RESEARCH PRIORITY GOALS
Australia's national research priorities were announced by the Prime Minister in late 2002 and were enhanced and refined in 2003 to take greater account of the contributions of the social sciences and humanities research.
The new research goals are:
A. Responding to climate change and variability - increasing our understanding of the impact of climate change and variability at the regional level across Australia, and addressing the consequences of these factors on the environment and on communities.(NRP: Environmentally Sustainable Australia);
B. Strengthening Australia’s social and economic fabric - understanding and strengthening key elements of Australia’s social and economic fabric to help families and individuals live healthy, productive, and fulfilling lives. (NRP: Good Health);
C. Promoting an innovation culture and economy - maximising Australia’s creative and technological capability by understanding the factors conducive to innovation and its acceptance (NRP: Frontier Technologies); and
D. Understanding our region and the world -Enhancing Australia’s capacity to interpret and engage with its regional and global environment through a greater understanding of languages, societies, politics and cultures. (NRP: Safeguarding Australia).
B. National Research Priority _"Good Health"
Average
life expectancies have increased markedly in recent decades.
Australians also expect to lead longer and healthier lives in the
future, and to remain productive and independent over an extended
period. Enabling individuals and families to make choices that lead to
healthy, productive and fulfilling lives will yield economic and social
benefits and add materially to national well being. Australians expect that their children and grandchildren should have a healthy start to life. Developing strategies to promote the healthy development of young
Australians, and addressing the causes and reducing the impact of the
genetic, social and environmental factors which diminish their life
potential will be critical. A revolution is also underway at the other end of the life cycle.
Australia, like many other developed nations, is undergoing a major
demographic shift involving significant growth in the aged population. To meet this challenge, it will be important to promote healthy
ageing by developing better social and medical strategies to ensure
that older Australians enjoy healthy and productive lives. Informed insights into the causes of disease and of mental and
physical degeneration will contribute to the achievement of this goal. All Australians stand to benefit from preventive healthcare through the adoption of healthier attitudes, habits and lifestyles. Evidence-based preventive interventions may help reduce the
incidence and severity of many diseases, including major health
problems such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, mental
ill-health, obesity, diabetes, asthma and chronic inflammatory
conditions. These could include interventions that reduce exposure to
contamination of the physical environment (eg air pollution). Improvements in the health and well being of the young, of older
Australians and in preventive healthcare will be underpinned by
research. However, while Australia has an enviable record in health and
medical research, the research effort is spread across the many
universities, hospitals and health and medical research institutes,
resulting in critical mass only in limited areas of research. There is also a need to draw on multidisciplinary approaches that
include research contributions from the social sciences and humanities.
This priority is designed to promote health and prevent disease through a more focused and collaborative effort. Priority goals for research fall in the four areas of a healthy
start to life, ageing well, ageing productively, preventive healthcare
and strengthening Australia’s social and economic fabric. Counteracting the impact of genetic, social and environmental
factors which predispose infants and children to ill health and reduce
their well being and life potential.
Human health in the developing foetus and in early childhood is
critical to the future well being of the adult. Research shows that
health and well being in early childhood is predictive of later
positive outcomes, and that health in middle and late childhood is also
crucial. This goal supports the Government’s National Agenda for Early Childhood initiative.
2 Ageing well, ageing productively
Developing better social, medical and population health
strategies to improve the mental and physical capacities of ageing
people.
Australia’s population is ageing, with a significant projected
increase in the number of people aged over 65 and over 85. While
Australia is relatively well placed compared with many OECD nations,
major shifts in cultural expectations and attitudes about ageing are
necessary to respond constructively, at both an individual and
population level. A healthy aged population will contribute actively to
the life of the nation through participation in the labour market or
through voluntary work. This goal supports the Government’s National Strategy for an Ageing Australia.
New ethical, evidence-based strategies to promote health and
prevent disease through the adoption of healthier lifestyles and diet,
and the development of health-promoting products.
Preventive healthcare research will improve the prediction and
prevention of disease and injury for all Australians through the
adoption of healthier behaviours, lifestyles and environments. Research
will generate an improvement in the design, delivery and uptake of
programmes such as exercise-based rehabilitation. There are several
major disease targets amenable to immediate study, such as
cardiovascular health, neurodegenerative diseases, mental ill-health,
obesity, diabetes, asthma and chronic inflammatory conditions. Research
on prevention will emphasise interdisciplinary approaches, including
research on ethics, drawing on contributions from the social sciences
and humanities, as well as from the health and medical sciences. It
will also focus on developing new health promoting foods and
nutraceuticals. This goal supports the Government’s Focus on Prevention initiative. 4 Strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric
Understanding and strengthening key elements of Australia's
social and economic fabric to help families and individuals live
healthy, productive, and fulfilling lives.
Living in today's society involves a complex web of choices, yet
many of the traditional support structures are weaker than they have
been in the past. Enabling people to make choices that lead to positive
pathways to self reliance and supportive family structures is more
important than ever. The interactions between the social safety net,
social and economic participation, financial incentives and community
and private sources of support are critical in helping people maximise
their potential and achieve good, healthy, lifetime outcomes. In the
decade ahead, it will be vital to understand and support the drivers
for workforce participation and the broader social and economic trends
influencing Australian families and communities. This goal supports the
Government's welfare reform and participation agendas. Research in this
area will emphasise interdisciplinary approaches, drawing on
contributions from the economic, behavioural and social sciences. Click this link for source materialPriority Goals