Research Australia Philanthropy History

The potential offered by philanthropic giving for health and medical research has been identified in the Wills Review (1998),  and Grant Review (2004), commissioned by the Federal government. Together with a report by Access Economics (2003),  these reviews have identified the exceptional social and community benefits that can be derived from a strong and vibrant health and medical research sector.

Following the Giving Australia  (2005) report, Research Australia commissioned an inquiry by Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Non-profit Studies (QUT) to conduct an independent study of international trends, experiences and best practice in health and medical research philanthropy from a range of comparator countries

The QUT report, Lifting the Life Giving Dollar (2005) found:

• Leading research nations have multiple funding sources for health and medical research.
• Funding from philanthropic sources can complement and address gaps in government and industry funded research.
• Increases in government funding are generally paralleled by increases in philanthropy.
• A specially tailored, capacity-building approach to health and medical research philanthropic funding has been successful in increasing health and medical research philanthropic funding overseas.

Research Australia’s annual public opinion polls consistently show very strong community support for health and medical research.  Health and medical research is ranked equal first with education as the most important factor in Australia’s future.

Currently the level of philanthropic funding for health and medical research does not reflect the level of community support and is substantially below that in comparable nations.

There is a range of contributing factors to the relatively low level of research philanthropy in Australia.  These factors include a view by givers that only very large sums are worthwhile, applications are difficult to evaluate because of the complexity of the subject matter and health and a lack of knowledge about medical research giving opportunities.  There is also a widely held perception that funding for research is a government responsibility.

Based on the findings of Giving Australia and the QUT Report, Research Australia established the Research Australia Philanthropy centre.  This initiative will address community awareness issues, overcome barriers and implement good practice approaches to build and enhance health and medical research philanthropy in Australia.

The above reports are contained in Special Reports.

Back to top