Proposed Changes Could Impact Local Innovation
Australia’s biotech, medtech, and health tech sectors have united in opposition to proposed changes to the Research and Development Tax Incentive (RDTI), fearing it could drive companies overseas. Nine prominent organisations have co-signed a letter to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, urging a review of the proposal.
The proposed changes, outlined in the Federal Budget, include limiting the RDTI’s refundable tax offset for companies less than 10 years old. Industry leaders argue that this modification is unworkable as it typically takes over a decade to bring health innovations from research to market.
Rebekah Cassidy, CEO of AusBiotech, expressed concern over the uncertainty these changes create for Australian companies. “The long timeframes required to translate and develop medical research into health products for patients are not new news,” she said.
Sector’s Plea to the Government
The letter to the Treasurer was signed by AusBiotech, Pathology Technology Australia, MTPConnect, ANDHealth, Life Sciences Queensland, Life Sciences WA, BioNSW, BioMelbourne Network, and ARCS Australia. These organisations highlight that the proposed tax change does not align with the sector’s commercial timelines.
According to Cassidy, the biotechnology sector has been a significant contributor to Australia’s economy, supporting over 350,000 jobs across nearly 3,000 organisations. She emphasised the need for the government to engage with the sector to ensure policy settings are appropriate.
The Australian Government has previously recognised the lengthy process of bringing products to market. Recent strategies and plans have acknowledged the decades-long journey from research to commercialisation, underscoring the sector’s concerns about the proposed changes.
The 2025 National Health and Medical Research Strategy Issues Paper from the Department of Health and Aged Care averages the timeframe at 17 years for medical products to reach the market. The 2024 Medical Science Co-investment Plan refers to this as a ‘decades’ long process.
AusBiotech and its partners are seeking to engage with the government to address these issues promptly, aiming to provide the policy certainty needed for Australia’s biotech, medtech, and health tech companies to thrive. Cassidy pointed out that biotechnology has been Australia’s largest value-add export industry outside primary industries since 2016.
Last updated: 29 June 2026, 11:53 am
