THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport has commenced an inquiry into approval processes for new drugs and novel medical technologies in Australia.

The chair of the Committee, Trent Zimmerman MP, said the Committee looked forward to receiving information on how Australia can continue to be well positioned to access new drugs and novel medical technologies, with a particular focus on access to the treatment of rare diseases and conditions where there is high and unmet clinical need.

Mr Zimmerman said, "The Committee will examine processes in place for establishing and conducting clinical trials in improving the lives of patients and increasing investment in Australia’s research and development sector.

"The Committee will also look at options to incentivise earlier application for approval by sponsors of new drugs and novel medical technologies, without compromising patient safety or the assessment of cost-effectiveness.

"We’re looking forward to hearing from the public, health professionals and organisations, pharmaceutical companies and other interested parties on how Australia could position itself best on providing access to new drugs and novel medical technologies for all Australians now and into the future," Mr Zimmerman said.

Submissions from interested individuals and organisations are invited by Tuesday, October 13. If stakeholders have been impacted by Covid19 and require an extension for submissions, contact the secretariat on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The preferred method of receiving submissions is by electronic format lodged online using a My Parliament account.

Further information about the Committee’s inquiry, including the full terms of reference and details on how to lodge a submission are available at the Committee’s website.

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MASTER BUILDERS Australia is calling for an extension of the Federal Government’s HomeBuilder grants scheme in its Pre-Budget Submission. 

“We want to see the Federal Government extend what has been the most effective government stimulus measure in a decade for an additional 12 months,” Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia said. 

“Despite the undeniable success of HomeBuilder so far, we have downgraded our forecast for the housing sector by 25 percent for 2020/21 so that we are now predicting a 27 percent fall in homebuilding activity compared to 2019/20.

“This will be calamitous for many of the nearly 370,000 home building businesses that are vital to local economies and communities throughout Australia unless the Government steps in with extension of HomeBuilder and other stimulus measures,” Ms Wawn said. 

“Our modelling shows that, based on the Government’s estimate that HomeBuilder Mark I will cost $680 million, that a one year extension, or HomeBuilder Mark II, will require an investment of $1.3 billion, return a boost to GDP of up to $4.5 billion, create more than 4,500 additional new jobs and result in the construction of more than 6,000 new homes in addition to those created in HomeBuilder Mark I.

“The Federal Government showed its commitment to builders and tradies when it announced HomeBuilder Mark I and they must be given credit for that. They should now double down to secure to further jobs by including HomeBuilder Mark II in the October Budget,” Ms Wawn said. 

www.masterbuilders.com.au

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MASTER BUILDERS Australia is calling on the Federal Government to fund a new initiative, CommunityBuilder Grants, in the October Federal Budget to activate the construction of community and non-for-profit facilities, in its Pre-Budget Budget Submission released yesterday.  

“We are calling for the Federal Government to adapt the highly effective HomeBuilder scheme model to do for the commercial construction sector what they done for the housing sector,” Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia said. 

“Commercial construction activity will suffer a major fall of more than 17 percent in 2020/21 according our latest forecasts. 

“This will put under the viability of thousands of SME commercial construction businesses and the jobs of the thousands of tradies they employ, unless the Government steps in with measures such as CommunityBuilder,” Ms Wawn said. 

“We propose that CommunityBuilder would involve the Federal Government providing applicants from the not-for-profit and community sector with grants to fund 25 percent of the construction, up to a capped amount for example $5 million, for facilities such as community centres, toilet blocks, libraries and training centres. 

“Grant recipients could supplement CommunityBuilder grants with state and local government grants, but they would need to come up with the rest of the funds. Grant recipients with ‘skin in the game’ increases the impact of taxpayer’s stimulus measures and ensures projects will be constructed with value for money in mind.

“Our modelling shows that an investment of $3.8 billion in CommunityBuilder would return a $6.8 billion boost to GDP and create 13,000 new jobs,” she said. 

Since the onset of the pandemic the Prime Minister has always advanced the protection of jobs as his highest priority. The Governor of the Reserve Bank has consistently shared the PM’s sentiment and he reinforced it again on Friday when he told the Parliament that government’s should more worried about unemployment than anything else and that “fiscal spending with get people back to work.

“Our industry has more businesses on JobKeeper than any other sector of the economy and Master Builders is gravely concerned about their continuing viability and the livelihoods of the people they employ,” Ms Wawn said. 

“That is why we are calling on the Government to including funding of our the CommunityBuilder grants proposal in the October Budget. As the sector with the third largest economic multiplier effect in the economy, commercial construction is vital to building a bridge to economic recovery and saving jobs.

Read MBA Pre-Budget Submission 

www.masterbuilders.com.au

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THE Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has applauded QCoal’s Indigenous participation rates at the company’s Byerwen Coal mine in Central Queensland.

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said QCoal’s Indigenous representation at its Bowen Basin mine was 12 percent which was three times the industry average.

“Indigenous people comprise 4 percent of the state’s workforce in resources and Queensland’s Indigenous population is 4 percent. We are one of only two sectors with a true representation of Indigenous people in our workforce," Mr Macfarlane said. 

“Another milestone is Indigenous women in resources who represent 24 percent of the Indigenous workforce, which is close to twice the non-Indigenous rate.

“QCoal has a resolute commitment to playing its part in creating economic opportunities for Indigenous Australians at its Byerwen Coal mine."

In consultation with the Traditional Owners of the area, the Jangga People, two key programs have been developed and implemented. A pre-vocational work readiness program: Thida Bullaroo, or 'step-by-step' in local language, and a trainee operator program, Yila Yina Mundu, or 'Turn Around from Here'.

“QCoal has implemented a comprehensive Indigenous participation strategy across the business and were joint winners in the Best Company Indigenous Employment and Training Initiative category at the 2019 QRC Indigenous Awards,” Mr Macfarlane said. 

“Across all of its operations the QCoal Group’s Indigenous representation is 7 percent which is incredibly high compared to the industry average and other sectors."

www.qrc.org.au

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