Yes, But How?

While an advisory panel has recommended changes to Australia's biomedical research program, including an increase in public sector investment, ScienceInsider notes that the Australian government is considering freezing research grants as part of its austerity measures. The panel suggests that the national, state, and territory governments should devote 3 percent of their health spending on research as well as advance clinical trials and public health research and support the development of personalized medicine, among other initiatives, ScienceInsider adds.

"It's clear the review panel have got the message that there are things to be fixed," Darren Saunders, a cancer biologist at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, tells The Conversation. "The big question is how it will be implemented — that's going to be the real challenge."