Author: Greg Mullins

Research to support Health Literacy

In October 2022, The Commonwealth Department of Health released a draft National Health Literacy Strategy for consultation. The new Health Literacy strategy is being developed under the National Preventive Health Strategy 2021-2030. As such the Literacy Strategy is intended to provide the public with the skills and abilities to maintain their own health and wellbeing as well as improve interactions with the health system.

Research Australia’s submission to the consultation emphasised the role research can play in supporting the implementation of the Strategy, and the need to recognise older Australians as a priority target population.

Research Australia’s submission is available here.

2022/23 BUDGET UPDATE- 25 October 2022

Summary

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has used his first Budget to implement some of the new Government’s election promises and make cuts to the former Government’s programs. This is a ‘mini budget’, which sets the scene for Labor’s first full Budget in April or May next year.

As such, there were no significant changes to funding for the ARC or the NHMRC research funding programs in the next two years, with modest increases across a range of funding programs in the following two years . It seems that any major increases in funding health and medical research will have to wait until the Budget situation improves.

The rising cost of living has continued to be a key political issue. In the March Budget, the CPI was forecast to be 3.0% for 2022-23 and 2.75% in 2023-24. In tonight’s Budget inflation for this year is expected to be 7.75% for 2022-323 and 3.5% in the next financial year. Rising inflation also affects health and medical research, making the cost of undertaking research higher. As noted above, the Government has once again failed to address this issue, with increases in funding for the NHMRC and ARC announced in the March Budget and maintained tonight failing to even keep pace with inflation.

Revamping Primary Care

The Treasurer has announced a $2.9 billion package to drive an innovative revamp of Australia’s primary health care system including $100 million to co-develop and pilot innovative models with states and territories to improve care pathways and inform program roll out. The new models of care will make it easier for Australians to see a healthcare professional when they have an urgent, but not life- threatening, need for care.

Comprehensive Cancer Centres

In a win for research-active healthcare, the Government has announced tonight $375.0 million over 6 years from 2022–23 to contribute to the establishment of the Queensland Cancer Centre in Brisbane. The centre will be owned and operated by the Queensland Government and will be located within the Herston Health Precinct at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

There is also $77.0 million over 5 years from 2022–23 to contribute to the establishment of the Bragg Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Adelaide. The centre is an extension of the Australian Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy and Research at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute. 

National Centre for Disease Control
The Government is fulfilling its election promise to create a National Centre for Disease Control, with $3.2 million allocated over the forward estimates in preparatory work.

National Health Sustainability and Climate Unit
In a sign of changing health priorities, a $3.4 million investment in the Budget will establish a National Health Sustainability and Climate Unit and develop Australia’s first National Health and Climate Strategy.

 

National Reconstruction Fund
The National Reconstruction Fund is a $15 billion election promise which includes $1.5 billion for medical products over seven years. In tonight’s budget the Government has confirmed this Fund is central to its plan to invest in a stronger economy, delivering better jobs

Other announcements that affect health and medical research and innovation include:

    • $39.0 million over 4 years from 2022–23 to increase the number and consistency of conditions screened through the newborn bloodspot screening
    • The new investment of $3 billion to deliver better aged care includes $23.1m for research and consultation for reforms to in-home aged care.

There are big spending announcements in areas as diverse as Defence and infrastructure. While not on the same scale, there is some good news for STEM, including:

    • $13.5 million over 4 years from 2022–23 to strengthen coordinated policy capability
      to identify, assess and support Australian development of critical and emerging
      technologies, an issue Research Australia has been tracking for some years now.
    • $10.3 million over 6 years from 2022–23 for Australia to host the International Science
      Council’s Regional Presence for Asia and the Pacific and to deepen Australia’s science
      engagement in the region.
    • $5.8 million over 5 years from 2022–23 to support women in science, technology,
      engineering and maths (STEM) through the Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship
      program and to undertake an independent review of existing STEM programs.
    • $4.8 million over 4 years from 2022–23 to develop Australian quantum technology
      through sponsoring up to 20 PhD research scholarships and encouraging collaboration
      on quantum research across Australian universities. This cost will be partially met from
      within the existing funding for the Department of Defence’s Next Generation
      Technologies Fund.

Please read on for our summary of what this Budget means for health and medical research and innovation.

Health Portfolio

In Research Australia’s Pre- Budget Submission and our Pre-Election Statement we continued to call for increases in funding for the NHMRC’s Medical Research Endowment Account. This Budget sees the Government’s funding to the MREA continue to decline in real terms. This is of genuine concern to the health and medical research community; it jeopardises our long term research capability and increases the precariousness of research careers, especially for early and mid career researchers.

