Workers exposed to traumatic events to benefit from new funding
In Summary
- $1.5 million funding granted to the Healthy Living Design Hub (HLDH) to be hosted at the Swinburne Innovation Precinct
- The project will focus on cutting-edge technology in the areas of health and workplaces
- Funding comes from MTPConnect and is supported by the Australian Government’s Industry Growth Centres Initiative.
People exposed to a range of workplace stressors and traumatic experiences are among those who will benefit from $1.5 million funding granted to the Healthy Living Design Hub (HLDH) to be hosted at the Swinburne Innovation Precinct.
Swinburne and its HLDH research partners – CSIRO and CQUniversity School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences – today welcomed funding through the MTPConnect Project Fund Program.
The MTPConnect Project Fund Program is a competitive, dollar-for-dollar matched funding program investing in big, bold ideas to improve the productivity, competitiveness and innovative capacity of Australia’s medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector.
MTPConnect is supported by the Australian Government’s Industry Growth Centres Initiative.
The Flagship Program of the HLDH will focus on health technology and its application for occupational health and safety, elite and sub-elite sports contexts, the mining workforce, and emergency responders.
The project will test cutting-edge technology, such as wearable smart garments to monitor and report on responses to a range of situations that people are exposed to in their workplace and other contexts.
“Swinburne Innovation Precinct is thrilled to be hosting the HLDH in our newly renovated headquarters as part of the Fire Station restoration at Swinburne,” says Professor Sally McArthur, Director of Swinburne’s Innovation Precinct.
“By focusing on bold ideas, human-centred design, and utilising the world-class research knowledge and know-how at Swinburne, CQU, CSIRO and our industry partners, the HLDH will make real-world impact in the areas of occupational health and safety, sport and medical technology.”
Rapid Response Programs of the HLDH will also be freely available to all small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and larger businesses to facilitate capacity building within the MTP sector during the two-year project period.
Industry partners include: CQUni Cairns Taipans, Richmond Football Club, Thermal Hyperformance, Planet Innovation and a major transport operator.
MTPConnect chief executive Sue MacLeman announced the funding at the AusBiotech conference.
This year, MTPConnect has selected 20 national MTP projects to receive $7.385 million in funding over two years with proposed matched funding of $15.2million coming from the sector. Last year, the launch of the program saw 14 projects receive $7.4 million in funding over two years, with matched funding of $15.6 million.
Following the success of these projects, this year’s program received significant interest from the sector, with 33 applications from industry, research organisations and universities to share in the funding available, with a proposed $25.8 million of matched funding coming from the sector.
MTPConnect is the MedTech and Pharma Growth Centre. The funding was announced during this week’s AusBioTech Conference in Adelaide.