Investing today for Australia’s prosperity tomorrow: tech academy urges effective implementation of R&D blueprint

Released today by Minister for Industry and Science Tim Ayres, the SERD sets out a blueprint for how Australia’s research, development and innovation system could evolve to support a more advanced and productive economy over the coming decades.

The report identifies several important priorities, including strengthening national coordination through a proposed National Innovation Council; reversing declines in research investment, including better support for the indirect costs of research; sustainably funding research infrastructure; boosting PhD stipends in priority areas to support the next generation of scientists and engineers; and encouraging stronger industry investment through reforms to the R&D Tax Incentive.

ATSE particularly welcomes the report’s recognition of the importance of national capability in high-performance computing and advanced GPU resources, which aligns with ATSE’s recent work highlighting the need for sovereign capability in artificial intelligence.

The academy also notes strong alignment between several of the report’s themes and ATSE’s Boosting Australia’s Innovation report, which was provided to the government during the SERD consultation process.

As the Government considers the report’s recommendations, careful attention to implementation will be critical to ensure reforms strengthen coordination across the research and innovation system, support foundational research capability and avoid adding unnecessary complexity.

While welcoming an efficient, targeted, and solutions-focused approach to applied research and development, ATSE also urges the Government to elevate the ongoing role of independent and authoritative scientific advice to the Prime Minister and Cabinet, through the Office of the Chief Scientist.

ATSE looks forward to working with the Government and the broader research and industry community to help ensure the reforms deliver a stronger, more effective national innovation system.

ATSE’s two submissions to the SERD can be found here and here.

Quotes attributable to Dr Cathy Foley AO FTSE FAA PSM, ATSE President

“We know that economically successful countries invest heavily in R&D, and connect research capabilities to industry growth.”

“Australia produces excellent research – but we’ve often struggled to translate that strength into new industries and productivity.

“Reviews like this are important, because they force us to step back and ask whether the system we built decades ago is still fit for the future.

“The direction set out in the SERD report is important – and now the real work begins in implementing it.

“We need to make sure that the proposed reforms strengthen coordination and focus, rather than adding new layers of complexity to an already complicated system.

“The SERD is a statement that the STEM sector is core to the function of the rest of the economy – and that sector is ready to grow.”