Addressing these and other issues are at the centre of Research Australia’s advocacy for a truly national health and medical research and innovation strategy, We are working with Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments to make this vision a reality.

Medical Research Future Fund

The amount of funding available from the MRFF is predicted by the Budget to be $650 million per annum over the next four years. This is unchanged from the March Budget

The funding available from the MRFF each year is dependent on the investment return on its capital. Investment returns for the MRFF were adversely affected by the COVID driven economic downturn. The previous Government has committed the MRFF to providing funding of $650 million of the next few years, regardless of the actual investment returns on the MRFF’s capital. The Albanese Government has honoured this commitment for 2022/23, requiring it to provide an additional $62 million from consolidated revenue to meet this target. (Only $598 million has been released by the Future Fund Guardians to fund MRFF commitments this year.)

NHMRC 

Funding for the NHMRC’s MREA remains unchanged from the March Budget for 2022-23 and 2023-24, but is higher in the last two years of the forward estimates. Funding for the NHMRC’s programs is continuing to grow very slightly. The increase in this financial year is 1.7%, and around 1.5% in the following year before over the forward estimates. This is lower than the forecast CPI of 7.75% for 2022-23 and CPI of 3.5% in 2023-24. It also comes on top of CPI of 4.25% in 2021-22. In effect, NHMRC funding continues to decline in real terms in the next couple of years, as it has done for many years now.

$m. 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
Funding to MREA

2022 Budget (OCT)

 875.751 877.952 905.160 922.365 938.095
Funding to MREA

2022 Budget (MAR)

 863.266 877.952 891.094 905.355 918.985
Funding to MREA

2021 Budget

 863.266 875.362 887.588 899.124 N/A

Australian Centre for Disease Control

Fulfilling an election promise, the Government will provide $3.2 million in 2022–23 to undertake the initial design for the establishment of an Australian Centre for Disease Control. The design work will incorporate stakeholder consultations to ensure the new Centre will support improved pandemic preparedness and response, as well as the prevention of chronic disease. There is no detail about where the Centre will be located or potential partners.

Comprehensive Cancer Centres

The Government will provide $452.0 million over 6 years from 2022–23 to support the establishment of world class cancer centres in Brisbane and Adelaide. The centres will provide multi-disciplinary cancer care, research and clinical trials for all types of cancers.

Centre of Excellence in Disability Health

The Government will provide $15.9 million over 4 years from 2022–23 (and $6.6 million per year ongoing) to establish and support a National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health (the National Centre of Excellence). Partial funding has already been provided for, with only some of this funding a new commitment.

The National Centre of Excellence will deliver a central hub of expertise, resources and research on the health care of people with intellectual disability and provide leadership in meeting the needs of people with intellectual disability.

 

Education Portfolio

Nearly half of all Australian health and medical research is undertaken in the higher education sector, and the Department of Education makes a significant contribution to the funding of this research through several programs, as outlined below.

ARC Programs

The Australian Research Council’s Funding Programs are critical to Australian publicly funded research, including to the life sciences and medical technologies.

Discovery Program

Over the forward estimates in this Budget, funding is slightly higher than the March Budget from 2023-24. The funding to the ARC for the Discovery Program increases by 0.8% compared to 2021/22, and by an average of 8% per annum over the next two years and 4% in 2025-26. This means that for the first time in many years the Discovery Program is forecast to increase slightly in real terms (i.e. at a rate higher than inflation).

$m. 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
2022 Budget (OCT) 506.735 511.074 551.867 596.388 622.986
2022 Budget (MAR) 489.188 511.074 535.915 562.406 585.206
2021 Budget 489.188 494.922 501.162 509.432
2020 Budget 487.016 487.860 490.610
2019 Budget 525.537 538.350 N/A

Linkage

The ARC Linkage Program had been singled out by the previous Government as an important component of Australia’s innovation system and delivering the Industry Fellows component of the University Research Commercialisation Scheme. Accordingly there is a boost to the Linkage Program’s funding in this Budget of around $11 million per annum compared to what was allocated last year. This is not enough to enable the Linkage program to fund 800 new Industry Fellowships over 10 years announced in February and keep up with inflation.

Linkage Program

$m.  21-22  22-23  23-24  24-25  25-26 
2022 Budget (OCT)  292.543  319.503  345.731  374.289  400.792 
2022 Budget (MAR)  325.454  340.820  357.704  375.595  390.950 
2021 Budget  325.454  329.948  334.109  339.622   
2020 Budget  323.871  325.240  327.074  N/A   
2019 Budget  295.246  301.741  N/A  N/A   

 

Research Support

In addition to providing funding for the ARC research programs, the Department of Education provides funding to universities to help cover the indirect costs of research.

