Research is one of our most precious national assets. It's time we take advantage
It's extraordinary to think that in just the span of my career the chance of surviving some childhood cancers has risen from just over 50 per cent to now over 90 per cent.
In the last decade, survival from advanced melanoma in adults increased from less than 10 per cent to over 50 per cent.
That is thanks to global research, including about incredible capability embedded in Australia's research sector.
As the "lucky country", Australia has enjoyed some amazing stretches of uninterrupted prosperity. But as we face local and global upheavals - increasing climate disasters, pandemics and fractured geopolitics - we are on the brink of walking past our greatest opportunity. Our national prosperity cannot continue to rely on mining, agriculture and real estate.
What if we recognised that ideas and innovation - housed in our universities, research institutes, health organisations, industry and start-ups - are the strategic infrastructure our nation demands?
The Australian government is currently asking what the future of our national research systems could look like through its strategic examination of R&D.
Universities are often accused of lagging industry or being slow to innovate. But the reality is university research is largely responsible for the majority of Australian innovation - it's given the world cervical cancer vaccine, solar panel cells, the cochlear implant among many other discoveries that have helped millions of people around the world.
Our universities are now at the vanguard of innovation, and they need an R&D framework that will enable and empower government and industry to keep pace.
Successful innovations often come from serendipitous discoveries which have been tested, re-tested and refined over long time periods - even decades - timelines that do not make sense for business, but do for universities.
Australia has the credibility, capability and culture to become a global solutions hub. We already boast strong regulatory frameworks, solid patent laws, tax incentives, an extraordinary clinical trials capacity and a trusted healthcare-research nexus.
We have public trust in science and a collaborative culture. Those are rare commodities in a world awash with uncertainty.
If the US or Europe falter under rising costs, regulatory or geopolitical uncertainty, Australia can fill that gap - fast and reliably.
In 2022 alone, clinical trials employed 7700 Australians and drove $1.6 billion into our economy.
Globally, clinical trials are getting more complex, more expensive, and more dependent on diverse patient cohorts. The worldwide market is projected to hit USD $123 billion by 2030. As pharmaceutical companies rethink where they base their 10-year development pipelines, Australia can and should be their top choice.
Universities are a key part of this capability. We need to maintain our public investment in what we call fundamental research - the curious pursuit of knowledge that may not have immediately obvious applications, but is the bedrock of almost every major innovation.
This was how the world got the mRNA COVID vaccine in record time in 2020: it was delivered on the back of 30-plus years of hard work by thousands of scientists worldwide.
We also need a firmly established partnership model: better incentives for academia and business to work together to get the best of both worlds.
READ MORE:
This isn't just a view held by universities - the Business Council of Australia and industry leaders have consistently called for stronger R&D investment to support national productivity, international competitiveness and long-term economic resilience. A well-resourced research ecosystem is not a luxury, but a prerequisite for future growth.
One of the ways to do this is to invest in knowledge precincts. For example, one of the southern hemisphere's most impressive innovation corridors sits along an unassuming stretch of Blackburn Road in Clayton in Melbourne's south-east.
The Monash Technology Innovation Precinct is home to the Australian Synchrotron, the Victorian Heart Hospital, the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, and Moderna's first integrated mRNA production facility in the southern hemisphere. It's also home to a new $60 million advanced AI supercomputer at Monash University, which will enable researchers to perform unprecedented computational projects.
Breakthroughs happen when you build the right ecosystem, and technology precincts can provide high-value employment clusters in the sprawling outer suburbs.
Let's recognise that research is one of our most precious national assets - even more so in these times of massive transformation and technological change. Innovation is a self-perpetuating cycle - Australia must ensure it is in a position to mobilise it for good and for our national prosperity. One thing is clear: we cannot afford to sit still.
I've spent my career as a clinician and cancer researcher, witnessing how Australian ingenuity delivers world-leading outcomes.
It's extraordinary to think that in just the span of my career the chance of surviving some childhood cancers has risen from just over 50 per cent to now over 90 per cent.
In the last decade, survival from advanced melanoma in adults increased from less than 10 per cent to over 50 per cent.
That is thanks to global research, including about incredible capability embedded in Australia's research sector.
As the "lucky country", Australia has enjoyed some amazing stretches of uninterrupted prosperity. But as we face local and global upheavals - increasing climate disasters, pandemics and fractured geopolitics - we are on the brink of walking past our greatest opportunity. Our national prosperity cannot continue to rely on mining, agriculture and real estate.
