Research Australia, the national peak body for health and medical research and innovation, is urging the Government to be bold and ambitious in finalising the National Health and Medical Research Strategy.
This Strategy, alongside other key reforms currently underway in our sector, presents a timely and unique opportunity to transform and reimagine the entire system. But only if we are courageous in initiating the reforms we need to lay the foundations for Australia’s future health and prosperity driven by health and medical research and innovation. Research Australia has called for the Strategy since 2020 and reiterates that a whole of systems approach – governments, researchers and academics, industry, health services, investors, and the community – is needed to reform the health and medical research and innovation sector.
The current draft is a great start, but we must seize the moment to make real changes. With almost $10.5 billion spent on health and medical research each year, the Strategy can show us how health and medical research improves our health. It must articulate the important role of state and territory governments in funding, translating and implementing health and medical research, development and innovation. It also must outline clear ways to strengthen the industry, philanthropy, private equity and venture capital role in our sector.
“To enable smarter investment, we must take a supply chain approach which reframes investment as a connected production and delivery system rather than a series of isolated funding programs,” said Nadia Levin, CEO & Managing Director of Research Australia.
“Every preventable hospital admission we avoid, every faster diagnosis we enable, and every home-grown medical product we export is productivity in action. Elevating health and medical research and innovation makes that possible.”
You can read Research Australia’s full submission and feedback on the draft National Strategy here.