In the 2020 Budget, the Government used the Research Support Program to provide a vital injection of $1 billion into higher education research in the current financial year.  No further injection was provided in last year’s Budget and funding in the March Budget for 2022-23 was actually lower than was forecast in the 2019 Budget. The October Budget provides increases of around 5% per annum in the Research Support Program from 2023-24.

 

$m.  20-21  21-22  22-23  23-24  24-25  25-26 
2022 Budget (OCT)     930.659  951.188  1004.314  1058.779  1089.934 
2022 Budget (MAR)     930.659  951.188  978.674  1,002.668  1,028.230 
2021 Budget  1918.298  930.659  942.775  958.326  974.143   
2020 Budget  1918.298  926.490  929.270  938.107  N/A   
2019 Budget  920.573  941.748  962.455  N/A  N/A   
2018 Budget  1018.879  1042.302  N/A  N/A  N/A   

Funding for the indirect costs of research funded by the MRFF is provided from the Research Support Program. With the MRFF providing hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to universities, a substantial increase in the Research Support Program is needed just to maintain the levels of research support funding for research projects at their current already inadequate level. The issue of indirect research costs remains unresolved for the whole health and medical research sector and indeed publicly funded research more broadly. Research Australia continues to call for a whole of government approach to the issue of funding indirect research costs.

 Research Training

The Research Training Program (RTP) provides funding to universities to support higher degree by research students (mostly PhDs). Funding for the RTP also declined in absolute terms between the 2019 and 2020 Budgets, and has only partly recovered in the 2022 Budget. The October Budget provides increases of around $50 million per year from 2023-24.

 

$m. 20-21 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
2022 Budget (OCT) 1069.181 1092.766 1153.800 1216.372 1251.497
2022 Budget

(MAR)

 1069.182 1092.766 1124.344 1151.909 1181.153
2021 Budget 1054.981 1069.182 1083.160 1100.967 1119.137
2020 Budget 1054.981 1064.392 1067.585 1077.738 N/A
2019 Budget 1057.595 1081.921 1105.710 N/A N/A

Australia’s Economic Accelerator

The Australia’s Economic Accelerator was a new program announced in the March Budget which was not implemented before the election. The Albanese Government has given a commitment to fund it. This is a $1.6 billion program over 10 years, administered by the Department of Education to overcome the valley of death that currently exists between the point at which public research funding ceases (typically publication) and the point at which commercial investors are prepared to get involved. The funding in the October Budget indicates less finding this year, accounting for delays in starting the program, with slightly higher funding over the forward estimates in subsequent years.

$m. 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
2022 Budget (OCT) 10.172 99.444 162.395 159.95
2022 Budget (MAR) 49.160 99.444 149.498 154.601

National Collaborative Research Infrastructure (NCRIS) Program

The NCRIS Program funds vital national research infrastructure needed to support Australian research. The 2021 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap informs the 2022 Research Infrastructure Investment Plan. Areas of interest to HMR that have been nominated for the New NCRIS roadmap include synthetic biology, digital research infrastructure, collections (biobanks) and facilities to scale up materials for clinical trials.

This Budget maintains the forecast $100 million boost to NCRIS from 2023-24 and slightly more funding each following year than was forecast in March. The 2022 Research Infrastructure Investment Plan should provide more detail about how this funding will be allocated once it is completed, hopefully later this year.

$m. 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
2022 Budget (OCT) 273.567 286.043 400.028 499.848 458.338
2022 Budget (MAR) 273.567 286.043 396.826 496.739 454.441
2021 Budget 273.565 283.922 391.092 491.265

Start Up Year

Fulfilling an election promise, the Government will provide $15.4 million over 4 years from 2022–23 (and $2.8 million per year ongoing) to establish the Startup Year program to deliver income contingent Higher Education Loan Program loans to up to 2,000 recent graduates, postgraduate and final year undergraduate students per year. The Startup Year will support students’ participation in a one-year, business-focused accelerator program at an Australian higher education provider, which will encourage innovation and support Australia’s startup community.

Industry, Innovation and Science Portfolio

National Reconstruction Fund

Fulfilling another election promise, the Government will invest $15.0 billion over 7 years from 2023–24 to establish the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) to provide targeted co-investments in 7 priority areas: resources; agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors; transport; medical science; renewables and low emission technologies; defence capability; and enabling capabilities.

