Each year the Treasurer invites the Australian community to make submissions in relation to the preparation of the budget for the following financial year. Research Australia’s recommendation are:

• Maintain the aggregate real value of Commonwealth Government funding for health and medical research across all funding programs.
• Fund the implementation and monitoring of the McKeon Review recommendations.
• Increase funding for research to support the effective and rapid translation of new discoveries into practice.
• Increase funding for health systems research to increase our capacity to analyse and identify best practice for the Australian health care system and to increase research into the most successful, effective and efficient delivery mechanisms and structures for implementing best practice.
• Expand the mandate of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care to include efficiency as well as safety and quality, and provide incentives for health care providers to nominate existing practices and initiatives to the Commission for adoption as part of the Healthcare Standards.
• Increase funding for population health and preventive health research to improve the effectiveness of preventive health campaigns and identify emerging trends in the health and disease profile of the Australian population.
• Retain programs that support Australian research and development (R&D) and innovation, including Commercialisation Australia and the R&D tax incentive.

Pre Budget Submission 2014