Posted: 28 January 2025
Assessment period: 24 February – 7 March 2025
Notification of outcome: 10 – 23 March 2025
Funding release and project commencement: End of March 2025
Key gaps in the Victorian research environment have been identified through a capability and capacity assessment as part of the Women’s Health Reform Package. These include the following:
- Women’s health research can be siloed into specific groups. Sex and gender are not consistently or regularly used as variables of comparison in health and medical research.
- Biological determinants of sex in many conditions experienced by all sexes are not well established or known. Most research has historically investigated a male body and generalised to female and intersex bodies.
- Many conditions which solely, differently or disproportionately impact women have historically have not received the focus and funding they deserve.
The intention is for this funding to help address the above gaps. It will also lay the groundwork for the other research initiatives in the Women’s Health Reform package that will aim to help lead culture change across the sector.
Proposals up to $150,000 will be considered. Each grant will be for a one year duration and will require a 6-month progress report and a 12-month final report.
Objectives
- To encourage or support research in disease/condition areas that are experienced across sexes and/or genders to include different sex and/or gender comparison. For example, inclusion of male and female sex derived/biopsied cells, inclusion of female and male animals, or inclusion of women and gender-diverse people in human research.
- To encourage or support research into underfunded or under-researched conditions which are women-specific conditions, conditions that disproportionately and differently impact women.
- To support work towards attracting larger, federal or philanthropic funding for the above two categories.
