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How NHMRC funded 15 Development Grants before the 2026 pause
NHMRC recorded 15 Development Grants worth AUD 16.51 million in its 2025 to 2026 financial year. It then set aside the 2026 Development Grants round for review and redirected its allocation to Ideas Grants.
Sources checked
The bars show funding committed to selected schemes. The full table gives the grant counts and amounts for all schemes.
The annual commitments span eleven programmes
NHMRC reported 704 new grants and AUD 1.071 billion of commitments across its programmes in the financial year. Investigator Grants took AUD 429.87 million and Ideas Grants AUD 282.82 million, roughly two thirds together. The table records the full funding commitment rather than cash paid during that year. Source 1
Development Grants aim at a commercial next step
The scheme supports proof-of-concept research with a plausible commercialisation route and prospects for protecting intellectual property. The annual report records 15 Development Grants with about AUD 16.51 million in commitments. The amount reflects commitments to those awards and gives no tally of later licences, sales or companies created. Source 1 Source 2
The 2026 application round is a different period
NHMRC says the Development Grants scheme will not proceed in the 2026 round while it undertakes a review. It says the AUD 16.6 million set aside for that round will support Ideas Grants instead. That allocation is separate from the 15 grants recorded in the financial-year report. Source 2 Source 1
Grant counts compare activities of different sizes
The annual report counts 11 Synergy Grants with AUD 55 million in commitments and 52 Equipment Grants with about AUD 6.08 million. It describes equipment awards as non-competitive and allocated pro rata based on earlier eligible grant holdings. These categories serve different purposes, so a larger grant count can accompany a smaller funding commitment. Source 1