Regular news from state and federal governments.
NHMRC to undergo structural overhaul
September 11 – The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) will become a fully independent statutory agency within the Commonwealth Health and Ageing portfolio from 1 July 2006. The NHMRC provides expert advice to the Government and the community on medical research and ethical issues, and makes recommendations on funding of research proposals to the Minister for Health. To assist with aligning research grants with national health and research priorities, strategic groups known as 'Health Streams' are to be established according to major disease and population groups. Each Health Stream will have a broad membership of consumers, non-government organisations, policy makers, and researchers, and will be responsible for making recommendations with respect to people, funds and facilities. A streamlining of grant procedures was also announced, with the turnaround time between funding application and approval to be halved to six months by the end of 2007.
[Source: Departmental Media Release]
