Strategic Examination Research and Development Submission

This submission to the Australian Government’s Strategic Examination of Research and Development (SERD) answers all ten consultation questions from the perspective of health and medical research, development and innovation. Research Australia maintains that because 26% of Australian R&D is spent on health and medical research, the SERD needs a dedicated health focus and must be aligned with the National Health and Medical Research Strategy. It links health innovation to economic diversification, noting Australia’s fall to 99th in Harvard’s Economic Complexity Index, and identifies barriers including fragmented, short-term funding across portfolios, university metrics that undervalue translation, risk-averse intellectual property settings, slow pathways to approval (illustrated by the 20-year journey of momelotinib to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme) and weak data sharing. Its recommendations include a measurable path to R&D investment of 3% of gross domestic product, funding the full cost of research, bridging translational gaps through a model like the UK Biomedical Catalyst, a recurrent Medical Research Future Fund Frontiers program, an Australian equivalent of the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) using government procurement, investment in the Australian Centre for Disease Control, clinical trials and health data infrastructure and at least $100 million a year in additional National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) funding. It also recommends a National Medical Products Industry Plan aiming for net pharmaceutical exports by 2035, a national workforce plan, a longitudinal early and mid-career researcher survey, actions aligned with Closing the Gap, and restored Australian Bureau of Statistics funding to measure R&D.