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Research and Innovation
Australia’s primary industries have a strong tradition of being innovative and adaptive to new challenges. They have proven to be highly efficient and competitive in international markets. The outlook for the Australian primary industries sector is strong, with the world’s demand for food rising, driven by population growth and calls for higher quality and greater variety of food, agricultural resources being switched to biofuels production and low reserves of soft commodities due to drought.
Investment in research and development (R&D) and innovation is vital for ongoing growth and improvement in the productivity, profitability, competitiveness and sustainability of Australia’s agriculture, fisheries, forestry and food industries.
National spending on primary industries R&D is estimated to be over $1.3 billion per annum. Government investment (both federal and state/territory) in primary industries’ innovation:
- recognises that the large number of small producers could not gain an economic return from individual investment in R&D and that farm products are largely uniform and non-rival in nature
- acknowledges the significant intra- and inter-industry spillovers and regional and rural benefits that accrue from publicly supported R&D, and
- addresses important national development and sustainability objectives, such as biosecurity and natural resource management.
At the federal level, Rural Research and Development Corporations and Companies (RDCs) are the Australian Government's primary vehicle for funding rural innovation. RDCs are a partnership between the Government and industry created to share the funding and strategic direction setting for primary industry R&D, investment in R&D and the subsequent adoption of R&D outputs. The RDCs commission and manage targeted investment in research, innovation, knowledge creation and transfer on. In 2006-07 the total expenditure by the RDCs on R&D was $525 million.
While RDC investments service the identified needs of industry, they also address national R&D needs through the Rural R&D Priorities (the Priorities). The Priorities are intended to achieve a national understanding of current critical R&D investment needs and to better target agricultural, fisheries, forestry and food industry R&D efforts. A common understanding of rural research priorities will better position Australia’s agricultural, fisheries, forestry and food industries to embrace innovations and adopt new technologies, to respond to market changes, to open up new markets and maintain a competitive edge in the face of economic and climatic challenges.
The Australian Government is establishing a coordinating Rural Research and Development (R&D) Council to better target and improve the effectiveness of the government’s rural research, development and extension investments. The council will be appointed by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. The council will develop a National Strategic Rural Research and Development Investment Plan and will also be responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of rural research and development against a national reporting framework to be established by the council.
Recognising the pace of climate change and its impact on primary industries and associated rural communities, the government has committed $130 million for primary producers to adapt and respond to climate change, including significant additional funding for R&D, through Australia’s Farming Future.