The NRF is expected to generate revenue from investments, with policy and legislation design to follow public consultation.

$50 million over two years from 2022–23 has been allocated to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, and the Department of Finance to establish the NRF.

Supporting Australian Science

The Government will provide $47.2 million over 6 years from 2022–23 to support the development of talent and leadership in Australian science and technology. Funding includes:

    • $13.5 million over 4 years from 2022–23 to strengthen coordinated policy capability to identify, assess and support Australian development of critical and emerging technologies
    • $10.3 million over 6 years from 2022–23 for Australia to host the International Science Council’s Regional Presence for Asia and the Pacific and to deepen Australia’s science engagement in the region
    • $10.0 million over 3 years from 2022–23 to continue delivery of Questacon outreach programs to engage young Australians and science teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, including through touring exhibitions for regional, rural and remote communities
    • $5.8 million over 5 years from 2022–23 to support women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) through the Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship program and to undertake an independent review of existing STEM programs
    • $4.8 million over 4 years from 2022–23 to develop Australian quantum technology through sponsoring up to 20 PhD research scholarships and encouraging collaboration on quantum research across Australian universities. This cost will be partially met from within the existing funding for the Department of Defence’s Next Generation Technologies Fund
    • $2.9 million in 2022–23 to improve the Prime Minister’s National Science and Technology Council’s provision of science and technology advice and continue support of the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science event.

 CRC Program

The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Program is important to health and medical research and innovation, with many of the CRCs funded over the 30 year life of the program being health related. Current CRCs include the Digital Health CRC and the Autism CRC.

The smaller CRC projects program is also relevant, with recently funded projects including the creation of better brain electrodes and development of a bionic medical device that delivers high-fidelity visual-spatial perception for blind people. Funding for the CRC Program is scheduled to increase slightly faster than forecast in the 2021 and March 2022 Budget papers.

$m. 20-21 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
2022 Budget (OCT) 187.343

 

 199.374

 

 199.962

 

 205.054

 

 201.579
2022 Budget (MAR) 189.395 199.374 193.117 197.070 193.540
2021 Budget 222.777 189.980 197.815 191.042 193.807 N/A

Modern Manufacturing Initiative

The Modern Manufacturing Initiative was a major announcement in the 2020 Budget and part of the previous Government’s response to COVID-19. The program is being curtailed, with the Government reversing uncommitted funding in the Modern Manufacturing Initiative and not proceeding with a third round of the Manufacturing Modernisation Fund. The saving is $303.7 million over three years.

CSIRO

The CSIRO has Flagship Programs relevant to heath and medical research and is a key collaborator and partner in research. While it generates much of its own revenue it is also funded by the Government. The Government contribution to the CSIRO outlined in the Budget rises in the next two financial years before dropping back again.

 

$m. 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
2022 Budget (OCT) 949.037 991.134 1.005.563 919.405 931.573
2022 Budget (MAR) 949.037 991.289 985.625 899.352 904.477

Conclusion

Research Australia will continue to provide analysis and commentary in the coming days and weeks. We invite your responses and reactions to how the second 2022 Budget affects you and your work.

For further information or questions, please contact Greg Mullins, Head of Policy, greg.mullins@researchaustralia.org

 

Ends …..

Research Australia’s Pre Budget Submission September 2022

Research Australia’s submission ahead of the Alabnese Government’s first Budget, to be handed down in October, acknowledges the large debt the Government is faced with. In keeping with the Government’s objective to fund activities that will boost productivity, we have outlined how investing in health and medical research can help grow Australia’s economy and provide well paid jobs, now and for future generations.

We have reiterated the need for a National Health and Medical Research Strategy and for a research workforce plan to support this objective.

Research Australia’s submission is available here.

Draft Data Code must provide more guidance

Following passage of the Data Availability and Transparency Act earlier this year, the National Data Commissioner has now released a draft Code of Conduct to provide further guidance on how to apply the data sharing principles, privacy protections, the public interest test and ethics requirements, as well as data sharing agreements.

The definition of ‘data project output’ continues to be problematic, with the terms ‘output’, ‘final output’ and ‘use of a data output’ all used ambiguously. It appears there are some circumstances in which the use of a data output is itself a data output and others where it is not, but the distinction is not clear. This is important because data outputs are regulated by the Act and the Code.

Research Australia’s submission addresses this issue and a number of others, including the public interest test and the circumstances in which designated persons need to be identified in a Data Sharing Agreement.

The final Data Code was published on 16 December 2022 and is available here.

Enabling the ARC Industry Fellowships Scheme to work for HMR

Announced in February this year, the ARC Industry Fellowships Scheme is intended to support all of the Government’s strategic target industries, including medical products.