What if we recognised that ideas and innovation - housed in our universities, research institutes, health organisations, industry and start-ups - are the strategic infrastructure our nation demands?
The Australian government is currently asking what the future of our national research systems could look like through its strategic examination of R&D.
Universities are often accused of lagging industry or being slow to innovate. But the reality is university research is largely responsible for the majority of Australian innovation - it's given the world cervical cancer vaccine, solar panel cells, the cochlear implant among many other discoveries that have helped millions of people around the world.
Our universities are now at the vanguard of innovation, and they need an R&D framework that will enable and empower government and industry to keep pace.
Successful innovations often come from serendipitous discoveries which have been tested, re-tested and refined over long time periods - even decades - timelines that do not make sense for business, but do for universities.
Australia has the credibility, capability and culture to become a global solutions hub. We already boast strong regulatory frameworks, solid patent laws, tax incentives, an extraordinary clinical trials capacity and a trusted healthcare-research nexus.
We have public trust in science and a collaborative culture. Those are rare commodities in a world awash with uncertainty.
If the US or Europe falter under rising costs, regulatory or geopolitical uncertainty, Australia can fill that gap - fast and reliably.
In 2022 alone, clinical trials employed 7700 Australians and drove $1.6 billion into our economy.
Globally, clinical trials are getting more complex, more expensive, and more dependent on diverse patient cohorts. The worldwide market is projected to hit USD $123 billion by 2030. As pharmaceutical companies rethink where they base their 10-year development pipelines, Australia can and should be their top choice.
Universities are a key part of this capability. We need to maintain our public investment in what we call fundamental research - the curious pursuit of knowledge that may not have immediately obvious applications, but is the bedrock of almost every major innovation.
This was how the world got the mRNA COVID vaccine in record time in 2020: it was delivered on the back of 30-plus years of hard work by thousands of scientists worldwide.
We also need a firmly established partnership model: better incentives for academia and business to work together to get the best of both worlds.
READ MORE:
This isn't just a view held by universities - the Business Council of Australia and industry leaders have consistently called for stronger R&D investment to support national productivity, international competitiveness and long-term economic resilience. A well-resourced research ecosystem is not a luxury, but a prerequisite for future growth.
One of the ways to do this is to invest in knowledge precincts. For example, one of the southern hemisphere's most impressive innovation corridors sits along an unassuming stretch of Blackburn Road in Clayton in Melbourne's south-east.
The Monash Technology Innovation Precinct is home to the Australian Synchrotron, the Victorian Heart Hospital, the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, and Moderna's first integrated mRNA production facility in the southern hemisphere. It's also home to a new $60 million advanced AI supercomputer at Monash University, which will enable researchers to perform unprecedented computational projects.
Breakthroughs happen when you build the right ecosystem, and technology precincts can provide high-value employment clusters in the sprawling outer suburbs.
Let's recognise that research is one of our most precious national assets - even more so in these times of massive transformation and technological change. Innovation is a self-perpetuating cycle - Australia must ensure it is in a position to mobilise it for good and for our national prosperity. One thing is clear: we cannot afford to sit still.
I've spent my career as a clinician and cancer researcher, witnessing how Australian ingenuity delivers world-leading outcomes.
It's extraordinary to think that in just the span of my career the chance of surviving some childhood cancers has risen from just over 50 per cent to now over 90 per cent.
In the last decade, survival from advanced melanoma in adults increased from less than 10 per cent to over 50 per cent.
That is thanks to global research, including about incredible capability embedded in Australia's research sector.
As the "lucky country", Australia has enjoyed some amazing stretches of uninterrupted prosperity. But as we face local and global upheavals - increasing climate disasters, pandemics and fractured geopolitics - we are on the brink of walking past our greatest opportunity. Our national prosperity cannot continue to rely on mining, agriculture and real estate.
What if we recognised that ideas and innovation - housed in our universities, research institutes, health organisations, industry and start-ups - are the strategic infrastructure our nation demands?
The Australian government is currently asking what the future of our national research systems could look like through its strategic examination of R&D.
Universities are often accused of lagging industry or being slow to innovate. But the reality is university research is largely responsible for the majority of Australian innovation - it's given the world cervical cancer vaccine, solar panel cells, the cochlear implant among many other discoveries that have helped millions of people around the world.
