Inter-Governmental Policy Reform Group (IGPRG)

Hello everyone.

I'd like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the landwhere I'm recording this message the Kaurna people.

I also acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as the traditional owners of the land on which you're gathered.

And pay my respects to their elders, past and present. I extend that respect to First Nations people who might be with you today.

I've been delighted to hear about the work of the IGPRG from your chair, Ian. Real progress has been made, and you and your colleagues have been important contributors to that.

Thank you for your commitment and your effort to make this national reform agenda work.

We all want to see improvements in the health care of Australians wherever they live, and that aspiration is underpinned by improvements in health and medical research.

As you know, Australia has a thriving health medical research sector and a successful clinical trial sector, but we know we can always strive for more.

Accordingly, the Commonwealth, state and territory governments act collectively to improve the system for all Australians.

To continue improving that system, Rosemary Huxtable is leading the development of the National Health and Medical Research Strategy. This strategy will build on our national strengths in research and strive to fill any gaps.

Our government has also initiated an extensive consultation with Ian at the helm to identify ways to support and improve clinical trials. This will lead to Australia becoming an even more attractive place for trials to be conducted.

Now, government has initiated a comprehensive review of R&D to ensure that our sovereign interests are always protected. This is going to result in the Australian research translated into therapies created by Australians for Australians.

Australia has a reputation for quality health and medical research, and there has been strong growth in phase one trials, particularly notwithstanding achievements of which we're all proud. 

I am aware that fragmentation and inefficiencies still persist, and I want that to change. There are opportunities to increase productivity and help build innovation, which will be critical to Australia's future.

Over the past decade, Australian government has announced $33 million in investment in research, national reforms. The reforms aim to construct a cohesive and responsive operating environment, and one of the most important ways we're going to achieve this is through the National One Stop Shop. A key purpose of recent national consultations was to inform the requirements and the business case for the One Stop Shop to be used by patients, researchers, clinicians and the industry.

I remain inspired by the aspiration and the vision for this ambitious reform. Once delivered Australians will have early access to potentially life saving treatments.

A National One Stop Shop will help cement Australia's status as a place that conducts health and medical research of the highest quality.

It's also part of building Australia's future, assuring Australia's sovereign manufacturing capability right across the pipeline.

It's been a long time in the making but we are nearly there.

Thank you for your work and I really look forward to hearing the outcomes of this meeting today.