Category: Media, Uncategorized

ALP GUARANTEES $20B HEALTH AND MEDICAL RESEARCH FUND

After years of campaigning by Research Australia, the Australian Labor Party has committed to the full $20 billion capitalisation of the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) by 2020-21.

The MRFF is a once-in-a-generation plan to underwrite health and medical research, providing better health outcomes for all Australians; and a safer, better quality and more effective health system.

Research Australia CEO and Managing Director, Nadia Levin, said she was thrilled that the MRFF now has bipartisan support, with the fund to reach the full $20 billion by 2020-21.

 “Let’s be clear – every dollar invested into medical research is a dollar invested into the health of all Australians, and the health of our economy,” Ms Levin said.

 “This funding will make a tangible, measurable difference to the lives of Australians, from treatments for people touched by common killers, through to those with rare diseases.

 “It is incredibly rewarding to see both sides of politics reflecting so closely the commitment we called for in our Pre-Election Statement<https://researchaustralia.org/pre-election-statement/> on behalf of the health and medical research community.

 “We would like to express our gratitude to the Shadow Minister for Health and Medicare, Hon Catherine King MP for meeting with us recently in April to discuss the issue.

 “At the end of the day, this funding will allow new medical discoveries and treatments to bring hope to Aussie patients.

 “Research Australia recognises the significant scale of this win, which our membership has been calling for since we convened a Pre-Election summit in 2018.

 “This bipartisan support is an important underwriting of a rapidly evolving area of research and healthcare, and will further strengthen Australia’s expertise and build upon our potential.

 “The beneficiaries of the MRFF are universities, medical research institutes, not-for-profits and commercial medical research, and ultimately the Australian people and the economy.

 “I challenge people to come up with a list more worthy of support.”

 To find out more about Research Australia visit: www.researchaustralia.org<https://www.researchaustralia.org>

 For more information please contact: Lauren Devlin 0449 041 214

Research Australia proposes new MRFF Priorities

Research Australia has a made a comprehensive submission to the consultation on the new MRFF Priorities 2018-2020.

Working with our broad membership, Research Australia’s approach was to start with the Strategic Platforms and examine every Priority and all the existing and proposed funding programs.  We looked at how well they were aligned, where the gaps were, and what wasn’t working. Research Australia gratefully acknowledges the contribution made by our members through discussions and the exchange of ideas and proposals.

Research Australia proposes that four Priorities be retained in their current form and that a further seven be retained but amended. We also propose five existing Priorities be discontinued and six new Priorities created. Research Australia’s response to the consultation is available here.

With the consultation period now completed, the next stage rests with the MRFF Advisory Board which is responsible for developing and issuing the next Priorities. We wish the Board well with this important task and look forward to seeing the new MRFF Priorities towards the end of 2018.

 

Amendments to the R&D Tax Incentive

Research Australia has made a submission in response to the draft amendments to the R&D Tax Incentive legislation, the latest round of changes since the legislation commenced seven years ago. Research Australia’s submission addresses two key issues.

The  first is our concern that the definition of clinical trial is not broad enough to ensure the exemption from the $4 million cap on R&D expenditure will apply to all clinical trials activity, particularly for medical devices. We have worked with other peak bodies, including Ausbiotech and BioMelbourne Network, to propose an alternative and more inclusive definition.

The second main concern relates to the proposed reduction in the rate of the R&D Tax Incentive. For early stage companies seeking to commercialise new pharmaceuticals, biotechnologies and devices, this has the effect of directly reducing their cashflow at a critical stage in their development. Research Australia has opposed the rate reduction.

Research Australia’s submission

Improving Research Funding

Research Australia’s submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Research Funding has proposed a review across all funding agencies and government departments to eliminate unnecessary inconsistencies in application guidelines, processes and acquittal procedures. We also called for the development of a common approach to the calculation and payment of funding to cover the indirect costs of research.

Research Australia’s submission

Nominations open for GSK Award for Research Excellence

Nominations for GSK’s Award for Research Excellence are open until 6 July 2018. The longstanding award seeks to assist leading Australian researchers by providing the winner with an $80,000 grant to support their research journey.

The GSK Award for Research Excellence is one of the most prestigious available to the Australian medical research community. It has been awarded since 1980 to recognise outstanding achievements in medical research with potential importance to human health.

Last year’s award was received by Professor Timothy Hughes – considered a world-leader in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) research – for pioneering the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in the treatment of CML. You can view his winning video here.

Speaking about the award, Professor Hughes said “Awards like GSK’s Award for Research Excellence bring much needed support to the research community in Australia. Not only through the direct impact of the award’s funding, but also through raising awareness of the scientific expertise and innovative activities in our country.”

