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Thank you, Rebekah for your introduction. Thank you, Uncle Ian Hunter for your Welcome to Country.
Before I begin, I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong peoples of the Kulin Nation and pay my respects to Elders past and present.
I extend that respect to other First Nations people with us today.
I also acknowledge Dr James Campbell and Board Members; and Dr Daniel Timms
I also extend a warm welcome to everyone at this conference and our overseas guests.
A shout out to all the many sponsors of AusBiotech 2024 and I look forward to meeting some of the people representing my home state of South Australia shortly.
It’s good to be with you.
I want to thank Rebekah (Cassidy, CEO, AusBiotech) for the invitation to speak. Rebekah joined AusBiotech in May this year and is already making her mark.
I understand that I’m the first Australian Health Minister to ever address the AusBiotech conference.
It’s both an honour and a pleasure because our government is taking a very keen interest in the biotech industry and its massive potential.
The potential to boost health outcomes, the economy and cement our future in medical research and discovery.
The medical advances we make in this country are always about improving the lives of Australians, as well as people around the world.
To take full advantage of these incredible advances they need to be developed, realised and commercialised.
Which is why our government recognises the strong contribution each of you make in the Australian biotech industry.
We want to propel your success, both nationally and internationally.
The potential of this industry is great. But, to make a more meaningful difference to our lives, livelihoods and to the economy we must work together to unlock all the possibilities of biotech.
Health and medical research in Australia is an outperforming sector - ranking 7th in the world.
We have more than 1,200 biotech companies, 55 medical research institutes and 40 medical research focused universities.
But, medical manufacturing only accounts for 0.3% of GDP, demonstrating the need to leverage our medical research to create more secure, well-paid jobs.
So, while we may be frontrunners in health and medical research, our rapidly changing world means we can’t rely on past success and there is work to do.
I want to talk about the programs our government has in place to support health innovators and commercialisation.
But I also want to make clear my desire, the government’s desire, to continue to work with AusBiotech and its industry members to bridge the gap between invention and realisation.
We need a whole pipeline approach – from discovery to start-up, clinical trials, manufacturing, export, access and reimbursement.
Health is at the beginning and the end of that pipeline.
But, in the middle there are other sectors with skin in the game.
I’m talking specifically about using the levers we have at our disposal in other portfolios such as industry, science, foreign affairs, jobs and skills, defence, finance and treasury.
And, to the people in this room—from the start-ups, the small to medium enterprises, the research institutes, multinationals, investors and manufacturers I say, we are stronger together.
This is why we need to work on a whole-of-government and industry approach.
Our funding, tailored programs and vision reflect our commitment to support and nurture our biotech industry.
For example, when it comes to research and development, we are working with the sector to develop a roadmap to drive Australia’s research innovation and productivity potential.
We are investing more than $12.6 billion in R&D in 2023-24 – an increase of 2.7% compared with the previous year.
Our $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) is providing finance to drive Australian-based investments in seven priority areas of our economy.
For projects which diversify and transform Australia’s industry and economy, including $1.5 billion towards co-investments in medical science commercialisation and manufacturing.
Co-investment Plans are a part of the Australian Government’s commitment to secure a strong future for local manufacturing.
The plans bolster the government’s commitment to rebuild, modernise and diversify Australian manufacturing so we can continue to be a country which makes things to benefit local communities and the economy.
The medical science priority area is about manufacturing a broad range of products for therapeutic use such as medical devices, medicines, personal protective equipment, and vaccines.
At the other end of the value chain, the National Health and Medical Research Council and Medical Research Future Fund together provide more than a billion dollars in research grants each year.
It’s about supporting lifesaving research, creating jobs, strengthening the local industry base, and continuing to grow Australia’s reputation as a world leader in medical research.
This includes $450 million over 10 years for the Medical Research Commercialisation initiative, which has already support 134 Australian small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and ventures.
Its focus is on supporting research discoveries, including for novel or repurposed drugs, devices and digital health technologies, as they progress from proof-of-concept through to clinical implementation.
