INGENA ANNUAL REPORT 2021-2022

InGeNA emerged as a new and united industry voice in the healthcare landscape at a time when the battle with COVID-19 brought the world of genomics into the lives of almost all Australians.

As we progressed our first-year agenda, we saw precision health, underpinned by genomics, benefiting individuals, families, carers, and the health system more broadly. The community’s understanding of genomics was essential to allowing the swift development of vaccines, diagnostics, tests and as a tool for epidemiologists.

This sharp focus on public health helped to crystallise the work of InGeNA, embedding consumer advocacy into our organisational DNA.

From health data to DNA, privacy and telehealth, Australians have grown their digital health maturity during the pandemic. It makes the possibilities of our future precision health system more tantalising. Genomics is already engaged across many facets of healthcare as it already enables access to treatment in areas like cancer and rare diseases. Testing, diagnosis, care and treatment could soon be tailored for patients and consumers based on their unique profile as a human being.

The challenges we identified in our first year will continue to form the basis of our collaborative work. As health and social care is provided in a digital world, the need for a workforce enabled with digital health and specifically knowledge of genomics is clear. And, while genomics will one day be omnipresent, Australia – like most nations – has a long way to go to translate the opportunities it presents society.

I would like to thank all the members of InGeNA, its staff and our valued partners as together we pursue our vision of realising the full potential of genomics to personalise healthcare.