As Australia’s full research commercialisation plan is revealed, academy raises questions about industry links
There are positives but also “missed opportunities” in Australia’s research commercialisation plan, the Australian Academy of Science has said.
On 1 February, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison announced a research commercialisation push focused on six national manufacturing priorities.
The announcement promised a total of A$2.2 billion in funding over 10 years, including A$1.6bn for an “economic accelerator” body, A$296 million for industry-based PhDs and fellowships and A$150m for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s Main Sequence technology investment fund. The plan also incorporates the existing Trailblazer universities programme, in which the selection of universities is underway.
But in a statement on 3 February, the science academy said the plan needed better coordination of policy and spending, better industry-side incentives and new ways to link industry and researchers.
The academy said it still wanted “a comprehensive review of the Australian system of research funding”.
“Australia has over 200 schemes and programmes to support research and industry engagement across 13 portfolios. There is now an opportunity to maximise their impact by developing a cohesive and national approach to research funding. To date, it is unclear how the new scheme will work alongside existing programmes.”
The plan’s incentives for researchers and universities are good, but it lacks similar encouragement for industry to engage with research, the academy said. “The main existing instrument that incentivises industry is the R&D tax incentive. There is an opportunity for the government’s patent box mechanism to be expanded to cover the modern manufacturing priorities.” The “patent box”, announced in the 2021 budget, is still being finalised.
Better knowledge sharing could be facilitated by programmes similar to the Interface agency in Scotland in the UK, which links researchers to industries and businesses seeking to innovate, the academy said.
Developing a balance
Academy president John Shine urged that “measures to stimulate commercialisation cannot come at the expense of support for basic research”.
“Providing adequate and consistent support across the research pipeline requires developing a funding system with a balance between mobilising science to address national priorities, such as manufacturing, and providing researchers with the freedom to work on problems that may—and usually do—provide the basis of future industries, services and technologies.”
The plan will require legislation to be passed before the upcoming federal election and the appointment of a board and managers for the economic accelerator.
It also says that “the Australian government will reform existing university research programmes to increase the proportion of funding directed towards the six national manufacturing priorities and tilt the focus of research activity further across the Technology Readiness Level scale, towards translation and commercialisation.”
In December, acting education minister Stuart Robert issued instructions to the Australian Research Council to move towards a greater focus on the manufacturing priorities.
The commercialisation plan was developed by an advisory group headed by Siemens Australia chief executive Jeff Connolly. Public consultation documents used by the group were posted online after the plan was released.