$2 billion MRFF investment secures Australia’s future as medical research leader

  • Significant investment in new medical research projects in the 2018-19 budget ensures Australia’s ability to deliver best health, social and economic outcomes.
  • Continued commitment to the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) will ensure Australia remains a world leader in medical research.

Multiple funding boosts from the MRFF are being directed towards innovative medical research projects, including genomics and precision medicine, allowing Australia to be at the forefront of turning new discoveries into the next generation of advanced patient treatments. Other key areas will also receive funding boosts including mental health, brain cancer, rare cancers, diabetes, and heart disease.

“This is a great Budget for medical research, and this is where the Australian medical research sector should be heading.” said Professor Tony Cunningham AO, President of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI).

“It’s fantastic to see the Government recognise that for Australian’s to continue to benefit from this work, we need to continue funding it,” said Professor Cunningham. “These are all areas where Australian researchers are delivering excellent results.”

The announcement will ensure better health and social outcomes for Australians, including reducing healthcare expenditure and creating thousands of new high value jobs.

The MRFF is set to reach $20 billion by 2020-21, and Professor Cunningham congratulated the Government on continuing to deliver on this promise.

“This means the medical research sector can focus on what it needs to be doing – developing new and improved treatments and medical devices to people who need it,” he said. “This is especially important during a time where we need to be capitalising on our research and commercialisation successes.”

AAMRI is looking forward to seeing competitive processes put in place to ensure the best value for money can be gained from this new investment.

Also announced in the budget was funding for the National Research Infrastructure Plan. Nearly $400M has been committed for the next four years, and close to $2 billion over the next decade to fund a Research Infrastructure Investment Plan. This will ensure in the coming decade that Australia will maintain its position as a global leader in medical research.

Media Contact: Aimee Sanderson, 0414 611 334, aimee.sanderson@aamri.org.au.