As required by the Medical Research Future Fund Act 2015 (the Act), the independent Australian Medical Research Advisory Board (AMRAB) conducted a consultation from 9 Sep 2020 to 7 Oct 2020 to develop the Medical Research Future Fund’s (MRFF) Australian Medical Research and Innovation Priorities 2020-22 (the Priorities).

The Priorities are considered by the Minister for Health before the Commonwealth Government decides on the disbursement of funding from the MRFF. AMRAB was interested in hearing reflections from the community on the current set of MRFF Priorities, the Australian Medical Research and Innovation Priorities 2018-2020. In particular their ongoing appropriateness to guide MRFF investments in health and medical research over the next 12 month period which is the final stage of the current Australian Medical Research and Innovation Strategy 2016-21 (the Strategy). As the current Strategy expires during the life of the next Priorities (in November 2021), the consultation specifically focused on revisiting the Priorities in the contemporary context and seek to identify opportunities to use the next twelve months as a period of consolidation under the current Strategy.

The Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF) is the national peak body representing the interests of Australian healthcare consumers and those with an interest in health consumer affairs, including health based research. We have around 200 members reflecting a broad spectrum of organisations including state-based consumer peaks, condition-specific groups, volunteer patient groups, professional associations, Primary Health Networks (PHNs) and the research community. 

We work in collaboration with our members, national partners and research collaborators to influence policy, programs and services to ensure they are in the consumer and community interest. In developing our submission we provided our members the opportunity to input into our responses and consulted with our ‘Research and Data Special Interest Group’, a group of nearly two-dozen everyday consumers with an interest in health research and data.

CHF is pleased to make this submission in response to the MRFF Australian Medical Research and Innovation Priorities 2020-2022 consultation.