In July 2018, the Academy responded to an inquiry by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training’s on Funding Australia’s Research, highlighting the instrumental role of research and innovation in driving economic growth, creating jobs and bringing considerable societal benefits through the translation of research findings; and the need to better embedding research in health care delivery.

Our response emphasised the need to maximise long-term investment to ensure that the impact of research funding will provide the stability needed for research and innovation to address the most pressing national and global challenges. Furthermore, for health and medical research, funding impact and translation will be substantially improved by ensuring that research is embedded in healthcare delivery.

The Academy is dedicated to supporting the future generation of clinician scientists and highlighted the need empower researchers to pursue both clinical and research endeavours. It is vital that research funding delivers for the future, which means implementing targeted support for early- and mid-career researchers to ensure that they can become tomorrow’s leaders.

Following this submission, the Academy was invited to give oral evidence to the Committee and Professor Frank Gannon, a member of our Council, represented the Academy in this session, reinforcing the points made in our submission.