Health & Medical Research Philanthropy Under the Spotlight
11 August 2011 at 10:19 am
Not for Profit and community leaders, business and medical researchers are coming together for the first time in Sydney this month to look at how to best work together to build a stronger philanthropic support base for Australian health and medical research.
Research Australia Chairman, Dr Christine Bennett says despite some significant donations from leading businesses such as Macquarie Foundation and traditional supporters such as the Myer and Murdoch families, rates of philanthropy for medical research is about half that in the US.
Dr Bennett says Australians are more likely to give to religious, aid or cultural causes than to medical research.
She says health and medical research is an area in which Australians can actively participate for the longer term benefit of the entire community.
She says the meeting wants to find new ways to work together to contribute to major advances in medical science, which will make a real and lasting impact on how conditions such as cancer, diabetes and asthma will be treated in the future.
The Research Australia “Building a Sustainable Social Investment Strategy for Health and Medical Research” Conference will be held in Sydney, on 29-30 August 2011.
Dr Bennett says the Conference will bring together Not for Profit, business and scientific communities in Australian and internationally to discover new ways to address the low level of Australian financial support for medical research.
Key speakers at the conference will include:
- Mr. Simon McKeon, philanthropist and Australian of the Year,
- Mark Butler, Australian Minister for Health and Ageing;
- Jillian Skinner, NSW Minister for Health, and
- Andrea Lucard, Executive Vice President, External Relations, Medicines for Malaria Venture (Geneva)
Organisers say the conference will enable medical researchers and institutions to learn how to engage with donors by hearing first-hand what they are looking for. Potential donors can learn about international best practice to ensure their philanthropy is targeted and delivering the right outcomes.
Registrations are now open at http://researchaustraliaphilanthropy.org/2011-philanthropyconference/2011-philanthropy-registration/
The Conference is sponsored by beyondblue, Hunter Medical Research Institute and the Australian Department of Health and Ageing.
Research Australia is a national alliance of over 170 member and donor organisations with
a common mission to make health and medical research a higher national priority.
Link: Research Australia visit www.researchaustralia.org.
