Research Australia is a national not-for-profit alliance of organisations and
companies that are committed to making health research a higher national priority.
Bupa Health Foundation Annou…
10 May 2012
Biota And Nabi Announce Prop…
23 April 2012
Victoria’s Largest Ever Pr…
23 April 2012
Five Awarded By Biochemistry…
04 April 2012
Miners raise obesity ala…
15 May 2012 [ West Australian ]
Genes involved in Schizo…
15 May 2012 [ ABC News ]
Radio waves trigger insu…
15 May 2012 [ Electronics Online ]
Backstory: Australian MP…
15 May 2012 [ Connect Asia | ABC Rad… ]
UQ and Biosceptre collab…
15 May 2012 [ NewsMaker ]
Student ready for experi…
14 May 2012 [ Star News ]
Shy historian and benefa…
14 May 2012 [ The Age - National ]
Does whooping cough vacc…
14 May 2012 [ The Conversation ]
$40m needed for medical …
14 May 2012 [ West Australian ]
Madden ready to donate b…
14 May 2012 [ The Age - AFL ]

REGISTRATIONS OPEN NOW. For further event, sponsorship and registration informaiton visit the Conference Event Page.
Features
Research Australia calls for national strategy on health and medical research
Research Australia has called for a comprehensive national strategy for Australia’s health and medical research sector.
‘The current system for health and medical research in Australia is fragmented and lacks leadership,’
Elizabeth Foley, Research Australia CEO said today while commenting on Research Australia’s submission to the Australian Government’s Strategic Review of Health and Medical Research, headed by Australian of the Year 2011 Simon McKeon
‘At the Commonwealth level, responsibility for health and medical research is split between the Minister for Health and the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research. Within each Minister’s portfolios there are numerous programs, and bodies which fund, assess, regulate or influence health and medical research.
Within the State and Territory governments, responsibility for the funding of health and medical research largely sits with the science portfolios. However, the State and Territory Health departments are key providers of health services and are a vital component of health and medical research. Some State governments have also been active in the past in creating or funding a range of agencies engaged in fundraising, health promotion and awareness, and research.
Research Australia is calling for the development of a National Health and Medical Research Strategy that outlines the roles and responsibilities of each Commonwealth, State and Territory ministry for the funding, support, evaluation and regulation of health and medical research in Australia. The strategy should also articulate the roles of the health providers, universities, research institutes, charitable foundations and the private sector in Australian health and medical research, with the aim of achieving better coordination across the whole sector.’
Research Australia’s CEO also commented on the amount of red tape that are tying up the sector.
‘Our members regularly complain about the hundreds of hours they spend each year on paperwork to secure funding. This is time they could be better spending actually undertaking research that has the potential to save lives.’
Research Australia is calling for its members and the whole sector to provide the Review with examples of red tape.
‘The Review is all about improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the sector- cutting out some of the current layers of bureaucracy and form filling is the best way to achieve this. The Review needs to be provided with as many examples of red tape as possible.’
The key themes of Research Australia’s submission are:
- a single clear, comprehensive and coordinated National Health and Medical Review Strategy
- ensuring health and medical research leads to better health outcomes
- continued support for world class research
- the importance of collaboration in modern health and medical research
- the importance of promoting philanthropy as a partner in funding research
- better support for early and mid career researchers
- reducing red tape
Research Australia has undertaken a comprehensive process of member and sector consultation to inform the positions taken in the submission. Research Australia believes that paying attention to these themes will ensure that the Review is able to establish a direction for health and medical research which will serve Australia well over the next decade and beyond. Research Australia looks forward to the opportunity to engage further and in more detail with the Review during the course of its consultations.
Read the full Submission document
Research Australia also co-signed a letter with other sector associations (Australian Society for Medical Research, Australian Healthcare & Hospitals Association and Universities Australia). Read the letter here
Research Australia is sending a message
Recognising the need to utilize multiple platforms of communication with our member base and the community, Research Australia is pleased to announce the launch of our new blog facility. This blog “Transmission” will focus principally on the policy and advocacy area. Postings will centre around current activity in the health and medical research world and users will be able to comment and respond to the ideas presented.
Research Australia’s new Head of Policy, Greg Mullins’ charge is coordinating Research Australia’s submissions to the key reviews at the Federal level concerning the future of the health and medical research and the not-for-profit sectors. These reviews will encapsulate the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) review and the Commonwealth Review of Health and Medical Research, headed by Simon McKeon. In addition to significant member consultation, Greg will be sharing his findings in Research Australia’s new blog facility Transmission.
Visit the Transmission blog page
Philanthropy in Health & Medical Research Conference 2012 - The Funding Formula

Find out more about this event.
Save the Date(s) for 2012
The Research Australia team is busy working on our events plan for 2012 and have a number of key dates for the diary which we are now able to announce:

