Spotlight on impact: WA's new program to tackle health challenges

At the centre of the new FHRI Fund Strategy 2025-30, recently launched on 1 July 2025 is the flagship Spotlight Program – an ambitious, focused initiative designed to tackle WA’s most pressing health challenges with precision, collaboration, and purpose.

Each year, the Spotlight Program will shine a light on one uniquely Western Australian issue, dedicating 5 years of targeted funding and support to drive measurable improvements in health outcomes.
The program aims to attract co-funding and national attention, positioning WA as a leader in solving complex health problems through innovation.

This is research with a mission: to embed evidence into clinical practice, service design, and community care – transforming how care is delivered across our health system.
For WA’s researchers and innovators, Spotlight offers a powerful platform to:

• Collaborate– across disciplines, sectors and services
• Translate discoveries into action – ensuring research shapes real-world solutions.
• Drive system-wide change – through new models of care, and innovations.
• Access flexible, high-impact funding – with opportunities for direct investment in transformative ideas.

The first Spotlight focus is Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) – a preventable condition that disproportionately affects Aboriginal communities in northern WA.

With RHD now in the spotlight, the FHRI Fund is calling on researchers, clinicians, and community leaders to unite around a shared focus to eliminate this disease and improve outcomes for Western Australians and others affected around the world.

Spotlight themes will be announced in advance, with transparent, evidence-based topic selection shaped by sector input.

This is more than a program – it’s a catalyst for lasting change.

Further information about how you can be involved in the first Spotlight will be shared in coming months.