The “strategic review’ of research and development promised in the Budget is set to begin.
Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic released terms of reference, Monday, including one that matters most to lobbies – elevating Australia’s overall research and development intensity.
TOR to shape submissions include:
- Maximising the value of existing investment in R&D
- Strengthening linkages between research and industry
- Addressing barriers to meaningful innovation
- Improving coordination and impact of funding across government and industry investment.
Lobbies were quick to repeat the support they stated back in May, with bonus special-pleading.
Universities Australia called the review a “welcome step.” Especially, it appears, if Labor is re-elected. UA added, “boosting support for R&D is in our national interest. It will go a long way to supporting the Government’s agenda for a Future Made in Australia and national priorities like AUKUS and the energy transition.”
The peak body also suggested that while the review team is working there are “quick wins” to be had by adopting Universities Accord recommendations to increase PhD stipends and make research grants longer.
The Group of Eight “commended” the government, pointing out what a splendid job its members do and renewed its recommendation that R&D should be 3% of GDP. Research analyst Frank Larkins estimated last year it was 1.68%, way behind the US (3.46%) and China (2.4%). But the Feds are not solely to blame. Professor Larkins put the average share of R&D spending by business in the US,UK, China, RoK and Japan at 76%, compared to 52% here.
The burden of the new review’s extensive brief could be reduced by the substantial recent work in the space.
For industry-academic collaboration, they could read the previous Government’s University Research Commercialisation Plan.
For funding, there is the famous Ferris, Finkel, Fraser 2016 review of the research and development tax incentive ($4.47bn this financial year). This is the most sophisticated Australian analysis of R&D funding to ever be ignored by governments. Mr Husic said Monday the Review “is about fundamentally looking at everything that has to do with R&D in the country.” But unless he has a bucket of new money the R&DTI won’t just be the most important new driver of reform – it will be the only one.
The new Review is chaired by local Tesla chair, Robyn Denholm and includes former Chief Scientist and VC of both Flinders U and ANU, Ian Chubb. Professor Chubb is wise in the ways of policy making and breaking, with expertise dating to chairing a previous Labor Government’s Higher Education Council in the early ‘90s.