Last year, it was my great honour to announce the third largest grant in the nearly ten-year history of the MRFF, with $50 million from the Frontiers Program going to develop and commercialise the world’s most advanced artificial heart.
As well as the obvious health benefits, this is an incredible story of Australian ingenuity and sovereign manufacturing, with collaboration across universities, clinical hospitals and industry to develop the world’s most advanced artificial heart.
And it’s an incredible story that you’ll hear more about here at AusBioTech, as the industry partner in that consortium was Dr Daniel Timms’ firm BiVACOR, with its revolutionary technology that uses magnetic levitation technology to reduce friction, increase durability and improve quality of life.
The technology has the potential to halve deaths from heart failure, create thousands of jobs, and contribute $1.8 billion to Australia and Australian society.
And coming down the pipeline is our National Health and Medical Research Strategy, which I expect to be delivered to government next year.
It’s about strengthening and leveraging Australia's world-leading research capability and delivering better health outcomes from a more productive and more efficient research system.
It will cover the Australian health and medical research sector in its entirety.
This means the states and territories as well as industry, philanthropy, academia, clinicians, and consumers so we can all work together for a common purpose.
We’ve also been working with Medicines Australia on the Health Technology Assessment Policy and Methods Review (HTA Review).
This review identified barriers to people being able to have the earliest possible and equitable access to health technologies, including medicines.
In the end, the HTA Review report included 50 recommendations to:
- address inequities in access
- reduce how long it takes for medicines to be funded
- improve engagement, making HTA processes simpler and easier for consumers and clinicians, and
- invest in HTA capability to make it adaptable and futureproof.
Importantly, the HTA Review made several recommendations for reform to address issues which impact on the time it takes for medicines to be subsidised.
It also recommended reforms to enhance timely access to relevant, quality, real-world data and evidence.
We will be seeking the views of consumers, clinicians, and the wider sector on the implementation of the review’s recommendations, and we are establishing an Independent Group to guide the reform process.
So, I’ve spoken about a few of the government’s programs and the funding available. I think it’s an exciting time for the health care sector in this country.
Our announcement of funding to support the next phase of technical work to progress the National One Stop Shop for clinical trials and health and medical research is a case in point.
This demonstrates our government’s commitment to clinical trials reform, growth, research, translation, investment and quality outcomes for Australian patients.
I want to see Australia as the preferred destination for research and to do this we must have a cohesive, nimble and responsive environment.
And we’ll achieve that with the One Stop Shop.
The One Stop Shop will strengthen and harmonise policies, systems and processes for the administration, regulation, and conduct of health and medical research.
It is underpinned by a national, interconnected, fast and streamlined platform.
That will make it much easier for patients, researchers and sponsors to find, conduct and participate in clinical trials and research in Australia.
It is the key national reform being led in collaboration with all governments via enduring governance arrangements under the leadership of Professor Ian Chubb.
Under Ian’s leadership, the National One Stop Shop will transform the health and medical research sector.
It will:
- streamline research approvals
- monitor performance
- support health system sustainability
- improve productivity
- create jobs and build an innovation economy, and
- deliver innovative treatments and improved health outcomes for all Australians.
Our One Stop Shop will be central to building an innovation economy.
It will secure Australia’s sovereign and manufacturing capability across the research pipeline.
Like you, I’m looking forward to a time when consumers, clinicians and researchers can easily identify up-to-date information about trials relevant to them.
And when all governments can rapidly respond to areas of need in a coordinated and strategic manner.
A streamlined, harmonised, effective, predictable and consistent operating environment is essential for a vibrant health and medical research ecosystem.
And that’s what, I believe, the National One Stop Shop will deliver. It’s a gamechanger.
Above all else though, you’re the beating heart of this sector.
Because you take great ideas and translate them into health and economic benefits.
And our government is determined, more than any before it, to stand with you. Side by side.
Rebekah tells me that you will be producing a Greenpaper and a Whitepaper in the coming days and months to move beyond identifying the problems and barriers and focus on the solutions and actions.
I look forward to reading these papers.
I want to see these ideas and to work with you to take them off the page, out of the lab and into the real world.
Thank you.