The Australian Government’s Strategic Examination of Research and Development (SERD), managed by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, is reviewing the national R&D system across all sectors – with an aim to improve coordination, boost innovation, and strengthen research-industry links.
Following stakeholder consultation, an independent expert panel, led by Robyn Denholm, has released six issues papers outlining challenges, recommendations and reforms for a more cohesive and innovative Australian R&D system.
gemaker’s Warren Bradey offers his high-level reflections and recommendations on the key themes covered by the SERD issues papers:
National Co-ordination for RD&I Impact: A coherent Commonwealth approach is fundamental to the future success of Australia’s innovation ecosystem, to enable consistency across programs and agencies.
Scaling the System: There is a need for deeper understanding of each sector’s ecosystem, and targeted support for missing links – rather than the expectation that global players will ‘fill the gaps’ – and greater proof-of-concept funding and sustained commercialisation capability.
RD&I Incentives: The in-demand R&D Tax Incentive process should be simplified for SMEs. The introduction of income averaging for entrepreneurs (as occurs with select professions where income fluctuates) could boost start-up participation. And in the long-term, politically stable funding – akin to the CRC model – would sustain innovation cycles.
Growing Investment and Capital: Australia needs culture change in early-stage funding and pragmatic joint-funded investment vehicles, rather than dipping into superannuation reserves. We should also leverage existing agencies, like Austrade, to promote Australian R&D.
Foundational Research: Universities need more cohesive specialisation and commercialisation skill development to drive national priorities, which should be supported with the right mix of discovery and translation research – and funded appropriately.
Government as an Exemplar: Procurement and regulatory sandboxes should be deployed to co-create challenge-led innovation and reduce compliance costs, and R&D innovation data should be refined to inform targeted, results-driven policy. To enhance deeper cross-sector expertise, it is important to diversify leadership across a broader range of agencies and innovation accelerators, with central organisations contributing only where they have well-established strengths.
Australia’s innovation ecosystem demands stronger coordination, smarter incentives and focused investment to translate research into national advantage. With SERD, we have a unique opportunity to build a framework for an ecosystem that drives economic growth and complexity, and puts Australia firmly on the global R&D map.
