AGY-5358 | Office of Science and Medical Research

Full description

The Office of Science and Medical Research was established within the Cabinet Office after the 2003 election.(1) The Office provided policy advice to the Premier and Minister for Science and Medical Research on biotechnology issues and oversighted continued implementation of the Government’s biotechnology strategy, BioFirst.

During 2003-04, the Office of Science and Medical Research provided advice to the Premier and Minister for Science and Medical Research on issues such as: gene technology; prohibition of human cloning and regulation of research on human embryos; access to Australia’s genetic and biochemical resources; and bioethics.(2)

The Office of Science and Medical Research was responsible for policy and program development relating to the Premier’s Spinal Cord Injury and Conditions Fund. The Office provided administrative and secretariat support to a number of high level committees including the Cabinet Committee on Biotechnology and the Ministerial Advisory Council on Biotechnology.(3)

The Office of Science and Medical Research “provided the foundation for the subsequent establishment of the NSW Ministry for Science and Medical Research”.(4) Although The Cabinet Office Annual Report for 2002-03 states the Office of Science and Medical Research replaced the BioUnit,(5) the BioUnit appears to have remained a distinct unit because it was removed from the Cabinet Office and transferred to the newly established NSW Ministry for Science and Medical Research on 1 December 2003.(6) The Office of Science and Medical Research appears to have ceased when the NSW Ministry for Science and Medical Research was established.

Endnotes
1. The Cabinet Office Annual Report 2003-04, p.21.
2. loc. cit.
3. ibid., pp.21-22.
4. ibid., p.21.
5. The Cabinet Office Annual Report 2002-03, p.20.
6. NSW Government Gazette (No.188), Special Supplement 28 November 2003, p.10932.