Australia MRFF Bill referred to Senate

In Australia, the two Bills related to the proposed establishment of the A$20 billion ($15.3 billion) Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) have been referred to the Senate’s Community Affairs Legislation Committee for a swift inquiry, with comment invited by July 10.

The Senate committee is due to report back to the Senate on August 10. Once fully established, the MRFF is expected to add around A$1 billion per year to existing government spend for health and medical research and innovation.

During debate on the Bill, the Opposition expressed concern over the proposed administration of MRFF disbursements, and the lack of any formal independent mechanism or peer-reviewed oversight of the distributions of funds, according to a report by the trade group AusBiotech.