Medtronic - Celebrating 50 years in Australia

Yesterday marked a significant milestone for Medtronic in Australia – our 50-year anniversary.

While our achievements are a testament to our commitment to our Mission to alleviate pain, restore health and extend life, , they would not have been possible without your help.

To this end, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our health care professionals and partners for your collaboration and our employees for your unwavering dedication through the years.

Our contribution to Australia

Australia has a unique healthcare model that we’ve supported over the last 50 years, and we will continue to do into the future.

Our journey began on 20 August 1973 with just four employees at an office in Sydney’s southern suburbs. Today, we have more than 1,000 employees across six offices in Australia and New Zealand.

Since 1973, we have brought to market more than 40,000 technologies and devices ranging from surgical robots to brain stimulation technologies. Thanks to the efforts of a dedicated team, we have maintained a laser focus on ensuring Australian patients access the latest technologies through health economics, policy and reimbursement strategies.

We’ve also demonstrated resourcefulness and responsiveness during times of crisis. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an urgent need worldwide for ventilators as a life-saving device in the management of COVID-19 patients. We quickly decided to make one of our ventilator design specifications available – at no cost – so other manufacturers could use these to manufacture ventilators during the pandemic.

Building a strong workplace culture

One area that I am most proud of is the development of our culture that fosters a strong sense of belonging.

Inclusion, diversity and equity (IDE) has always been tied to the way we work since day one. We believe that ID&E powers the potential of our people, so we ingrain it into our leadership, practices, systems and culture.

To this end, our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) were created to ensure that all employees feel a sense of belonging at Medtronic. We now have nine ERGs and the number is growing. Our ERGs also support our commitment to better outcomes for our communities. whether it be through raising awareness of important causes, social justice or healthcare equity.

For example, our Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group ERG rolled out Deadly Heart Campaign, which focuses on bringing health equity to our remote and indigenous population through the elimination of rheumatic heart disease.

Our steadfast commitment to ID&E means working towards zero barriers to opportunity. In gender equity terms, Medtronic has set a goal of achieving 45% representation of women in manager and above roles globally by the end of Fiscal Year 2026, with a commitment to increase this by 1- 2% year on year until target is reached – and we’re on track to meet or exceed this here in Australia and New Zealand, with our year-on-year targets reached to date and 42.5% women in manager-and-above roles. We aim to continue this focus and work beyond the workplace to see gender equity actioned across our industry and communities.

We are also committed to gender pay equity, to reflect our commitment to equal pay for equal work,?and have closed the gender pay gap internally for employees in like-for-like roles. We are proudly accredited as an Employer of Choice by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency in Australia and are determined to continue our work towards zero barriers to opportunity, for all.

Awards, recognition and giving back to the community

Our workplace awards are a testament to our commitment to IDE. For example, we were recognised as a Great Place to Work as well as Australia’s Best Workplace two years in a row. Many of our employees have also received Medical Technology of Australia’s Women in MedTech champion awards. Most recently, Medtronic was named?“Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” for the sixth consecutive year. Through the years, we’ve also received a number of awards for innovation.

Medtronic Australia has also given back to the community in many ways - through charitable donations and employee participation in projects to help disadvantaged communities. Most recently, we were nominated for the prestigious 2023 Queensland Community Foundation Philanthropy Award, which is a testament to our 20-year commitment to help improve the lives of individuals affected by spinal deformities and disorders.

The importance of technology access for future generations

Medtronic has always supported the continuation of the Prostheses List and the value it provides, including guaranteeing surgeon choice and patient access to important and life-saving innovative medical technologies.

We are now seeing rapid advances in medical technology such as AI, machine learning, remote capabilities and digital technology, and these are all areas that Medtronic is working on to take access to the next level.

I believe Australia is an incredible market for future innovation access. There are many exciting prospects on the horizon – such as advanced manufacturing – and it would be interesting to see how this potential could develop in Australia.

Over the years, we have committed to investments that support Australia’s robust clinical trial environment. We currently oversee 28 active studies and over 26 external research programmes and have taken conscious action to expand our clinical trial footprint in Australia. We are also one of the few countries where Medtronic conducts first-in-human trials, and we are also looking at doing more of these in the future.

We are with you on this journey

Every day we hear stories about how our technologies help patients and we continue to be inspired by the impact it has made.

Healthcare technologies will transform the way we deliver care and improve patient outcomes as new achievements are made in fields such as Tele medicine artificial intelligence and wearable devices.

The future looks bright and we are excited to have you on the journey with us as we continue to make a genuine impact on patients all around Australia and New Zealand.