The Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN Universities) welcomes the Australian Academy of Science’s (the Academy) bold proposal to increase business investment in research and development (R&D) and supports the call for serious national conversation on R&D reform.
Australia’s investment in R&D is at a historic low. Increasing and sustaining investment in Australian R&D is key to boosting productivity, wage growth, and sovereign capability.
We share the Academy’s ambition and intent. As Australia’s most industry-engaged university grouping, and the only one where member universities receive more research funding from industry than from traditional competitive grants, ATN Universities strongly supports increased incentives for university-industry collaborations and partnerships.
Consistent with the Academy’s initiative, ATN Universities’ recent Strategic Examination of R&D (SERD) submission also proposed a CPI-indexed funding model and a nationally coordinated Innovation Framework to support long-term stability and reduce fragmentation. We further call for a National Commercialisation Strategy to support Australian researchers in developing their intellectual property and navigate commercialisation pathways requiring alignment between government, industry and universities.
The Academy’s proposal is a welcome catalyst for broader reform, and a timely reminder that business must be part of the solution.
ATN Universities looks forward to working alongside the Academy, and our cross-sector partners to build a more ambitious, better coordinated and more effective national R&D system.
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