Medical Research Future Fund passes Senate

Legislation for the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) successfully passed through the Senate yesterday with bipartisan support, with assurance from the government that the fund will meet the needs of the medical research community.

The government made particular note of the fact that it incorporated recommendations from the Community Affairs Legislation Committee inquiry into the Bill, and responded to constructive suggestions made by the Australian Greens, in passage of the final legislation. Furthermore, the Greens were personally thanked for their support of the initiative.

The fund is set to distribute $10 million in medical research funding in 2015–16 and over $400 million over the next four years. It will receive an initial contribution of $1 billion from the uncommitted balance of the Health and Hospitals Fund and will eventually provide around $1 billion per annum in additional funding for medical research and medical innovation.

The remaining contributions into the fund will come from 2014–15 Budget savings in the health portfolio which have passed, or will pass, through the Parliament in the future, until the balance in the fund reaches $20 billion. This will bring government investment in medical research back into line with the OECD average relative to GDP.

In order to ensure funds are spent appropriately, the MRFF will be administered by an independent expert advisory board consisting of eight members, one of whom will be the CEO of the National Health and Medical Research Council. The remaining members will be announced shortly by Minister for Health Sussan Ley.

Ley will also be required by law to report to the parliament once every two years on how research funded by the MRFF meets the strategy and priorities that are independently set by the board. These reports will also outline the spending profile for the MRFF compared against other sources of Commonwealth funding on medical research and innovation, to demonstrate that the MRFF builds on existing funding.

The passage of the legislation has been welcomed by the MRFF Action Group, whose members have been campaigning for the fund and its associated benefits ever since it was announced in the 2014 Budget. The group’s deputy chair, Ian Smith, said the MRFF will “double funding to health and medical research in Australia and will help our world-class researchers pursue the causes and cures for the important diseases and conditions facing Australians”.

“The MRFF is a game changer for Australia,” Smith said. “It will not only complement the excellent work of the National Health and Medical Research Council in funding health and medical research, but will also broaden the application of funding to include medical innovation.

“We look forward to the opportunities the MRFF offers Australians, including a greater translation of health and medical research into clinical applications; an increased number of clinical trials; more research being conducted in hospitals and clinics; the creation of high-value jobs; an improvement in the lives and livelihoods of some of our most disadvantaged and chronically ill by helping them to prevent, manage and overcome illness; and a reduction in the burden of disease on our economy.”

Other vocal supporters of the fund include Hunter Medical Research Institute Director Michael Nilsson and Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI) President Professor Doug Hinton.

“Today’s good news will hopefully be tomorrow’s ‘better’ news,” Professor Nilsson said. “For too long, good ideas have struggled to evolve from seed phase because the purse could stretch only so far, but we finally have the financial stability needed to encourage our best and brightest minds to go into medical research and to stay.”

Professor Hilton added, “Every dollar invested in health and medical research generates more than two dollars in health and productivity gains by reducing the burden of disease on the health system and productivity, and through the creation of innovative businesses and jobs in the health industry.

“We know we can make many more discoveries — we just need the money to do it. And the MRFF will help us tremendously towards the very best goal of a healthier Australia.”

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