In a major step towards addressing Australia’s allergy epidemic, the Hon. Ged Kearney MP, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, alongside allergy experts, has launched two world-first allergy organisations at a media event on Wednesday 31^st August 2022 in Melbourne, during the ASCIA 2022 Conference week.

The new National Allergy Council and National Allergy Centre of Excellence are backed by a $26.9 million Federal Government investment, and will address recommendations from the Walking the allergy tightrope report from the Parliamentary Inquiry into allergies and anaphylaxis:

• The National Allergy Council (NAC) is a natural progression of the highly valued and successful National Allergy Strategy. The NAC will continue to implement and expand the National Allergy Strategy as a partnership between the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) and Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia (A&AA) – the leading medical and patient support organisations for allergy in Australia.

• The Centre for Food & Allergy Research (CFAR), hosted at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, has expanded to become the National Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE). As Australia’s peak allergy research body, it will develop hubs for allergy research, repository and discovery, evidence and translation, and training and innovation. This will ensure Australia remains at the forefront of evidence-based management of allergic disease.

• The NAC and NACE, with support from the country’s peak allergy organisations encompassing clinicians, researchers, policy-makers, patients and carers, look forward to working together to ensure efficient translation of the latest research into practice.

These initiatives will help accelerate allergy research and clinical care, to improve the lives of five million Australians living with allergic disease and prevent anaphylaxis, including needless deaths.

Read the Media Release here

This news item was issued on 31 August 2022 and updated on 12 September by Jill Smith, CEO of ASCIA, the peak professional body for clinical immunology and allergy in Australia and New Zealand.