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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-05-01 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

HEALTH AND MEDICAL RESEARCH REVIEW

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (15:26): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: This morning, the Minister for Science and Information Economy and I released the Review of Health and Medical Research in South Australia, and I tabled a copy of that report just prior to question time. The review was undertaken by independent consultants, namely, Professor John Shine, who is the Executive Director of the internationally recognised gene-based medical research body, the Garvan Institute, in Sydney, and Mr Alan Young, who is Chairperson of the Flinders Medical Centre Foundation, a partner in Baker Young Stockbrokers and a prominent Adelaide businessman.

South Australia has a proud tradition of world-class health and medical research. Our researchers are of the highest calibre and our research is internationally renowned. The review was commissioned to maintain South Australia's strong position and provide clear directions for the continuing success and expansion of health and medical research in South Australia.

The key recommendations are for the establishment of an independent health and medical research institute and for the Health and Medical Research Fund (set up by the government last year to fund new research) to be expanded. The establishment of an independent health and medical research institute would develop a structure to link together the state's researchers to position South Australia at the forefront of health and medical research and would attract and retain world-class talent. It would provide a focus for health and medical research in South Australia, which would attract increasing levels of national and international funding and enhance collaborative health and medical research activity.

Last year, the government set up the Health and Medical Research Fund, a dedicated fund to support researchers in the state. This fund is unique to South Australia, and Shine and Young recommended that it should be treated as a valuable opportunity to grow health and medical research capacity in South Australia. The fund brings with it opportunities to invest strategically in health and medical research in South Australia, to build capacity in this area, and to leverage funding received from national resources. The Minister for Science and Information Economy and I will now be talking to universities and other key players in research to see how the recommendations can best be progressed.

A series of related sub-recommendations are presented in the report and will be addressed by the Department of Health and the Department for Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology over the coming months.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge the work and success of health and medical researchers in South Australia. We have a long and successful history of high performance in health and medical research, and this provides the foundation upon which to grow this sector. I also thank John Shine and Alan Young for their outstanding work. The future promises to be an exciting time for health and medical research in South Australia.

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