The Victorian Government will provide an additional $245 million to secure the development of a new Australian Institute of Infectious Disease in Victoria to lead the fight against future pandemics and other infectious diseases.
Building on $155 million announced in last year’s State Budget, the additional funding will build the Institute in the heart of the world-renowned Parkville biomedical precinct.
The $650 million project will also be supported with $250 million from the University of Melbourne and partnering organisations, delivering 350 jobs during construction, 850 ongoing jobs at the Institute and potentially supporting up to 5,000 jobs in the biomedical sector.
The Institute will be the largest centre of expertise in the Southern Hemisphere region and will supercharge the ongoing efforts of the world-leading researchers at Victoria’s universities and medical research institutes.
It will bring together experts from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research, the University of Melbourne, the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Melbourne-headquartered global biotechnology company CSL.
The Institute will be the new home of the Burnet Institute and, being located next to the Doherty Institute, will also allow the Doherty to expand its research operations.
It will enable researchers to detect, analyse, manage and treat infectious diseases, and accelerate research into the prevention of future pandemics and rapidly developing treatments.
The Institute will include next-generation laboratories and high-containment facilities that will help researchers improve our understanding of infectious diseases.
A robotic biobank facility will ensure international best practice for specimen storage in large-scale clinical trials.
Victoria’s medical research institutes support more than 30,000 jobs across institutes, universities and industry and every dollar invested into the sector brings in more than $4.50 in economic activity.
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