Our universities are now at the vanguard of innovation, and they need an R&D framework that will enable and empower government and industry to keep pace.
Successful innovations often come from serendipitous discoveries which have been tested, re-tested and refined over long time periods - even decades - timelines that do not make sense for business, but do for universities.
Australia has the credibility, capability and culture to become a global solutions hub. We already boast strong regulatory frameworks, solid patent laws, tax incentives, an extraordinary clinical trials capacity and a trusted healthcare-research nexus.
We have public trust in science and a collaborative culture. Those are rare commodities in a world awash with uncertainty.
If the US or Europe falter under rising costs, regulatory or geopolitical uncertainty, Australia can fill that gap - fast and reliably.
In 2022 alone, clinical trials employed 7700 Australians and drove $1.6 billion into our economy.
Globally, clinical trials are getting more complex, more expensive, and more dependent on diverse patient cohorts. The worldwide market is projected to hit USD $123 billion by 2030. As pharmaceutical companies rethink where they base their 10-year development pipelines, Australia can and should be their top choice.
Universities are a key part of this capability. We need to maintain our public investment in what we call fundamental research - the curious pursuit of knowledge that may not have immediately obvious applications, but is the bedrock of almost every major innovation.
This was how the world got the mRNA COVID vaccine in record time in 2020: it was delivered on the back of 30-plus years of hard work by thousands of scientists worldwide.
We also need a firmly established partnership model: better incentives for academia and business to work together to get the best of both worlds.
READ MORE:
This isn't just a view held by universities - the Business Council of Australia and industry leaders have consistently called for stronger R&D investment to support national productivity, international competitiveness and long-term economic resilience. A well-resourced research ecosystem is not a luxury, but a prerequisite for future growth.
One of the ways to do this is to invest in knowledge precincts. For example, one of the southern hemisphere's most impressive innovation corridors sits along an unassuming stretch of Blackburn Road in Clayton in Melbourne's south-east.
The Monash Technology Innovation Precinct is home to the Australian Synchrotron, the Victorian Heart Hospital, the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, and Moderna's first integrated mRNA production facility in the southern hemisphere. It's also home to a new $60 million advanced AI supercomputer at Monash University, which will enable researchers to perform unprecedented computational projects.
Breakthroughs happen when you build the right ecosystem, and technology precincts can provide high-value employment clusters in the sprawling outer suburbs.
Let's recognise that research is one of our most precious national assets - even more so in these times of massive transformation and technological change. Innovation is a self-perpetuating cycle - Australia must ensure it is in a position to mobilise it for good and for our national prosperity. One thing is clear: we cannot afford to sit still.
I've spent my career as a clinician and cancer researcher, witnessing how Australian ingenuity delivers world-leading outcomes.
It's extraordinary to think that in just the span of my career the chance of surviving some childhood cancers has risen from just over 50 per cent to now over 90 per cent.
In the last decade, survival from advanced melanoma in adults increased from less than 10 per cent to over 50 per cent.
That is thanks to global research, including about incredible capability embedded in Australia's research sector.
As the "lucky country", Australia has enjoyed some amazing stretches of uninterrupted prosperity. But as we face local and global upheavals - increasing climate disasters, pandemics and fractured geopolitics - we are on the brink of walking past our greatest opportunity. Our national prosperity cannot continue to rely on mining, agriculture and real estate.
What if we recognised that ideas and innovation - housed in our universities, research institutes, health organisations, industry and start-ups - are the strategic infrastructure our nation demands?
The Australian government is currently asking what the future of our national research systems could look like through its strategic examination of R&D.
Universities are often accused of lagging industry or being slow to innovate. But the reality is university research is largely responsible for the majority of Australian innovation - it's given the world cervical cancer vaccine, solar panel cells, the cochlear implant among many other discoveries that have helped millions of people around the world.
Our universities are now at the vanguard of innovation, and they need an R&D framework that will enable and empower government and industry to keep pace.
Successful innovations often come from serendipitous discoveries which have been tested, re-tested and refined over long time periods - even decades - timelines that do not make sense for business, but do for universities.
Australia has the credibility, capability and culture to become a global solutions hub. We already boast strong regulatory frameworks, solid patent laws, tax incentives, an extraordinary clinical trials capacity and a trusted healthcare-research nexus.
We have public trust in science and a collaborative culture. Those are rare commodities in a world awash with uncertainty.
