Draft Research Report on Public Support for Science and Innovation

The Academy notes that Australia’s R&D intensity is behind that of the OECD average, and that while the majority of OECD countries have established growth targets for R&D intensity, Australia has not. It considers the Draft Report as too complacent, in seeing no need for fundamental change in direction and assuming that present policies will enable Australia to sustain its recent growth performance, regardless of possible future downturns in the commodity price/demand cycle.

The Academy questions whether this ‘steady state’ approach, with relatively minor changes at the margin, is appropriate given the long-term nature of investment in the science and innovation system. A stronger approach is needed

Another theme of the Draft Report, relating to the basis for public funding of research causes the Academy some discomfort. The Academy considers that the driving force for allocation of public funding should be research excellence in terms of quality and impact, and the need to maximise benefits, regardless of where the research is carried out.

Accordingly, the Academy strongly recommends that it is essential that Australia develop a suite of polices which encourage:

• An increased level of business expenditure on R&D (BERD).
• Higher level of collaboration between industry and universities and publicly funded research agencies (PFRA). In particular, the Co-operative Research Centres (CRCs) need to continue to be supported with some changes in the guidelines to address the problems identified.
• Innovation and practical outcomes in PFRAs, should the Federal Government be intent on introducing a Research Quality Framework (RQF) to allocate public research funding.