MRFF could merge with NHMRC as national health research review kicks off
Two Australian medical research funds could be merged into a body distributing A$1.5 billion annually.
The proposal is one of several models floated in a review announced on 4 June, which will initially consider the administrative and governance structures of the Medical Research Future Fund and the National Health and Medical Research Council. The MRFF currently distributes a set amount of A$650 million a year. The NHMRC spends around A$900m a year, set annually in the federal budget.
A full review of Australia’s health research funding strategy will follow, as well as a review of the act underpinning the MRFF.
Researchers have expressed concern about the transparency of the MRFF’s processes, while stakeholders including consumers have asked for more of a say in decisions around funding, a webinar on 6 June was told.
Models put forward for consultation include a “less complex” path of forging closer links between the two bodies, a more complicated process where they remain separate but the NHMRC takes over the development of the MRFF’s investment plans, and a full merger with a “single bucket” of money.
The MRFF, through its board and consultations, currently reviews its investment priorities every two years. Many decisions are made by the Department of Health and Aged Care, and the second two models would dramatically reduce the department’s influence.
Phillip Gould, the department’s first assistant secretary in the health economics and research division, told the webinar that “some think departmental involvement is a good thing, but for others there’s a view that government should stay out of these processes”.
He said the split between top-down priorities and investigator-led work was an issue and that the department was interested in hearing “what sort of guardrails should be put in place”.
NHMRC chief executive Anne Kelso told the webinar that she hoped the new national strategy would strike a balance. The MRFF currently funds more top-down work, while the NHMRC generally responds to researchers’ own interests and priorities.
Kelso said the fact that the two funds were managed separately had created issues of “strategic coordination”, even though “we have more money for [health] research than ever before”.
“There’s a lack of clarity, I think, in the sector’s eyes, about their different purposes.”
Missing link
Any new structure would include versions of the existing consumer and business input mechanisms, such as advisory committees. Both funds are either trialling or piloting the right for consumer representatives to actively “score” grant applications, which directly affects decisions.
Several questions to the webinar raised issues around commercialisation of research and how to improve its translation into clinical settings.
The Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes said it was “delighted” by the review. A national strategy is “the missing link in Australia’s thriving medical research sector”, president Kathryn North said.
“We need a funding landscape that is easy to navigate, doesn’t cause extra burden to our brilliant researchers and provides the best outcomes for Australia.”
She said the process should also include the “plight” of early to mid-career researchers. “Without significant change, medical research will not be a career of choice for the next generation of our best and brightest minds.”
Kelso said that “we know it’s critical that both types of fund enable the development and support the resilience of a strong medical research workforce”.
She also acknowledged that inflation was eroding the real value of health research funding and that there were frustrations around success rates.
“I would of course naturally…love to see higher success rates across the board,” she said.
Kelso is due to leave the role of chief executive on 26 July. Her replacement is Steve Wesselingh, a senior executive at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute and chair of the NHMRC’s research committee.
Another webinar is scheduled for 3 July, with submissions on the proposal due by 14 July.