OPINION
Driving south along an otherwise nondescript stretch of Blackburn road in Melbourne’s Clayton, it’s not immediately obvious that you’re passing through one of the greatest innovation hubs in the Southern Hemisphere.
This is where IVF technology was pioneered in the 1970s. It’s home to the Australian Synchrotron, the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, the Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy, CSIRO, and Moderna’s mRNA manufacturing facility. This is the Monash Technology Precinct, and the facilities within are the unseen engines of Victoria’s economy, health system and global reputation.
Research infrastructure is the backbone of modern science. It includes things like advanced microscopes, high tech facilities for building nano-scale devices, biobanks, supercomputers, and large national facilities like the Synchrotron.
These are the tools that allow researchers to see deeper, measure faster and build smarter. Over the past century, science using these tools have driven almost every major technological leap, from smartphones and renewable energy, to medical imaging, vaccines and advanced manufacturing.
Forget the Hills Hoist – the real story of Australian innovation is happening out of sight, in our research and development labs.
But we now risk letting Melbourne’s research infrastructure quietly decay, just as global competition for talent, capital and ideas is intensifying – unless we can develop a new, coordinated approach to fund these assets.
Many of these major facilities have a lifespan of 10 to 15 years. We are now approaching the end-of-life for a significant portion of the infrastructure that underpins Melbourne’s research and innovation strength.
Melbourne is widely recognised as Australia’s knowledge and innovation capital – directly as a result of State Government strategic co-investments in research infrastructure 20 years ago, helping to establish facilities like the Synchrotron and the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication.
The return has been extraordinary. Between 2019-2023, Victoria attracted more than $4.2 billion in research and infrastructure funding, and nearly $12.5 billion in industry R&D investment.
The Federal Government invests in research infrastructure through a scheme called the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). Created more than 20 years ago, NCRIS ensures researchers across the country can access world-class facilities, supporting academic and industry researchers regardless of where they work. It operates on a partnership model: the Commonwealth provides core funding, and States and institutions co-invest.
Most State Governments – including Queensland, NSW, WA and South Australia – now have explicit, ongoing co-investment mechanisms to support NCRIS projects in their jurisdictions.
Victoria does not – which means Federal funding could be re-directed to other States.
The consequences are already visible. Three major facilities operating in Melbourne – the Australian National Fabrication Facility, Microscopy Australia and Bioplatforms Australia – face the loss of $21 million in funding unless the state steps in. Some national facilities are already preparing to scale back their Victorian footprint due to this uncertainty.
It is a critical time. If the State Government fails to match the Federal funding, Melbourne will lose not only great research – but also the social, health and economic benefits that flow with innovation: new companies, new industries, better healthcare, safer communities and high-value jobs.
Research infrastructure is not glamorous. But it is the quiet foundation underpinning so much of our innovation, productivity, health and economic resilience.
Right now, the Federal Government is developing the 2026 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap – a once-every-five-years process that sets national priorities for guiding what will likely be a multi-billion dollar investment into research infrastructure.
If we want Melbourne to be nationally competitive, while keeping pace with innovation-led powerhouses like Boston, London, or Singapore, Victoria needs a systematic, long-term co-investment strategy for research infrastructure, aligned with NCRIS and the 2026 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap.
The choice is simple: invest now, or watch our best ideas, people and industries go somewhere else.
Professor Robyn Ward is DVC (Research and Enterprise) at Monash University