Last Tuesday, the Western Australian Future Health Research and Innovation (FHRI) Fund launched its Strategy for 2025–30, marking an exciting new phase for the major funder of WA’s health and medical sector. WA’s Minister for Medical Research and Science and Innovation and Hon Stephen Dawson MLC, FHRI Fund Advisory Council Chair Rebecca Tomkinson, and WA Health Director General Dr Shirley Bowen introduced the Strategy to representatives from across the sector, highlighting how the Strategy shifts the Fund’s focus from building foundational programs to becoming a catalyst for impactful health research and innovation.
The Strategy sets forth an ambitious vision: by 2035, triple the impact of health research and innovation, and rank among the Top 10 globally in health research and innovation. With the Fund now positioned as its fuel, the sector itself becomes the engine, driving breakthroughs that will shape WA’s future and ‘firing up’ impact that will be felt locally and globally. This transformative strategy sets a bold direction for health and medical research, focusing on collaboration, innovation, and real-world impact, underpinned by ongoing and reliable funding.
The FHRI Fund, backed by WA’s sovereign wealth fund, provides a secure source of funding to drive health and medical research, innovation, and commercialisation, and through these activities, improve the health and prosperity of all Western Australians.
In its first four years, the FHRI Fund has delivered over $260M into health and medical life sciences in WA, supporting more than 745 projects and initiatives. An additional $270M+ is expected to be injected into the sector over the next five years.
The Strategy was created after engagement with over 300 stakeholders, including strategic workshops which the WA Life Sciences Innovation Hub attended and over 270 stakeholder submissions.
The Strategy outlines three key strategic themes:
A central theme of the Strategy is the recognition of WA’s unique geographic, cultural, and demographic characteristics, which present opportunities for the state to lead in health and medical innovation. This is particularly evident in the Strategy’s flagship initiative, the Spotlight Program. Each year, the FHRI Fund will commit to one major, uniquely Western Australian issue, supporting it over five years with targeted funding and support to make real, deep impact in the area. The first focus area is rheumatic heart disease which is a critical health issue in WA.
New FHRI Fund programs are set to be unveiled at the next FHRI Fund Open Day.