Research Australia believes that the Scheme is at risk of failing to meet its objective of supporting the strategic area of Medical Products unless some form of exemption from, or relaxation of, the ARC’s Medical Research Policy is applied to the Industry Fellowships.

This issue has been raised by Research Australia in ARC consultations on the guidelines for the new Scheme and in a formal submission to the ARC. The submission is available here. 

Changes to RBG formula opposed by Research Australia

Research Australia has opposed the Government’s proposal to alter the formulae for calculating Research Block grants to universities as a means of incentivising greater engagement with business. Research Block grants consist of two programs provided by the Department of Education. The Research Support Program provides funding to universities relative to the research revenue they receive from different sources: government, business, not for profits etc. The Research Training Program funds the stipends and research costs of students undertaking Masters Degrees by research and PhDs.

The Government has proposed increasing the proportion of funding tied to business research revenue and reducing the proportion of funding tied to other research revenue.

Research Australia has opposed this measure because the most recent data shows that business funded research increased by 15.5% between 2018 and 2020, and basic research (usually funded by governments and universities themselves declined by 11.3% over the same period. Research Australia is concerned that simply changing the formulae rather than providing more block grant funding will further reduce basic research at a time when business research funding is already increasing.

Read Research Australia’s submission here.

Regulating AI and ADM in healthcare and HMR

The scope for the use of Artificial Intelligence and Automated Decision Making is only limited by our imagination. In responding to the Government’s Issues Paper on the regulation of AI and ADM, Research Australia has expressed the view that AI and ADM in healthcare and health and medical research need to be subject to regulation which can cover potential future applications and adapt and develop as AI and ADM change without requiring constant revisitation of the framework.

Research Australia believes the existing regulators and responsible agencies are best placed to regulate the use of AI and ADM in healthcare and in health and medical research and innovation. While a robust national safety framework with common principles is required to guide regulators and promote consistency, existing regulatory bodies should be appropriately resourced to ensure they have the capacity to effectively regulate and support the implementation of AI and ADM now and into the future within their own areas of responsibility.

Read Research Australia’s submission

2022/23 BUDGET UPDATE- 30 March 2022

Summary

With an election due to be called any day now, it is no surprise that the 2022 Budget has contained some significant spending commitments.

The rising cost of living has become a key election issue and this Budget delivers cash payments, extends tax relief and cuts the fuel excise in half for six months. Rising inflation also affects health and medical research, making the cost of undertaking research higher. Disappointingly, the Government has once again failed to address this issue, with increases in funding for the NHMRC failing to even keep pace with inflation. The ARC’s Discovery program is forecast to increase slightly in real terms by around 1% per annum above forecast inflation. The ARC Linkage Program will increase by around the same amount, but is also expected to deliver new Industry Fellowships announced in February as part of the University Research Commercialisation Scheme.

There are big spending announcements in areas as diverse as Defence and infrastructure. While not on the same scale, there is some good news for health and medical research, including:

    • A continuation of the important MRFF Frontier Health and Medical Research initiative (designed by Research Australia in partnership with the Department of Health) out to 31-32;
    • $28.1 million for a new government agency, Genomics Australia, to support the implementation of genomics as a standard of care in Australia;
    • Much-needed funding for primary care research with an additional $70m through the MRFF and $1.9m to the University of QLD for an effectiveness-implementation trial to reduce anti-depressant use; and
    • Targeted funding for research of benefit to rural and regional Australia with new University Departments of Rural Health at Edith Cowan University and Curtin University and a new Rural Clinical School at Charles Sturt University.

This year’s Budget also includes the announcement of the Biotechnology in Australia- Strategic Plan for Health and Medicine, which focuses on the health and medical applications of biotechnology. A framework to identify gaps and align future initiatives to support the important biotechnology sector is very welcome news. Research Australia will be watching this initiative closely to understand how it aligns with Vision 2040 the National Strategy for Health and Medical Research announced by Minister Hunt at the Research Australia Awards last year.

The spending in this Budget has been made possible by better than forecast tax revenue, led by high export prices for commodities like iron ore and coal. What the Budget fails to do in any meaningful way is prepare Australia for the post-mining resources economy, where we will need to rely on the production of high-value-added goods and services if we are to maintain our standard of living. Research Australia has been arguing for several years now for a substantial, sustained and long-term investment by the Government in R&D. Once again, this issue has not been addressed.

The innovation focus of this Budget appears to be a continuation of the Government’s research commercialisation agenda, first announced in February, with $988.2m of funding over five years, including $505.2m to establish Australia’s economic accelerator grants to support collaboration between universities and industry.

