The Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) has submitted a comprehensive response to the Draft National Health and Medical Research Strategy 2026-2036, calling for transformational funding reforms and stronger workforce support to secure Australia’s position as a global research leader.
As the peak body representing health and medical researchers across Australia, we commend the government’s ambitious 10-year strategy but stress that success will depend entirely on sustained financial commitment and bold policy reforms.
Critical Funding Crisis
We have highlighted the sector’s funding crisis as our most pressing concern, with grant success rates now “so low they are having a significant impact on research culture in Australia.” Current NHMRC success rates sit at just 10-14% for major schemes, forcing researchers to spend excessive time on applications rather than conducting research.
We are calling for Australia to increase research investment to match the OECD average of 2.7% over the next decade. Health and medical research should be recast as an investment for Australia rather than a cost, noting that the sector delivers returns conservatively estimated at more than three-fold.
We have also drawn attention to underutilized Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) resources. Despite holdings of approximately $24 billion, only 62% of available funds were allocated this year. We urge the strategy to address this gap while ensuring grants cover the full cost of research.
Workforce Planning Concerns
While we support the strategy’s focus on workforce planning, we caution against sector contraction as a solution.
“The ASMR does not support workforce planning where the initiating goal is a reduction in the size of the sector to reduce expenditure.”
We are currently developing a PhD Charter to establish minimum standards for doctoral training and have called for the strategy to recognize the diverse career pathways available to research graduates beyond traditional academia.
Discovery Research at Risk
A significant concern we have raised is the strategy’s low emphasis on discovery research. We warn that while recent MRFF investment in applied research has been welcome, it hasn’t been matched at the discovery end of the pipeline. “Discovery research is the backbone of the entire health and medical research ecosystem,” our submission notes, calling for stronger protection of fundamental research in priority-setting processes.
Our Key Recommendations
Our top priorities for the strategy include:
- Establishing an Australian Health and Medical Research Workforce Plan with genuine job security and career progression across academia and the health/medical sector
- Designing innovative long-term funding models to provide financial stability, recognizing the significant time required to take research from benchtop to market
- Consolidating Commonwealth research funding into one targeted investment fund with coordinated federal/state government investments
- Streamlining funding agencies to reduce pathways and better consolidate strategic use of funds
- Moving towards full funding of research, with an initial base level of 30% indirect costs
- Establishing a National Strategy Advisory Council with ASMR participation as the peak researcher representative body
ASMR CEO Dr Shane Huntington OAM emphasized that with Australia’s aging population and climate change threats, now is the time for bold vision. “The opportunity exists to achieve transformational changes and guarantee a future of success for Australia,” he said.
Contact Dr Shane Huntington OAM at shane@asmr.org.au for further comment.