Cooperative Research Centres Programme Review

This submission to the 2014 review of the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Programme principally addresses the first term of reference and considers the Programme’s place in health and medical research and healthcare delivery. Research Australia supports the Programme but is concerned that the discussion paper’s strong focus on private sector commercialisation signals guidelines that would exclude non-commercial research end users. It explains that healthcare, worth about $147 billion a year, is paid for by governments and individuals, delivered by public, private and not-for-profit providers and shaped by purchasers other than the consumer, so translation depends on engaging participants who seek no commercial return. Drawing on the Hearing, Oral Health, Cancer Therapeutics and Young and Well CRCs, it shows how clinical, educational and preventive work secures the cooperation of hospitals, clinicians and community groups and can itself lead to commercial interest. It notes that 11 of the 36 active CRCs relate to human health and that all but one health CRC includes both commercial and non-commercial end users. It cites estimates of $1 billion wasted annually in public hospitals, oral disease costing $8.4 billion a year and mental illness about $20 billion, to argue that better care, prevention and education are genuine economic benefits. It recommends retaining public, private and non-profit organisations as eligible end users and warns that an exclusively commercial focus would weaken both translation and commercialisation.