Statement in response to Ambitious Australia: Strategic Examination of Research and Development (SERD) final report
University of Melbourne Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Mark Cassidy AM has issued this statement following the release of Ambitious Australia: SERD final report.
The University of Melbourne welcomes the SERD final report and calls on the Australian Government to adopt its recommendations.
The University thanks the SERD Review Panel – Chair Robyn Denholm, Emeritus Professor Ian Chubb AC, Winthrop Professor Fiona Wood AO and Dr Kate Cornick – for its comprehensive consultation across the sector and substantial final report.
Adopting the SERD recommendations will allow the Australian Government to harness scale for impact and maintain a long-term approach to supporting Australia’s research, development and innovation (RD&I) ecosystem through sustained investment.
The Panel has correctly identified the critical role universities play in our nation’s innovation and discovery effort and our relationship to other essential partners including industry, start-ups, small-to-medium enterprises, large businesses and government.
The University of Melbourne is committed to working in partnership with the Australian and Victorian governments and industry partners to continue delivering transformational research for the benefit of our communities, economy, environment and society.
National coordination of Australia’s innovation system
We support the recommendation to establish a National Innovation Council (NIC). The NIC reporting to the Prime Minister would ensure the urgent need for reform is placed at the centre of government decision making. We strongly support consolidation of funding programs and streamlining processes and timelines to align policy, programs and funding for a coordinated national RD&I effort.
We support the consolidation of Australia’s RD&I efforts through the National Innovation Pillars – Health & Medical, Agriculture & Food, Defence, Energy & Environment, Resources and Technology. These strongly align with the University’s Impact Accelerators, a key initiative in Advancing Research 2030.
We strongly support the Panel recognising the essential need for foundational research to provide the pipeline of ideas that underpins applied research, translation and innovation. It is critical for national programs, including block grant funding, to be properly resourced if they are to be aligned with National Innovation Pillars to ensure an adequate pipeline of foundational research.
We strongly endorse the critical role of First Nations knowledge, leadership and Indigenous-led research in shaping Australia’s research and innovation system.
Investment in all stages of research translation
We strongly support unlocking investment into all stages of the research translation pipeline.
The University has established funding programs to support research translation across the various stages including our Proof of Concept (POC) fund, to test commercial viability, the Genesis Pre-Seed Fund and Tin Alley Fund, which move discoveries closer to being investable. The Australian Government has an important role in contributing investment in the early stages of translation.
We have advocated for a national private venture capital ‘fund-of-funds’ which could grow and strengthen university-linked investment vehicles. We thank the Panel for supporting this concept, embedded in the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF), and other government initiatives, to source private capital and accelerate innovation to support NRF priority sectors.
We commend the Panel for noting the role government can play as an exemplar, and the imperative of properly funding research infrastructure and determining the full costs of research. We support the development of research training programs with a strong industry focus, adapting procurement practice of domestic RD&I, raising PhD stipends, and making part-time PhD scholarships tax-free to boost the RD&I workforce pipeline.
Fully funding national critical research infrastructure long-term, including operational costs, would enable cutting-edge facilities to advance research capabilities, drive engagement with industry and support national sovereignty.
Increased connection between universities, government and key sectors
We support increased collaboration between universities, industry, government, business and start-ups to accelerate research translation and innovation. The University of Melbourne is committed to collaboration and has more than 2000 research contracts with partners.
Increased mobility between sectors – including by growing the number of secondments, internships and significantly scaling the Industry PhD program – could strengthen shared capability.
The Panel recommends reforms to Australia’s Research and Development Tax Incentive (RDTI) scheme to incentivise collaborations with Australian research for businesses currently not eligible for the RDTI. The RDTI should also be reformed so RD&I undertaken collaboratively with university researchers is additionally incentivised.
National precinct/place-based activity strategy
The University strongly supports the development of a national precinct/placed-based activity strategy, and we have more than 150 organisations in our precincts. Every major innovation ecosystem has a world-class research institution at its heart, and governments play a role in growing these ecosystems through strategic investments and helping to attract overseas investment and RD&I partners.
Melbourne Biomedical Precinct is a successful example of this strategy. The University of Melbourne has worked with the Australian and Victorian governments over decades to grow the precinct. It is now home to more than 30 major research centres, including the Florey Institute, Doherty Institute, Bio21, WEHI, Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery, Jumar Bioincubator and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
We support the Australian Government in creating a national narrative that demonstrates the benefits and value of RD&I, both domestically and internationally, to drive investment and opportunity for Australian innovators.