Making health and medical research more inclusive

Historically, science has not considered the full spectrum of sex, gender and sexual orientation. This has led to health and medical research that does not fully reflect the needs of all Australians. We are collaborating with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to change this.

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General public

The joint Statement on Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation in Health and Medical Research reflects our commitment to: 

  • health equity
  • acknowledging that every person in Australia has the right to be included in safe, high-quality research that informs our health care. 

The statement guides researchers funded by the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and the NHMRC to consider sex, gender, variations of sex characteristics and sexual orientation (the variables) in their research. 

We are both working to integrate the statement into future MRFF and NHMRC grant rounds. At this time, researchers’ consideration of the variables will become mandatory in relevant MRFF and NHMRC-funded research. 

Learn more in Health and medical research funders highlight importance of sex, gender, variations of sex characteristics and sexual orientation in science.  

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