Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Williams for his question. There are more than 320,000 Australians living with dementia, making it the third leading cause of death in Australia. Around 1.2 million Australians care for those 320,000 people diagnosed with dementia. By 2050, without a medical breakthrough, it is expected that dementia will affect nearly one million Australians and an untold number of carers. To put that in context, currently each week there are around 170 new cases of dementia in Australia. This is expected to grow to 7½ thousand new cases each week by 2050, which is a staggering statistic. That is a huge cost to the health sector. But, even more importantly, it is a huge burden on Australian people and families.

That is why this government has delivered on our election commitment to inject an additional $200 million over five years into research into the prevention and treatment of dementia. The government understands the crucial role of research into finding new treatment options, improved methods of prevention and early diagnosis, and ways to improve quality of life for patients diagnosed with dementia and their carers. This unprecedented $200 million investment will go a long way to help to curb the alarming rise in dementia in Australia by significantly scaling up dementia research across Australia, increasing the number of researchers focusing on dementia research and providing a vehicle for translating research efforts into patient care.

This government is committed to improving the lives of Australians affected by dementia and we have clearly demonstrated that commitment by fostering world-leading, patient focused research through this $200 million boost in dementia research funding.