New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia 2024-25 State budgets reflect evolving economic environment while continuing investments in life sciences infrastructure and commercialisation.
New South Wales
The New South Wales (NSW) State Budget, delivered on 18 June, saw $142 million committed over four years to the Sydney Biomedical Accelerator (SBA), a co-funded partnership project between the Sydney Local Health District and the University of Sydney. The Accelerator comprises a state-of-the-art biomedical research complex spanning the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University campuses. The funding will be allocated over four years to 2027-28.
The John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct in Newcastle will receive funding to the tune of $498.2 million over four years. The funding being used to deliver a significant expansion of health services, providing additional capacity and purpose-built infrastructure, and to enable implementation of contemporary models of care to local communities.
South Australia
The South Australia (SA) State Budget, delivered on 6 June, committed $6 million over four years to extend the investment attraction programme and the global expansion programme to support the state's economic growth.
The 2024-25 Budget also provided further funding to support the Research and Innovation Fund, after it was announced the fund would receive an addition $20 million over four years in the 2023-24 Budget. The funding will support research excellence in SA, increase research and industry collaboration, translation and commercialisation, development and industry application of critical technologies and investments to support the growth of innovative early-stage business addressing national and international markets.
Queensland
The Queensland Government is heading into an election in October this year. The budget, delivered on 11 June, saw cost of living initiatives as a cornerstone. There was also a strong focus on infrastructure development to support population growth and the upcoming Olympics.
The Budget did see $25 million in funding in 2024-25 to continue the Made in Queensland grants programme and Manufacturing Hubs grant programme to assist small and medium-sized (SME) manufacturers to increase their international competitiveness, productivity and innovation.
Victoria
The Victoria State Budget, delivered on 23 May, announced a total investment of $57.3 million into the biotechnology ecosystem. This is a decrease from the 2023-24 Budget, with the Government attributing a decrease in the funding to the completion of the Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance.
The BioNTech mRNA ecosystem investment project will see BioNTech establish its Asia-Pacific mRNA clinical manufacturing facility, Innovation Centre, research-grade RNA manufacturing facility and AI Early Warning System in Victoria. The funding amount has not been disclosed in the budget papers.
Breakthrough Victoria, Victoria Government-backed entity investing in innovation-focused businesses, will have $380 million trimmed from its budget over the next four years. The life of fund however will be extended from 10 years to 15 years.
Also announced in the 2024-25 Budget, Launch Vic will receive an additional $40 million over four years to continue its functions to fuel the growth of Victoria's startup ecosystem.
Western Australia
The Western Australia (WA) State Budget, delivered on 9 May, outlined a number of initiatives to support the local life sciences sector.
During 2023-24, the WA Government announced it will implement the WA Health and Medical Life Science Industry Strategy, to capitalise on the growing demand for health, medical technology, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals and to move along the value chain from research to product development and commercialisation. The 2024-25 Budget provided an $8.6 million investment to continue supporting this Strategy.
The Government is also investing $15.3 million in 2024-25 to establish the Perth Health Innovation Hub as a dedicated centrally located and industry focused Hub that is accessible to the research, innovation and investment community. The Hub will "attract skilled scientists whilst solidifying the State's position as a leader in research and innovation, supporting transformative change for health care and economic prosperity in Western Australia".
The Budget also committed $53 million to establish a Founders Factory accelerator in WA to support entrepreneurs and start-ups, as well as to continue STEM initiatives.
While not in the budget papers, we note the recent announcement that Perth Biodesign has been awarded $300,000 to operate its annual seven-month part-time course over the next three years, and MTPConnect, via the WA Life Sciences Innovation Hub, has been awarded $125,000 to subsidise its industry training programs for 2024. Both of these projects are funded through the Health and Medical Life Sciences Industry Strategy funding.