Please read on for our summary of what this Budget means for health and medical research and innovation.

Health Portfolio

In Research Australia’s Pre-Budget Submission and our Pre-Election Statement we continued to call for increases in funding for the NHMRC’s Medical Research Endowment Account (MREA). This Budget sees the Government’s funding to the MREA continue to decline in real terms. This is of genuine concern to the health and medical research community; it jeopardises our long term research capability and increases the precariousness of research careers, especially for early and mid-career researchers. Addressing these and other issues are at the centre of Research Australia’s advocacy for a truly National Health and Medical Research Strategy, which has been given impetus by Health Minister Greg Hunt’s announcement last year of Vision 2040. We are working with Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments to make this vision a reality.

Overall health expenditure reflects the recurrent expenditure needed to maintain our health system as is. While there is some funding for planned growth, there is not the major funding injection that so many from the medical community and State and Territory Governments have been calling for.

Medical Research Future Fund

The amount of funding available from the MRFF is predicted by the Budget to be $650 million per annum over the next four years. The MRFF 10 year Plan, first announced in the 2019 Budget has been extended, committing $6.3 billion across the following themes:

  • $2.1 billion over 10 years from 2022-23, representing a further $604.8 million for medical translation to support medical discoveries become part of medical practice
  • $1.5 billion over 10 years from 2022-23, representing a further $114.9 million for medical research to help researchers tackle significant challenges through investment, leadership and collaboration
  • $1.4 billion over 10 years from 2022-23, representing a further $117.4 million to support patients by funding innovative treatments, supporting clinical trials, and delivering more advanced health care and medical technology
  • $1.3 billion over 10 years from 2022-23, representing a further $495.4 million for medical researchers to make breakthrough discoveries, develop their skills and progress their careers in Australia.

The Government will extend the Biomedical Translation Fund’s (BTF) initial investments period by a further 3 years to support the commercialisation of biomedical discoveries.

The funding available from the MRFF each year is dependent on the investment return on its capital. Investment returns for the MRFF were adversely affected by the COVID driven economic downturn. In the mid-year budget review in December 2020, the Government committed to delivering additional funding of $172.5 million from consolidated revenue to enable it to meet the spending outlined in the MRFF 10 year Plan for 2021-22. A further ‘top up’ was not required in the 2021-22 Budget because markets bounced back. This Budget forecasts healthy investment returns for the MRFF.

NHMRC Programs

The 2022/23 Budget reveals funding for the NHMRC’s programs continuing to grow very slightly, and slower than was forecast in last year’s Budget. The increase in this financial year is 1.7%, with annual increases of around 1.5% per annum over the forward estimates. This is lower than the forecast CPI of 3.0% for 2022-23 and CPI of 2.75% in 2023-24. It also comes on top of CPI of 4.25% in 2021-22. In effect, NHMRC funding continues to decline in real terms, as it has done for many years now.

NHMRC Medical Research Endowment Account Funding

$m. 20-21 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-16
Funding to MREA

2022 Budget

 863.266 877.952 891.094 905.355 918.985
Funding to MREA

2021 Budget

 853,864 863,266 875,362 887,588 899,124 N/A
Funding to MREA

2020 Budget

 853,864 862,412 872,770 884,960 N/A
Funding to MREA 2019 Budget 856.250 869.950 883.870 N/A N/A

 

Preventive Health Strategy

In December last year, the Australian Government published the National Preventive Health Strategy 2021-2030. The Strategy refers to the ‘need to significantly enhance investment in prevention in order to achieve a better balance between treatment and prevention. A long-term, sustainable funding mechanism is essential to achieving the aims of this Strategy, including that investment in prevention is increased (Aim 4).’

The 2022 Budget includes only a modest $30.1 million over 4 years from 2022-23 to improve health outcomes through preventive and other health initiatives under the National Preventive Health Strategy 2021-2030. Only some of this funding is new, with part being met form ‘within the existing resources of the Department of Health’. None of this funding is directed to research to support preventive health measures.

Elsewhere in the Budget under the heading of preventive health there is funding of $1 million over 2 years from 2022-23 to conduct research to address priority men’s health issues in line with the objectives of the National Men’s Health Strategy 2020-2030.

MND Clinical Trials

Staying with direct Department of Health funding for research, $4 million will be provided over 2 years from 2022-23 to the FightMND Foundation for the delivery of early-phase clinical trials to develop new treatments for Motor Neurone Disease.

