Health Industries Advisory Board

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (14:02): My question is to the Minister for Health Industries. Can the minister provide further details about last week's visit of the Health Industries Advisory Board and how it will help grow the life sciences sector in South Australia?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:02): The state government's Health Industries Advisory Board convened in Adelaide last week for two days of strategy sessions and networking to discuss future prospects and strengthen links in the local health and biomedical sciences community. We are fortunate to have so many talented people, locally and from interstate and overseas, helping steer our direction in health industries and identify opportunities.

The advisory board heard from the companies that have already invested in South Australia with Health Industries' support—Hydrix, Micro-X and Trajan—and how the role of Health Industries is evolving to support a mature investment and regulatory environment.

The board saw interesting presentations on topics as varied as medical devices, digital health, ICT, the Business of Ageing, and Investment Attraction South Australia. The week was capped off by a networking event in the Mortlock wing of the State Library last Thursday with the Premier and more than 50 people in industry and academia. The local health and life sciences community has been encouraged by the government's focus on health industries.

On a recent trip, I met with companies in Italy, France and the United Arab Emirates. I signed a memorandum of understanding between South Australia and the Piedmont region of Italy, focusing on increasing collaboration in health industries. The memorandum was signed at Bioindustry Park Silvano Fumero, a life science and technology park just outside Turin, with the Piedmont Minister for Economic Development, Giuseppina De Santis.

The agreement will see our two jurisdictions work together to support the growth of life science companies in our regions, especially in the healthcare sector. It will also increase collaboration on research and education, and help the parties share best practices and knowledge for delivering better public health services. The agreement also establishes formal ties between Health Industries South Australia and bioPmed, a community of 460 companies, three universities, and different research centres and associations active in life sciences in Piedmont.

Piedmont is the most economically advanced region of Italy, well known for its history of manufacturing with Fiat and now its expertise in life sciences. As well as strengthening historical ties, this agreement will allow increased business research and education collaboration between Turin and Adelaide, including great potential for Turin-based companies using Adelaide to enter markets in the Asia-Pacific region.