The Liberal National Government is providing more than $8 million for research initiatives that lead to improved health outcomes and preventative measures for conditions such as cancer, eye disease and stillbirth.
The latest round of dollar for dollar funding through the Government’s National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) Partnership Projects scheme will assist a total of 11 research projects.
This significant financial contribution between Government and partnering organisations demonstrates our commitment to bringing the best and most up-to-date research discoveries to the Australian community.
The University of Queensland will receive over $1.3 million to assess the impact of a stillbirth prevention program, for improving care for women during pregnancy in Australia.
One baby for every 135 born in this country is a stillbirth, and it is still a serious public health problem.
A huge amount of investment is needed in vital research to understand why such large numbers of babies are dying; particularly those that are born at or close to term with no known cause of death.
There has been little improvement over the past two decades and research efforts will address the gap between what is known and what is done to prevent stillbirth. If this research is effective, many lives could be saved.
These grants will support our health and medical research workforce, providing greater opportunities for more breakthroughs.
The 2018–19 Federal Budget provided a record total of $6 billion to Australia’s health and medical research sector, including $1.3 billion for a health and medical industry growth plan to drive a new era of better health care and fuel jobs and growth.
Health and medical research is one of the four pillars of the Government’s Long-Term National Health Plan. Our Government’s strong economic management ensures the continued record investment into vital health initiatives including medical research, mental health, life-saving medicines, Medicare and hospitals.
The National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) Partnership Projects scheme funding recipients are:
| Administering Institution | Application Title | Grant Amount |
| University of Newcastle | Improving outcomes for cancer patients who smoke: The Care to Quit stepped wedge randomised trial to implement best-practice cessation care in cancer centres | $1,408,506.30 |
| Monash University
|
Driving Health: Developing evidence-based strategies to improve the health and safety of transport workers | $609,670.40 |
| University of New South Wales | Enhancing hepatitis C testing and treatment among people who inject drugs attending needle and syringe programs: the TEMPO Study | $1,396,395.40 |
| University of Melbourne
|
Improved early diagnosis of eye disease by integration of retinal photography and artificial intelligence to build an opportunistic screening service in regional and remote primary care settings | $535,887.90 |
| University of Newcastle | Testing the impact of an Interactive Health Communication Application on days alive out of hospital and quality of life following surgery for colorectal cancer | $298,835.44 |
| University of Sydney | A partnership approach linking two randomised controlled trials for optimising early obesity prevention programs for children under three years | $817,818.10 |
| University of Queensland
|
Assessing the impact of a stillbirth prevention bundle of care for improving best practice care for women during pregnancy in Australia | $1,291,910.20 |
| University of New South | Establishing the most effective parameters for delivering The Carers Way Ahead as a service for families and carers of adults with Traumatic Brain Injury. | $264,642.28 |
| Flinders University | Implementation of a chronic disease management model in chronic liver failure patients to improve rates of emergency admissions providing an opportunity to drive practice change. | $452,229.10 |
| University of Newcastle | A randomised trial of a multi-component implementation intervention to support childcare services with scheduling opportunities for outdoor free play consistent with sector guidelines | $941,274.50 |
| University of Newcastle | The eCliPSE Project: implementing evidence-based eHealth interventionsfor comorbid mental health and alcohol/other drug use problems into health and community settings | $196,973.70 |