Comprehensive Cancer Centre for WA

Earlier this week the Prime Minister announced $375 million to establish a comprehensive cancer centre in WA, modelled on the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre and the Chris O’Brien Lighthouse in Sydney. Proposed by Research Australia member the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, it is also dependent on funding form the WA Government, which has yet to be confirmed.

Education Portfolio

Nearly half of all Australian health and medical research is undertaken in the higher education sector, and the Department of Education makes a significant contribution to the funding of this research through several programs, as outlined below.

ARC Programs

The Australian Research Council’s Funding Programs are critical to Australian publicly funded research, including to the life sciences and medical technologies.

Discovery Program

Over the forward estimates in this Budget, the funding to the ARC for the Discovery Program increases by 4.5% compared to 2021/22, and by an average of 4.5% per annum over the forward estimates. This means that for the first time in many years the Discovery Program is forecast to increase slightly in real terms (i.e. at a rate higher than inflation). The increase is not significant, perhaps only 1% above forecast inflation, but nonetheless welcome.

 

Discovery Program

$m. 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
2022 Budget 489.188 511.074 535.915 562.406 585.206
2021 Budget 489.188 494.922 501.162 509.432
2020 Budget 487.016 487.860 490.610
2019 Budget 525.537 538.350 N/A

Linkage

The ARC Linkage Program has been singled out by the Government as an important component of Australia’s innovation system and is delivering the Industry Fellows component of the University Research Commercialisation Scheme. Accordingly, there is a boost to the Linkage Program’s funding in this Budget of around $11 million per annum compared to what was allocated last year. Like the Discovery Program, this equates to annual increases of 4.5% per annum, about 1% per annum ahead of inflation over the forward estimates. At the same time, the Linkage Program is meant to be delivering 800 new Industry Fellowships over 10 years announced in February; the increases announced in the Budget are not enough to enable it to do this and also keep up with inflation. Funding the Industry Fellowships will require savings elsewhere in the Linkage Program.

 Linkage Program

$m. 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
2022 Budget 325.454 340.820 357.704 375.595 390.950
2021 Budget 325.454 329.948 334.109 339.622
2020 Budget 323.871 325.240 327.074 N/A
2019 Budget 295.246 301.741 N/A N/A

 

Research Support

In addition to providing funding for the ARC research programs, the Department of Education and Training provides funding to universities to help cover the indirect costs of research.

In the 2020 Budget, the Government used the Research Support Program to provide a vital injection of $1 billion into higher education research in the current financial year. No further injection was provided in last year’s Budget and funding in this Budget for 2022-23 is actually lower than was forecast in the 2019 Budget. The increases forecast in this Budget averages 2.5% per annum over the forward estimates. Once again this is less than inflation and represents a decline in funding in real terms.

Research Support Program

$m. 20-21 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
2022 Budget   930.659 951.188 978.674 1,002.668 1,028.230
2021 Budget 1918.298 930.659 942.775 958.326 974.143
2020 Budget 1918.298 926.490 929.270 938.107 N/A
2019 Budget 920.573 941.748 962.455 N/A N/A
2018 Budget 1018.879 1042.302 N/A N/A N/A

Funding for the indirect costs of research funded by the MRFF is provided from the Research Support Program. With the MRFF providing hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to universities, a substantial increase in the Research Support Program is needed just to maintain the levels of research support funding for research projects at their current already inadequate level. The cuts to the Research Support Program beyond the one-off boost in 2020-21 represent a real and continued threat to the capacity of our universities to undertake vital health and medical research.

The issue of indirect research costs remains unresolved for the whole health and medical research sector and indeed publicly funded research more broadly. Research Australia continues to call for a whole of government approach to the issue of funding indirect research costs.

Research Training

The Research Training Program (RTP) provides funding to universities to support higher degree by research students (mostly PhDs). Funding for the RTP also declined in absolute terms between the 2019 and 2020 Budgets, and has only partly recovered in the 2022 Budget. The increase in the next financial year is 2.2% and the average increase over the four year period is 2.% per annum; once again failing to keep up with inflation even as it provides an additional 1800 Industry PhDs over the next 10 years.

Research Training Program

$m. 20-21 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
2022 Budget   1069.182 1092.766 1124.344 1151.909 1181.153
2021 Budget 1054.981 1069.182 1083.160 1100.967 1119.137
2020 Budget 1054.981 1064.392 1067.585 1077.738 N/A
2019 Budget 1057.595 1081.921 1105.710 N/A N/A

 Research Commercialisation

In addition to the Industry PhDs and Industry Fellows, the University Research Commercialisation Action Plan committed to implementing Australia’s Economic Accelerator. This is a $1.6 billion program over 10 years, administered by the Department of Education to overcome the valley of death that currently exists between the point at which public research funding ceases (typically publication) and the point at which commercial investors are prepared to get involved. It requires an amendment to the Higher Education Act before it can be implemented, so can only really progress after the election, and if the amendments to the Act are adopted.

