Participating in a National Approach to Genomic Information Management

Australian Genomics recently released Preliminary Implementation Recommendations to the Australian Government (April 2022) to progress the development and establishment of a National Approach to Genomic Information Management (NAGIM) for Australia.

Australian BioCommons took part in the development of prototype components of the proposed NAGIM research ecosystem in 2021. Genomic data infrastructure stakeholders nationally were invited to participate in prototype development, in an open call leveraging existing capabilities/funding. BioCommons and others were tasked with addressing the identified priority areas, with the goal of identifying the best combination of components that can serve as the basis for long-term national research infrastructure.

An international expert panel was convened to advise and evaluate the NAGIM Blueprint Implementation prototypes and the collaborative submission made by Australian BioCommons’ Human Genomes Platform Project and the University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research was very favourably reviewed. BioCommons are listed as demonstrated NAGIM exemplars for several proposed workstreams and deliverables to support the NAGIM Implementation recommendations.

The latest report outlines the preliminary implementation recommendations for NAGIM, informed by the international panel’s NAGIM prototype evaluations, and parallel stakeholder consultation. Feedback is currently being sought on these recommendations from all stakeholders including research and clinical data communities, patient advocacy groups, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander genomic experts, industry, government representatives and agencies. Feedback will inform the development of a full report of the NAGIM Implementation Recommendations and proposed strategy for progressing NAGIM, which will be delivered to Government mid-year.

Stakeholders are encouraged to read the Preliminary Implementation Recommendations and to provide feedback by responding to the targeted questions in the online form by 5 pm AEST 17 June 2022.