Billions of dollars in grants are decided by politicians, not scientists

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The federal government is reviewing how taxpayer-funded medical research grants are approved after years of complaints about a lack of transparency and political interference.

The review will look specifically at the governance and administration of the $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and the Medical Research Endowment Account, which disburses about $1 billion a year via the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

Australia has been a world leader in scientific research. But as funding becomes more and more elusive, morale in the community has plummeted.Credit: Stephen Kiprillis

The MRFF is a particular source of anguish for many researchers, who welcome government support but are concerned by how it is spent.

Unlike most national and international government research funds – where the best projects are selected by peer-review – the federal health minister enjoys almost unfettered power to dictate how the MRFF spends its money.

“The government is committed to strengthening the independence and integrity of our medical research funds,” Health Minister Mark Butler said.

The review follows an audit of the Australian Research Council, handed down in April, that found politicians meddling with peer-reviewed science grants was a “widespread source of despair” and should be stamped out.

Some 65 per cent of total MRFF funding pre-2021 was handed out without a competitive process.

The Australian Academy of Science welcomed the review into the country’s research funding arrangements, which it said were “not fit for purpose”.

“The academy has long argued that Australian research and researchers are not well served by a fragmented support system with some 190 programs funded through 13 Departments and agencies,” said Professor Ian Chubb, the academy’s secretary for science policy.

The review of the MRFF was welcomed by the Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR), which has held concerns about the fund for several years.

“The time is right to assess the operations and benefits of the MRFF to the health and medical research sector,” society spokesman Tony Kenna said.

“There are undoubted areas for improvement. Transparency, outcome reporting and tailoring of grants that are more fit for purpose all need to be looked at.”

Moving MRFF administration under the auspices of the well-regarded NHMRC is under discussion, two sources with knowledge of the talks said – speaking on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to discuss the issue publicly.

The $20 billion MRFF was created by the Abbott government in 2014, to be funded initially by a $7 GP co-payment and billions of dollars in cuts to health spending.

The co-contribution was abandoned after furious opposition from doctors but the fund was established and the $20 billion was funded by general government revenue. It disburses about $650 million a year to be spent on medical research.

The NHMRC disburses about $1 billion a year for medical research. All grants given out by the NHMRC have to go through an extensive peer-review process wherein other scientists assess requests for funding.

The MRFF has a similar system but it is not consistently applied. Some 65 per cent of the total funding pre-2021 was handed out without a competitive process, official data shows.

In 2020, then opposition health spokesman Chris Bowen said he doubted the MRFF passed the “test of good governance”.

“We simply don’t know enough about what MRFF rounds are coming up, or what grants are awarded, or why,” he said. “And that lack of transparency is undermining confidence in the MRFF and distorting its processes even further.”

The Age and the Herald are investigating the governance and value-for-money of the $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund. Know more?
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