The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is the main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research. It was the eighth largest research funding body in the world in 2016, and NHMRC-funded research is globally recognised for its high quality. Around 45% of all Australian medical research from 200812 was funded by the federal government, through the NHMRC. As an independent arm of the Department of Health, the NHMRC funds high quality health and medical research, builds research capability in Australia, support the translation of health and medical research into better health outcomes, and promote the ethics and integrity in research. Non-health research is funded by the Australian Research Council. Activities The National Health and Medical Research Council Act 1992 provides for NHMRC to pursue activities designed to: raise the standard of individual and public health throughout Australia foster the development of consistent health standards between the various States and Territories foster medical research and training and public health research and training throughout Australia foster consideration of ethical issues relating to health. As stated in its 2019-20 Corporate Plan, these activities take place within three thematic areas: investment, translation and integrity. Investment NHMRC invests in health and medical research through its grant program. Funding received for health and medical research from the Australian Government and other sources through the Medical Research Endowment Account (MREA) amounted to $882.7 million in 2018–19. This amount was exclusive of NHMRC's administrative costs, which are funded separately to the MREA. To be eligible to apply, grant applicants are required to work through an NHMRC Administering Institution. With the exception of Targeted Calls for Research and priority areas, NHMRC does not direct funding to any specific disease or health issue. Research topics are investigator driven and funding decisions are the outcome of a competitive process that relies on the collective judgement of independent peer reviewers, guided by NHMRC's Principles of peer review. NHMRC's grant program consists of four funding streams: Investigator Grants, which provide the highest-performing researchers at all career stages with funding for their salary (if required) and a significant research support package. Synergy Grants, which provide funding for outstanding multi-disciplinary research teams to work together to answer complex questions. Ideas Grants, which support researchers at all career stages to pursue innovative and creative research projects. Strategic and Leveraging Grants, which support research that addresses identified national needs. These grant schemes