Posted: 12 May 2023
ANDHealth has welcomed a federal budget commitment of $392m towards a new Industry Growth Program for SMEs and startups to commercialise Australian innovations aligned to the National Reconstruction Fund, and $950m in new investment to improve the My Health Record system and other national digital health infrastructure.
ANDHealth CEO & MD, Bronwyn Le Grice, said: “The establishment of the Industry Growth Program is a welcome investment to help incentivise and support businesses to develop new ideas and innovations in Australia. It is imperative that we continue to support Australian-based SMEs to commercialise their ideas onshore, lest we lose them to international competitors.”
“We look forward to participating in any consultation on the objectives, operation and criteria for the Industry Growth Program and ensuring Australia’s digital health technology companies, which operate in the interface of medical research and digital technology, are able to access this funding, and appropriate support, throughout their unique commercialisation pathway,” said Ms Le Grice.
The $392 Industry Growth Program will provide targeted funding to support SMEs and startups to commercialise ideas, including via grants and mentorship that will expand the pipeline of investment-ready projects for the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund to consider in coming years.
“ANDHealth has proven that high-growth-potential digital health companies are well placed to grow locally, whilst scaling globally, delivering clinically proven, evidence-based products and services to the world from right here in Australia. This new funding, alongside the National Reconstruction Fund and complementary funding through the Medical Research Future Fund and various State Government programs, offer us a prime opportunity to supercharge digital health innovations created in Australia,” Ms Le Grice said.
ANDHealth welcomed the $429 million in new funding to make My Health Record easier to use and improve information and billing systems, whilst noting that electronic medical records is “the tip of the iceberg” when it comes to potential improvements to digital healthcare delivery. A further $325.7 million has also been committed to fund the Australian Digital Health Agency, as an ongoing entity, to deliver digital health infrastructure, on which a genuine digital and connected healthcare system can be built.
Alongside this recognition of the need to modernise our digital health infrastructure, the strong focus on transforming Medicare, is also a significant step forward, and hopefully the first of several, to bring Medicare into the digital age.
Ms Le Grice noted, “to truly reform our health system, we must transform the way healthcare is delivered by funding not only digital health infrastructure, but by incentivising patients and clinicians to utilise new types of technology, such as digital therapeutics and clinical-grade remote patient monitoring technologies.”
“These types of technologies can be game-changing in achieving improved patient outcomes, and which, in other markets, are transforming the accessibility, affordability and effectiveness of care for both metropolitan and regional populations. However, without appropriate reimbursement frameworks, Australians will not benefit from these critical technologies in the future.”
Having previously supported the Patent Box Initiative, ANDHealth is disappointed that the Labor Government will not proceed with three patent box measures from the 2021-22 and 2022-23 budgets. The patent box system would have provided tax concessions for income derived from eligible Australian patents in the medical, biotechnology and agriculture sectors at a concessional rate of 17%. These types of polices, as evidenced by the UK Patent Box program, can play a pivotal role in retaining valuable intellectual property in-country, and preventing early-stage transfer of IP to larger, more mature, international markets.
ANDHealth also welcomes the following announcements from the federal budget:
- $126.8 million to renew the Intergovernmental Agreement on National Digital Health for 4 years for secure, safe and efficient sharing of information.
- $111.8 million over 4 years to strengthen electronic prescribing and targeted digital medicines enhancements.
- $69.7 million for health delivery modernisation to digitise additional health services, and better connect health data to improve access to services for customers and health professionals.
- $10.9 million in 2023-24 for the continuous review of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS).
ANDHealth looks forward to continuing to work closely with the Government to ensure development and commercialisation of evidence-based digital health technologies and global commercialisation scaling remain at the forefront so that Australia’s evidence-based digital health industry realises its potential to become an economic and health outcomes powerhouse for Australia.
