We all know that health and medical research is a significant and strategically important part of our economy. One of Research Australia’s key strategic objectives is advocacy for smarter investment in the sector and this included philanthropy. Whilst government funding of HMR is the bedrock of this system, contributions from the private and not-for-profit sectors are also significant. It is imperative the governments, stakeholders and the greater community understand how essential contributions made by philanthropists, corporates and individuals to health and medical research is to better enhance the system and ensure its sustainability. We reached out to our member organisations through our Roundtable Series and a survey to capture the impacts of the pandemic on their organisations, their fundraising and the research they fund. We are pleased to publish the third report in our COVID-19 series highlighting some of the outcomes and explaining the importance of philanthropy in our sector.
