Background: The Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group produces systematic reviews of educational, behavioural, financial, organisational and regulatory interventions to improve professional practice and the organisation of health services. Many of these interventions are implemented at an institutional or health system level. Systematic reviews may assist policy makers’ decision-making about such interventions, and the EPOC Group seeks to work with policy makers to identify research priorities and help increase the use of systematic reviews. Objectives: To identify priority topics for EPOC systematic reviews of relevance to health policy makers, and to improve understanding of how to increase the use of research in policy. Methods: The study was coordinated by the Australian Satellite of the EPOC Group, located within the National Health and Medical Research Council. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 senior policy officers representing Departments of Health from each of Australia’s eight States and Territories. Participants were asked to identify issues of importance that could be informed by reviews of the available evidence. They were also asked to discuss the role of research evidence in policy, identifying enablers and barriers. A modified Delphi process was then used to identify consensus on the highest priority topics. Thematic analysis of interviews will be used to identify enablers and barriers to the use of evidence. Results: Participants identified priority topics that included financial arrangements, governance, access to care, appropriateness and continuity of care, workforce recruitment and retention, workforce skill mix, health professional practice, service delivery, and information systems. A number of enablers and barriers to the use of evidence were identified. Conclusions: These findings will be used to align the reviews and output of the EPOC Group to the research information needs of policy makers, and to create better strategies to support policy makers in their work.