Tuesday, 31 March 2026

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (18:34): (2460) My adjournment is for the Minister for Economic Growth and Jobs. Today the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes, AAMRI, gathered in the Parliament Gardens as part of their 100 Lab Coats campaign to highlight the critical importance of this sector to our health system and to the state’s economy. The message was clear: more funding is needed to support the ongoing viability of research with a far-reaching impact that saves lives. Victoria has a long list of achievements and discoveries that have led to new treatments and diagnostic tools. Victorian researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research were pivotal in developing cancer wonder drug venetoclax. Victorian researchers at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research were the first to identify stem cells in the endometrium. Victorian researchers at the Bionics Institute developed an implanted device that eliminates the need for further surgery for people with Crohn’s disease. Victorian researchers at the Baker Institute are undertaking pioneering research to develop a treatment to heal heart attack damage by reducing scarring and regrowing heart muscle.

Victorian researchers at St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research have demonstrated that a once-daily tablet could safely slow or halt early progression of type 1 diabetes, and there are other institutes like the Centre for Eye Research Australia, the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute and Orygen – all of these fantastic medical research facilities that are doing extraordinary work and that are changing people’s lives and saving people’s lives. I cannot stress enough how important the work that they are doing is and the flow-on effects to the economy and the jobs that they generate.

The independent medical research institutes contribute $600 million to the economy, as I have mentioned, and there is a $3.90 return on investment for every $1 the government spends on medical research. The Operational Infrastructure Support program to support the hidden costs of research, such as IT, cybersecurity, data storage and modern facilities, has been underfunded by this government for years. The Victorian government contributes the lowest level of funding for the full cost of research compared with all other states. What a disgrace that this state does that. It just is extraordinary. Current funding in Victoria equates to 17 cents for every dollar in grant funding; in New South Wales the government contributes 55 cents, and in Queensland it is 80 cents. AAMRI estimates that hundreds of jobs are being lost and at least 10 scientific labs closed last year due to insufficient funding. They estimate 500 jobs were lost last year alone. This is because this government has provided insufficient funding for years. The action I seek is for the government to provide ongoing, sustainable OIS funding to ensure the future of our world-renowned medical research sector, support those jobs and drive the Victorian economy in this sector further.