Victoria, with its capital city, Melbourne, is Australia’s leader in innovation, medical research, creative services, research and development, biotechnology, education and agricultural exports.
Victoria – a Centre for Research, Innovation and Education
Victoria has established itself in these fields as a result of nurturing leaders through research and education, and through investing in outstanding medical and research facilities; Victoria is home to 139 biotech companies, 13 major medical research institutes, seven teaching hospitals, nine universities and the Southern Hemisphere's only Synchrotron.
Each of these areas of expertise and capability also make Melbourne and Victoria even more attractive for medical, science and innovation-related conferences, meetings and events. Therefore, Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB), which works to secure these events for Victoria, has focussed on furthering Melbourne’s international reputation as a leader in these fields.
Major medical and science Business Events recently secured by MCVB for Melbourne include the International Congress of Paediatrics 2013 (5,000 delegates), the International Council of Nurses 25th Quadrennial Congress 2013 (6,000 delegates), and the World Diabetes Congress 2013 (12,000 delegates).
These wins are a result of MCVB's exceptional bidding skills, Melbourne's outstanding medical and research facilities, and the city's history of achievement in these areas.
Melbourne – a Leader in Science and Medicine
Melbourne has an international reputation for leading within the fields of science, medicine, innovation and education, and has nurtured leaders who have created world-firsts in many of these areas:
- Australia’s most skilled and qualified workers are based in Melbourne (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2009)
- Melbourne world-firsts include the cochlear implant, the first frozen embryo birth, the black box flight recorder, the cervical cancer vaccine and the atomic absorption spectrometer
- Victoria is home to 139 biotech companies, 13 major medical research institutes, seven teaching hospitals and nine universities
- The 2008 Global University City Index - which measures cities on their ability to establish strong universities - has Melbourne placed within the world's top five cities
- Melbourne is home to the Southern Hemisphere’s only Synchrotron, which is used across a broad range of sciences and industries, including micro and nano technology, environment, information and communications, forensics, and manufacturing
- Victoria has a higher ratio of scientists and engineers to population than Germany, Canada or the United Kingdom (Invest Victoria 2009)
- More students study engineering science, mathematics and IT in Victoria than in any other Australian state (Invest Victoria 2009)
- In 2007-08, listed life science firms in Victoria generated export sales of around AUD$320 million, produced sales in excess of AUD$7.2 billion, and recorded an aggregate net profit of AUD$593 million.
Major Medical, Scientific and Innovation Conferences secured for Melbourne
| World Congress in Internal Medicine 2010 - 4,000 delegates |
| International Conference of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2010 - 2,000 delegates |
| 5th International Congress of the Asia Pacific Society of Infection Control 2011 - 1,000 delegates |
| General Meeting of the International Electrotechnical Commission 2011 - 1,000 delegates |
| World Congress of the World Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases 2011 - 3,000 delegates |
| Annual Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2012 - 4,000 delegates |
| Congress of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 2012 - 2,500 delegates |
| IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium 2013 - 1,000 delegates |
| International Congress of Paediatrics 2013 - 5,000 delegates |
| The International Council of Nurses 25th Quadrennial Congress 2013 - 6,000 delegates |
| The 22nd World Diabetes Congress 2013 – 12,500 delegates |