Workforce – Looking Ahead: Shaping the Research Workforce for Tomorrow

This policy discussion paper examines the Australian health and medical research and innovation workforce and is intended to inform a National Health and Medical Research Workforce Plan under the National Health and Medical Research Strategy. Originally developed to guide Research Australia’s University Roundtable at Flinders University in October 2025, it was revised to incorporate roundtable feedback and member input. Drawing on the 2024 Health and Medical Research Workforce Audit and other sources, it reviews workforce definitions and the policy and funding landscapes. The Audit counted 39,690 active researchers, a figure the paper treats with caution. Previous Research Australia analysis found 54% of university researchers and 74% of MRI researchers employed on a contract basis; the 2025 NHMRC Ideas Grants success rate was 8.1%; and women make up 52% of the workforce but only 25% of the most senior positions. Recommendations span seven priority areas: job insecurity; defining and measuring the workforce; a pipeline approach to capability development; barriers for priority cohorts, including early and mid-career, clinician and lived experience researchers; research-active workplaces; diversity, equity and inclusion; and global talent. Specific proposals include removing the 2021 legislative cap on Medical Research Future Fund expenditure, an annual workforce data collection, a bi-annual national early-mid career researcher survey, funding the research component of clinician-researcher salaries, and a sector-wide institutional accreditation scheme.