The ANZCA mission statement is "To serve the community by fostering safety and quality patient care in anaesthesia, intensive care and pain medicine".

Funding for medical research in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore is necessary if medical science is to maintain a high international standing. The most important single national source of funding for medical research in Australia is provided by the Commonwealth Government through the Medical Research Endowment Fund, which is administered by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).  In New Zealand, funding is administered by the Health Research Council (HRC).

The NHMRC provides the opportunity for individuals or research teams to obtain support for research projects in all fields of public health, medicine and dentistry in Australia, through the Project Grant and Fellowship schemes. In New Zealand the HRC serves an equivalent role. The award of a Project Grant is ANZCA’s main avenue for the support of projects in biomedical research in Universities, medical schools, hospitals and other research institutions. The purpose of such schemes is to provide support for work on problems which are capable of solution in a relatively short period of time. ANZCA aims to supplement, complement, and in some cases act as an alternative to NHMRC/HRC.  Wherever possible ANZCA encourages applicants to also apply to HRC or NHMRC, or to the appropriate body in their home country.

Applications for funding for the following year close on 1 March each year (or 5 p.m. on the closest business day if 1 March is a weekend day).  From 1 December each year, Guides and Application forms for the following grants are available from the 2009 Research Applications and Guides page:

• Project Grant (including Fellowship Grant)
• Novice Grant
• Simulation/Education Grant
• Academic Enhancement Grant

It is important to read the Research Grant Application Guides thoroughly and to obtain a RegKey before submitting an application. The conditions and rules set out in the Application and Guide are adhered to very strictly. For instance, if the closing date is 1 March, applications received after 5 PM on that date WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

The Research Grant process is administered by the ANZCA Research Committee. For further information, consult the Research Committee Policy.

The ANZCA Trials Group was formed from a recognised need for a College-based service to provide research infrastructure support and advice to College Fellows and Trainees. The Trials Group is a collaboration of clinical researchers whose primary goal is to improve the evidence base of anaesthesia through the development and conduct of high quality, multi-centre randomized controlled trials and related research within anaesthesia, peri-operative medicine and pain medicine.  Members of the ANZCA Trials group are highly skilled in the theory and practice of research methodology with successful track records in large multi-centre randomized controlled trials (e.g. MASTER, B-AWARE, ENIGMA-II, ATACAS). 

Please visit the Trials Group section for more information.