AAMRI’s 2018-19 Pre-Budget Submission

AAMRI has submitted a budget submission for 2018-19, addressing the funding decline for the NHMRC Independent Research Institute Infrastructure Support Scheme (IRIISS).

In summary, the issues are:

  • Funding for research support costs through IRIISS has declined over the last 5 years from $35.4 million to $29.5 million per year.
  • In 2016, medical research institutes (MRIs) were notified of a $30M per year cap on IRIISS funding.
  • Increasing costs and notification of a non-indexed $30M per year cap has created an unsustainable funding black hole for MRIs.

Our proposal:

  • Funding for the IRIISS program should be indexed at the same rate as the overall NHMRC budget and the $30m cap on IRIISS expenditure should be removed.