In December 2023, the Academy provided a submission to the consultation on a joint National Health and Medical Research Council/Medical Research Future Fund Statement on Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation in Health and Medical Research.

The Academy’s response was informed by input from Fellows of the Academy and focused on answering the survey questions within our remit and expertise.

The NHMRC and Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) are responsible for promoting excellent research that benefits the whole community. The Statement should assist the NHMRC and DoHAC to achieve this goal by:

• Providing clear guidance to the research sector on when, why and how to implement sex, gender, variations of sex characteristics and sexual orientation into health and medical research.
• Enabling a unified response by the research sector when integrating sex, gender and diversity considerations into research.

Read the full submission below.