Executive Summary
The Australian Government has committed to putting science at the heart of industry policy. The National Industry and Science Agenda sets out a roadmap for this ambition.
The Cooperative Research Centres Programme is a significant part of achieving the Governments’ ambitious innovation agenda. Successive reviews and studies have demonstrated the impact of the CRC Programme, including its positive impact on Australia’s Gross Domestic Product.
The most recent review, the Miles Review (2015), recommended expansion of the CRC Programme to include CRC-Projects (CRC-Ps). The Government accepted this recommendation and the first funding round has commenced. Unfortunately, the total budget of the CRC Programme has dropped significantly. Just at the time Government, industry and academia agree that collaborative research is vital to building Australia’s future, less resources are available to the key programme aimed at doing so.
The 2016-17 Budget should contain a boost in the CRC Programme Budget of $50 million over the forward estimates in order to at least partially meet the demand created by the Governments’ expansion of the programme.
