCap Wiki | Datalibrary.
REDCap Project Migration guide "Touchstone Project" CAMHS - an example of a working migration project (PDF 828kb)
The Touchstone project guide provides an overview of the process undertaken by Touchstone to transition all research to REDCap. This included the transfer of all paper-based data collection instruments to the online version on REDCap, and the migration of all archived data stored on MS Excel to REDCap. This document highlights key lessons learnt for the purpose of providing additional information to support other services who may be migrating to REDCap.
Training beyond CAHS
Specific modules on REDCap functions are available via the REDCap Wiki | Datalibrary website (interal WA Health only).
Vanderbilt has developed a free online training course on clinical data management though Coursera. REDCap is used for the applied parts of the course.
Having such a large global user-base, there is a range of REDCap resources available online. Many institutions have prepared user guides that provide step-by-step instruction for the most commonly used features of REDCap.
REDCap is a self-use system. Email support is available for users of The Kids Research Institute of Australia only if it relates to:
- an account or permission-related issue
- a request to engage in consultation.
Online resources
Researchers can find many resources online to help troubleshoot issues or upskill in REDCap. These include:
- Video tutorials
- REDCap help
- Frequently asked questions
Data management support
Find out more on The Kids Research Institute Australia REDCap page.