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The ViCBiostat executive committee submitted a response to the MRFF Priorities 2020-22 Consultation, highlighting the need for targeted and ongoing support for the biostatistics sector in Australia. The core of our case was as follows:

“The need for sound research methodology is ever-increasing and capacity for innovative development needs to keep pace with the rapidly increasing complexity of data structures, research questions and computational technologies. Examples that are highly relevant to today’s research landscape include:

-          Methods for comparative effectiveness research using observational ‘real-world’ data that incorporate a systematic understanding of when cause-and-effect  conclusions may be safely drawn without fear of major bias and thus incorporated into guidelines and practice

-          Adaptive clinical trials, as currently needed for large-scale COVID-19 studies internationally

Strengthening the Australian research community’s capacity in biostatistics is critical to addressing this gap, and this in turn requires recognition that biostatistics is a scientific discipline, concerned with modelling and understanding variability and uncertainty, that needs to evolve with the changing research landscape, and is not just a well-established toolkit of techniques.”

You can find a copy of our full response below.