Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every child deserves the chance to live a long and healthy life. I'm proud to say that in my home state of Victoria the incredible team at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute are working to deliver just that. Their work in genetic stem cell medicine and population health studies are changing what's possible for children and families in Australia and around the world. They put the wellbeing and health of children at the heart of everything they do, and their hard work and passion for improving the lives of children is commendable.

MCRI is the largest child health research institute in Australia and is ranked in the top three globally. With a team of 1,800 researchers, MCRI has projects spanning 150 diseases and conditions affecting children. They have established an Aboriginal health program to address existing gaps and to promote health, wellbeing and equity for First Nations children. I commend the MCRI for listening to and working directly with Aboriginal communities to co-design their research strategy in a culturally sensitive way.

Earlier this month, I was lucky to meet with Professors Goldfield, Brown and Gee and tour the MCRI facility. Seeing their work firsthand was incredibly inspiring, and I thank everyone at the MCRI for the work they do for our children and for future generations. The MCRI is working on Australia's largest study of children and parents, with 115,000 participants taking part in the Generation Victoria Project, including me and my son, Ari. GenV is the only mega-cohort of children and families launched anywhere in the world over the last decade, including during the COVID years, which will tell us a whole heap of information about how our kids have fared through the pandemic for generations to come.

The team at MCRI want to make sure that, no matter where you are born or where you grow up, your health outcomes will be the same. It's very cool and a bit unique that the data from little Ari and I will contribute to this research to help improve the health and wellbeing of children and their families for generations to come.