Australia's scientists and technologists have welcomed the Terms of Reference and eminent panel for the Strategic Examination of Research and Development (R&D) and encouraged an ambitious approach to the scope of its work.
The Terms of Reference were announced by Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic and Minister for Education Jason Clare today, and the review will be conducted until 31 December 2025.
"We welcome the announcement of the panel to conduct this review. Robyn Denholm as Chair, working with Professor Ian Chubb, Professor Fiona Wood, and Dr Kate Cornick, who bring together diverse expertise," said STA President Professor Sharath Sriram.
"As the voice of 235,000 STEM professionals, we look forward to working closely with the panel to provide input and knowledge from research translation leaders as well as ensuring diverse perspectives."
With decades since the last similar review and declining research investment compared to our global peers, the Terms of Reference the panel will work with will seek to boost economy-wide investment and maximise economic return for the country from investment in R&D.
"Ms Denholm's passionate words to build a stronger, more innovative Australia for the decades to come are music to our ears," said Professor Sriram.
"Given the duration of this critical review, we strongly encourage an ambitious approach to the scope, looking at incentives driving R&D output, outcomes, and activity, including how they differ across small, medium and large businesses and industry sectors. We also need to look at the opportunities across the entire sector, from discovery research all the way through to deep-tech start-ups."
"We also encourage the panel to work on minimising red-tape and time-consuming application process with streamlined and interconnected systems across schemes. This will dramatically raise innovation productivity and impact."
"We look forward to working with the panel on how to get all parts of the innovation ecosystem to work together in the national interest, and in helping to provide case studies, potential solutions, and access to the expertise of our extensive membership."