If the US or Europe falter under rising costs, regulatory or geopolitical uncertainty, Australia can fill that gap - fast and reliably.
In 2022 alone, clinical trials employed 7700 Australians and drove $1.6 billion into our economy.
Globally, clinical trials are getting more complex, more expensive, and more dependent on diverse patient cohorts. The worldwide market is projected to hit USD $123 billion by 2030. As pharmaceutical companies rethink where they base their 10-year development pipelines, Australia can and should be their top choice.
Universities are a key part of this capability. We need to maintain our public investment in what we call fundamental research - the curious pursuit of knowledge that may not have immediately obvious applications, but is the bedrock of almost every major innovation.
This was how the world got the mRNA COVID vaccine in record time in 2020: it was delivered on the back of 30-plus years of hard work by thousands of scientists worldwide.
We also need a firmly established partnership model: better incentives for academia and business to work together to get the best of both worlds.
READ MORE:
This isn't just a view held by universities - the Business Council of Australia and industry leaders have consistently called for stronger R&D investment to support national productivity, international competitiveness and long-term economic resilience. A well-resourced research ecosystem is not a luxury, but a prerequisite for future growth.
One of the ways to do this is to invest in knowledge precincts. For example, one of the southern hemisphere's most impressive innovation corridors sits along an unassuming stretch of Blackburn Road in Clayton in Melbourne's south-east.
The Monash Technology Innovation Precinct is home to the Australian Synchrotron, the Victorian Heart Hospital, the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, and Moderna's first integrated mRNA production facility in the southern hemisphere. It's also home to a new $60 million advanced AI supercomputer at Monash University, which will enable researchers to perform unprecedented computational projects.
Breakthroughs happen when you build the right ecosystem, and technology precincts can provide high-value employment clusters in the sprawling outer suburbs.
Let's recognise that research is one of our most precious national assets - even more so in these times of massive transformation and technological change. Innovation is a self-perpetuating cycle - Australia must ensure it is in a position to mobilise it for good and for our national prosperity. One thing is clear: we cannot afford to sit still.
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"My quality of life was completely impacted, I was told I couldn't play the sport I loved and shouldn't lift my child up," she said. "It took me to a very dark place as I thought I was the only one who had experienced this." A Facebook birth trauma support group for Australian women has close to 5000 members and provides a space for people to share their stories and advice. "When women experience trauma from birth they also experience shame, guilt and feelings of isolation," Ms Dawes said. "But there is power in peer support ... there is also great power in storytelling and it's not to scare people with traumatic stories, but knowledge is power." BTA has launched a petition calling for a National Strategy for the Care and Treatment of Birth Injuries that would introduce mandatory postnatal screening, clear referral pathways and funded access to physiotherapy, psychological support and surgical or rehabilitative care. 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When birth injuries are left undiagnosed or untreated, it can significantly affect their mental health. Almost 60 per cent of those diagnosed with a birth-related injury more than a year after birth reported severe mental health consequences, including suicidal ideation. A landmark inquiry into birth trauma by the NSW parliament attracted international attention as well as thousands of submissions from patients, doctors, midwives and experts around Australia. The final report released in 2024 found the rates of birth trauma were unacceptable and made 43 recommendations, including an overhaul of the health system. Yet little has been done on a national level. The current maternal health system was failing women, their families and care providers, BTA co-founder Amy Dawes said. "Birth trauma is not new but it's just historically been shrouded in secrecy and there is an ongoing culture of dismissing women's problems," she told AAP. "At the moment access to care after trauma is based on your post code but we need a holistic approach that all women have access to." Ms Dawes experienced a traumatic birth when she had her first baby which led to irreparable pelvic floor damage. "My quality of life was completely impacted, I was told I couldn't play the sport I loved and shouldn't lift my child up," she said. "It took me to a very dark place as I thought I was the only one who had experienced this." A Facebook birth trauma support group for Australian women has close to 5000 members and provides a space for people to share their stories and advice. "When women experience trauma from birth they also experience shame, guilt and feelings of isolation," Ms Dawes said. "But there is power in peer support ... there is also great power in storytelling and it's not to scare people with traumatic stories, but knowledge is power." BTA has launched a petition calling for a National Strategy for the Care and Treatment of Birth Injuries that would introduce mandatory postnatal screening, clear referral pathways and funded access to physiotherapy, psychological support and surgical or rehabilitative care. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636
