The Western Australian Future Fund Amendment Bill has been introduced to the WA Parliament paving the way for hundreds of millions of dollars to be invested in health and medical research and innovation.
The Amendment Bill allows for interest from the WA Future Fund to be used to fund health and medical research and innovation in WA.
The $1.3 billion WA Future Fund currently earns approximately $40 million in annual interest. Funds committed to health research and innovation will ramp up gradually, with $52 million being committed over a three-year period between 2020-21 and 2022-23. Alongside existing State Government research funding, this will deliver a total of $126.6 million over the next four years and transform WA into a leader in health research and innovation.
Formation of the WA Future Health Research and Innovation Fund delivers on a McGowan Government election commitment, it will grow local jobs, retain WA’s brightest health researchers and innovators and attract more leading research projects and partnerships from around the world.
The funding boost will also ensure that WA does not lose potential innovation and commercialisation opportunities stemming from local research discoveries and innovative practices.
Read the full media release here.