Overview

The Medical Research Future Fund’s (MRFF) Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care Mission (the Mission) was announced in December 2018 to provide $185 million for research to support older people to maintain their health and quality of life as they age, live independently for longer and access quality care when they need it.

An Expert Advisory Panel was appointed in May 2019 to provide advice to the Minister for Health on the strategic priorities for research investment through the Mission.

As per the MRFF Mission Governance document, the Expert Advisory Panel is to provide their advice on priorities for research investment through the Mission by developing a Roadmap and Implementation Plan.

The Mission’s Roadmap is a high level strategic document that includes the aim, vision, goal and priorities for investment for the Mission. To support the Roadmap, the Implementation Plan outlines the priorities for investment (short, medium and long term), evaluation approaches and measures, supporting activities, and collaborative opportunities.

The Roadmap and Implementation Plan will be used by the Department to design and implement Mission investments via Grant Opportunities promoted through GrantConnect. 2020-21 investments through this Mission are available through www.grants.gov.au.

The consultation

A consultation on the draft Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care Mission Roadmap was held in January to February 2020, where a series of questions were asked to assist in the further development of the Roadmap. Feedback received through the consultation was considered by the Expert Advisory Panel. Following this, the Roadmap was updated and an Implementation Plan developed.

The draft Roadmap and Implementation Plan have been reviewed by an international panel of experts who provided feedback and advice in the context of relevant activities occurring internationally.

The Expert Advisory Panel considered the input provided by the international panel and agreed to a number of changes to the Implementation Plan. This included the addition of priorities to:

• support early diagnosis and treatment of conditions that are prevalent among older Australians, including to address stigma and focus on vulnerable population
• improve care for older Australians by optimising informatics approaches that gather nationally representative data
• understand and address barriers to effective infection control practices in aged care settings and during transitions
• provide optimal care for vulnerable people through development of innovative new approaches.

No changes were recommended for, or made to, the Roadmap.

The report from the international review panel meeting is available below.

Why your views matter

This consultation is to seek feedback from the community on the Mission’s draft Roadmap and Implementation Plan. Both documents are available below.

Webinars

As part of this consultation, two webinars were held on 16 February 2021 and 19 March 2021 to provide an opportunity for the community to gain a greater understanding of the purpose of the Roadmap and Implementation Plan and to ask any questions. During the webinars, a presentation was provided by the chairs of the Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care Mission Expert Advisory Panel, Professors Elizabeth Beattie and Len Gray.  A copy of the presentation can be accessed from the bottom of this page.

How to have your say

Consultation questions are provided to guide your submission.

How will we use your feedback

Submissions will be used to inform any further development of the Roadmap and Implementation Plan by the Expert Advisory Panel.