Professor Hughes and his team at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute are currently focused on treatment response to optimise disease management and patient outcomes. The $80,000 prize that comes with the GSK Award for Research Excellence will help support a Leukaemia Fellow to work alongside Professor Hughes in furthering research into CML.

The award was presented to Professor Hughes at Research Australia’s Health and Medical Research Awards 2017 in Melbourne. Dr Andrew Weekes, Medical Director, GSK Australia, said, “GSK is proud to be able to support Australian researchers with this award, now in its 38th year.

Successful applicants are generally mid-career researchers with a long-standing commitment to their field. The winner will be announced on Thursday 8 November 2018 at the Research Australia Health and Medical Research Awards dinner, being held at the Sofitel Sydney, Darling Harbour.

Further information is available on the GSK ARE website where nominees may be submitted. Please email any enquires to are.arenominations@gsk.com. Nominations close 2 July 2018.

 

Research for a Sustainable WA Health System

Research Australia has urged the Expert Panel responsible for undertaking WA’s Sustainable Health Review to give greater emphasis to the role health and medical research can play in creating a more sustainable health system for Western Australians.

While welcoming the identification by the Review Panel of the need to ‘Harness and support health and medical research, collaboration and innovation’ as one of the Interim Report’s 12 Directions, our response further elaborates the role for health and medical research in achieving the other 11 Directions identified by the Review Panel. We have used examples and case studies provided by our WA members to highlight the many ways that research is already helping reform WA’s health system, and the many opportunities to further leverage and expand this partnership for the benefit of the whole community.

Research Australia’s submission to the WA Sustainable Health Review

Federal Budget 2018/19 – Have Your Say

The Assistant Treasurer has called for ideas for next year’s Federal Budget to be submitted by 15 December 2017.

Research Australia is working on its submission and is looking for suggestions from our membership.

Have an idea for something that should be funded by the Commonwealth Government but isn’t?

An area that deserves more funding than it currently gets?

Research Australia wants to hear from you.

Please send your ideas to Greg Mullins or call Greg on 03 9662 9420.

As an example, here is a link to Research Australia’s 2016 pre-budget submission.

Medical technology investment to improve lives

11 September 2017

The Biomedical Translation Fund will fund three medical breakthroughs, as announced jointly by The Hon Greg Hunt MP, Health and Sports Minister and Senator The Hon Arthur Sinodinos, Minister for Industry, Innovation ad Science.

The investments are being made for the BTF by one of its three fund managers, BioScience Managers:

  • $5 million in Rex Bionics to develop a hands-free robotic device to help people with severe
    disability to walk, exercise and rehabilitate;
  • $3.3 million to Saluda Medical for neuromodulation technologies for people suffering from
    chronic back pain and other debilitating conditions;
  • $5 million to CHARM Informatics for data aggregation and commercialisation services for
    makers of ‘smart’ medical devices.

A joint venture between the Australian Government and private sector investors, further investments are yet to be made, with a total of $500 million available.

Read the full media release about the Biomedical Translation Fund.

Continue reading “Medical technology investment to improve lives”

The Australian Health Data Series

Flying Blind | The Australian Health Data Series 

Flying Blind is a series of three reports dedicated to uncovering the acute levels of data fragmentation existing at all levels of Australia’s health landscape.

CMCRC in collaboration with Research Australia is currently working on the second report which examines Australia’s health and medical research data environment and traces the difficulties that Australian researchers face at each stage of their journey as they attempt to access research data. Volume One dived into consumers and digital health through the patient journey, service fragmentation, health data silos, legislation, regulation and policy and consumer concerns and perceptions.

As we write Volume Two: Researchers and the Health Data Maze, we’ll be publishing regular blog posts of interest to this topic. The blog is updated regularly by members of the CMCRC’s Health Market Quality program and Research Australia. If you would like to be a guest blogger please email Lucy Clynes with your expressions of interest.

Bookmark this website today: https://flyingblind.cmcrc.com/researchers-health-data.
 Continue reading “The Australian Health Data Series”

Temporary Work (Skilled) visa subclass 457 scrapped

This week, the Prime Minister announced that the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457 visa) will be abolished and replaced with the completely new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa in March 2018.

The TSS visa program will be comprised of a Short-Term stream of up to two years and a Medium-Term stream of up to four years and will support businesses ‘in addressing genuine skill shortages in their workforce and will contain a number of safeguards which prioritise Australian workers.’
Continue reading “Temporary Work (Skilled) visa subclass 457 scrapped”