Image: John Englart [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Flickr
Minister pledges strategy alongside A$1.89 billion funding package, but merger of health funders remains unresolved
The Australian government has promised to create a long-awaited national health and medical research strategy, but how it will be put together is still unclear.
The promise, made on 2 May, came with a A$1.89 billion funding “package”, to be delivered in the federal budget on 14 May, of which A$18.8 million is new funding for clinical trial coordination.
Health minister Mark Butler (pictured) said the decision came after the government considered the advice of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes “and many, many others”.
“We want [the strategy] to be in place by next year, and we’re looking forward over the coming weeks and months to engaging with the sector about the way in which we will develop that strategy [and its] terms of reference and its leadership,” he told journalists.
Merger in limbo
Meanwhile, a possible merger or closer alignment between the nation’s two largest health and medical research bodies remains unresolved, 10 months after a consultation on the matter closed.
The consultation on better coordination of the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Medical Research Future Fund was conducted in 2023.
Between them, the NHMRC and the MRFF deliver around A$1.5bn a year to Australian health and medical research.
A report on sector feedback on the proposal was released on 1 May. It said that most submissions supported a more streamlined system, with a “prevailing view” that the two funds should have one managing body.
“The current arrangements are confusing, pose an undue burden on the health research workforce and require improvement,” it noted. “For instance, the lack of coordination and strategic oversight between the funds left many unclear about how the whole system fits together, with both gaps and overlaps identified across the research pipeline.”
Many submissions emphasised the need for a national health and medical research strategy to guide how the agencies allocated grant funds.
Some leading sector bodies supported the “model two” option in the consultation, which would see the NHMRC managing the grant process for priorities set by the MRFF.
The report said that the two bodies had already begun to work more closely together.
Sector response
Sector bodies have welcomed the announcement of the strategy, with reservations.
Research Australia chief executive Nadia Levin said in a statement that her organisation had “long called for” a health and medical research strategy.
However, Research Australia wants the government to raise the A$650m-a-year cap on MRFF disbursement. Unless the cap is lifted or changed, it means the bulk of the package Butler announced must come from existing MRFF commitments, rather than overall funding available to the sector being increased.
Some A$1.4bn in the overall package will come “via the MRFF”, Butler said, including two 10-year, A$150m funding “missions” for low-survival cancers and reducing health inequities.
Research Australia said that “the Future Fund Board of Guardians determined A$973m was available for grants through the MRFF for the 2024-25 financial year; however, the federal government has so far only budgeted for A$650m to be disbursed”.
It said that in 2023-24, A$870m had been available but the A$650m cap was applied.
Elizabeth Hartland, president of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes, said that the association welcomed the announcement of the strategy, which will provide “momentum towards important and positive reform to Australia’s research funding systems, workforce support and research capabilities”.
The association said it “looks forward to collaborating with government and key research and health partners on both the NHMRC and MRFF alignment, as well as the national strategy, to ensure a long-term fit-for-purpose system is developed that can address Australia’s future health challenges”.
Investigator Grants
Butler’s announcement came as the winners of the NHMRC’s annual Investigator Grants were revealed.
The award of A$411m through the scheme was included in the A$1.89bn package.
An NHMRC statement said that this year’s grants included an extra A$35m to support early and mid-career researchers.
Funded research includes work on vaping, brain cancer, paediatric leukaemia and childhood dental decay.