National Critical Research Infrastructure (NCRIS) Program

The NCRIS Program funds vital national research infrastructure needed to support Australian research. The 2021 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap is yet to be finalised, with a draft Roadmap released in December 2021. Finalisation of the Roadmap will inform the 2022 Research Infrastructure Investment Plan.

This year’s Budget maintains the forecast $100 million boost to NCRIS from 2023-24. The 2022 Research Infrastructure Investment Plan should provide more detail about how this funding will be allocated once it is completed, hopefully later this year.

National Critical Research Infrastructure Strategy

$m. 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
2022 Budget 273.567 286.043 396.826 496.739 454.441
2021 Budget 273.565 283.922 391.092 491.265

 

Industry, Innovation and Science Portfolio

CRC Program

The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Program is important to health and medical research and innovation, with many of the CRCs funded over the 30-year life of the program being health related. Current CRCs include the Digital Health CRC and the Autism CRC.

The smaller CRC projects program is also relevant, with recently funded projects including the creation of better brain electrodes and development of a bionic medical device that delivers high-fidelity visual-spatial perception for blind people. Funding for the CRC Program is scheduled to increase slightly faster than forecast in last year’s budget, but is still lower than the expected CPI.

CRC Program $million

$m. 20-21 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
2022 Budget 189.395 199.374 193.117 197.070 193.540
2021 Budget 222.777 189.980 197.815 191.042 193.807 N/A

Modern Manufacturing Initiative

The Modern Manufacturing Initiative was a major announcement in the 2020 Budget and part of the Government’s response to COVID-19. The program continues pretty much as planned over the next three years.

 

Modern Manufacturing Initiative

$m. 20-21 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
2022 Budget   420.901 520.00 340.00
2021 Budget 40.000 380.000 520.000 340.000 Nil

CSIRO

The CSIRO has Flagship Programs relevant to health and medical research and is a key collaborator and partner in research. While it generates much of its own revenue it is also funded by the Government. The Government contribution to the CSIRO outlined in the Budget rises in the next two financial years before dropping back again.

CSIRO

$m. 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26
2022 Budget 949.037 991.289 985.625 899.352 904.477

Conclusion

Research Australia will continue to provide analysis and commentary in the coming days and weeks. We invite your responses and reactions to how the 2022 Budget affects you and your work.

Please contact Greg Mullins, Head of Policy, greg.mullins@researchaustrlaia.org

 

Draft National Medicines Policy acknowledges research is key

Following on from our submission last year to the Discussion Paper, Research Australia has welcomed the acknowledgment of the importance of research in the new draft National Medicines Policy (NMP). Research Australia has used our submission to highlight further areas under the policy’s pillars where research can play a critical role, and has called for a dedicated stream of funding for research to support the Policy’s implementation and objectives.

Research Australia believes the Governance and Implementation sections of the draft policy need more work and has joined with the medicines sector and consumer groups to call for further consultation before the NMP is finalised. The Government has now heeded this call, with the Minister for Health announcing on 23 March that there would be further consultation before the Policy is finalised.

Read Research Australia’s submission here.

The 2022 National Medicines Policy was subsequently published on 20 December 2022, and the role of research is recognised in several areas, including as an enabler of the Policy. The Policy is available from the Department of Health’s website here. 

Research Australia supports ARC’s independence

The Senate Employment and Education Legislation Committee is undertaking an Inquiry into the Australian Research Council Amendment (Ensuring Research Independence) Bill 2018, which lapsed when the 2019 election was called and has recently been revived. The renewed interest has been prompted by the decision of the acting Minister for Education to reject some proposed ARC grants in December 2021.

As stated in the Bill’s explanatory memorandum, ‘The intent of the Bill is to remove Ministerial discretion from research grants administered by the Australian Research Council (ARC).’   While Research Australia accepts the right of the Government to set the criteria for research funding programs, including the eligible applicants and research areas, and the amounts of funding available, Research Australia does not believe the Minister should have the power to refuse to fund individual research proposals that are recommended by the CEO of the ARC under an approved funding program.

Research Australia’s submission is available here.

The Senate Committee’s report was released on 21 March. The majority report, by ALP and Coalition Committee members recommended against passage of the Bill. The report is available here. A dissenting report from the Australian Greens senators is available here.