Modernising the National Health and Medical Research Council

Health and medical research funding: an investment in Australia's future

“…Increased funding coupled with this restructure provides a key opportunity for the NHMRC to improve HMR outcomes through new strategic initiatives, wide‐ranging stakeholder consultation, organisational resource‐building, and articulating its vision and plan early in its triennium. A recent editorial in the Journal suggested that much of the NHMRC's success under the new governance structure would be dependent on effective leadership by the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who now reports directly to the Health Minister 6 . The NHMRC's new CEO is Warwick Anderson, past Head of the School of Biomedical Sciences at Monash University, and its Chair is Michael Good, Director of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.…”

Working to build a healthy Australia: a new era for the NHMRC

“…Late last year, the Australian Government announced that it would amend the National Health and Medical Research Council Act 1992 (Cwlth) to clarify and streamline the governance of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) 1 . The announcement came within days of the publication of an editorial in the MJA, 2 which was critical of many aspects of the NHMRC and its governance. While the MJA undoubtedly has some impact on Australia's health, the changes announced represented the government's response to the findings of two reviews of health and medical research.…”

“…While the MJA undoubtedly has some impact on Australia's health, the changes announced represented the government's response to the findings of two reviews of health and medical research. Nevertheless, many in government and the research community would have, perhaps grudgingly, accepted the thrust of the criticisms in the editorial 2 . There was an assertion that although the NHMRC was “world‐class” in ethics and was continuing to fund excellent research, it was perceived to be no longer the leader in what it was originally established to do: to foster medical and public health research and then turn research evidence into improving individual health and health care in general 3…”

“…The Grant review found that many changes had been successfully implemented, but the NHMRC's structure was still impeding the organisation's ability to achieve its mandate. The MJA editorial was less kind; it described the NHMRC as “arthritically conservative” 2 …”

“…But does it have the required youthful vigour to support the best research, and to work with others to turn evidence into better health outcomes, an innovative health system and new health industries, all within the world's best ethical frameworks? Or, as the MJA editorialist put it, will the NHMRC “become dynamic, flexible, adaptive, effective, and in tune with the 21st century”? 2 …”