The 2016–25 decadal plan for astronomy outlines six fundamental science questions, and details the major facilities and infrastructure required for Australian astronomers to play a world-leading role in answering those questions. Enormous progress has been made in the five years since the plan was written.

The mid-term review of the 2016 decadal plan for Australian astronomy makes nine major recommendations for the next five years and details the continuing investment into major facilities and infrastructure required for Australian astronomers to continue to play a world-leading role in answering key questions about our universe.

Mid-term review recommendations 

• Achieve full membership of the European Southern Observatory at the earliest opportunity, and well before the current strategic partnership ends in 2027.
• Protect the substantial national investment by supporting the completion of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), including funding of GMT instrumentation built in Australia.
• Pursue realisation of the full Square Kilometre Array Observatory, while continuing to exploit its ASKAP and MWA pathfinders.
• Continue supporting world-class national instrument development capabilities that maximise Australia’s engagement, influence and return from global projects.
• Continue investment in training people with strong scientific and translatable skills.
• Establish a long-term, sustainable, distributed and interoperable set of HPC and data centre arrangements that span the requirements of gravitational wave, radio, optical, and theoretical astronomers, and provide funding for commensurate training and education in data science and code development.
• Fund the design and development of an Australian gravitational wave pathfinder to lay the foundations for a future southern hemisphere detector hosted by Australia.
• Explore mechanisms to build stronger ties between the Australian astronomy community, the wider Australian space science community, and the Australian Space Agency.
• Pursue data access to the Legacy Survey of Space and Time via the exchange of time on Australian national facilities.

Committees

Mid-term review committee (from July 2019)

Chair: Professor Lister Staveley-Smith
Professor Tamara Davis
Associate Professor Amanda Karakas
Professor Chris Tinney
Associate Professor Cath Trott

Capabilities and opportunities review committee (April–July 2019)

Chair: Professor Lister Staveley-Smith
Associate Professor Sarah Brough
Dr Christoph Federrath
Associate Professor Amanda Karakas
Dr Eric Thrane

This paper informed community consultations during the second half of 2019 that in turn provided input into the mid-term review.

Capabilities and opportunities briefing documents

Appendix A references 10 briefing documents used in the drafting of the paper. These are found below.

Australia in Space presents a ten-year plan for Australian space science, with recommendations and strategies to advance national interests and priorities in space; growing the innovation economy, developing sovereign capability and improving the lives of all Australians.

Executive summary

Now is an exciting time to be involved with space. Space-derived activities and services are integral to Australia’s economic, environmental and national security, with increasingly diverse and open-market participation in space activities catalysing transformative opportunities but also amplifying risks. 

Australia aims to exploit new opportunities by growing an internationally competitive space industry which will also build innovation capability and address strategic needs. Key to this is a sustainable space sector built on a foundation of excellence in science and technology. 

Space science – the science of exploration and use of space to generate new knowledge, disruptive innovation and practical benefit – is a fundamental enabler for space industry and applications. It underpins the space programs of our partners and our own space aspirations. Australian space science research has established a world-class reputation in many areas. It engages with international space programs and is critical for growing our space capability and mitigating risks. However, Australia’s space R&D sector faces several challenges which impact the development and competitiveness of our space economy. 

Our vision is for Australia to be a respected partner in the global community of spacefaring nations, leading our own space missions with Australian science teams and Australian-built payloads and spacecraft systems. These missions will propel breakthrough science and technologies, and Australian expertise will contribute to the most significant international space missions. These activities will accelerate development of sovereign space capability and help train and grow a world-class workforce of professionals and technologists to feed the new opportunities arising in the burgeoning high value industry, research and applications sectors.

Recommendations

To achieve this vision, this plan makes the following headline recommendations. 

1. A national research priority in space science is established that aligns with civil and defence sovereign industry capability requirements, encourages discovery and innovation, and helps build capacity for national benefit and international impact.
2. A Lead Scientist role is established in the Australian Space Agency with responsibility for space science policy settings. The role should include responsibility for providing strategic science policy advice, facilitating cross-sector engagement and international collaboration, and fostering capacity development initiatives.
3. Commitment to and investment in an ongoing national space program, enabled by space missions that advance science, stimulate technical innovation, address national priorities, grow capability and inspire citizens. 

These headline recommendations underpin our plan, and are supported by six further recommendations, which seek to develop the following initiatives.

4. An integrated national space innovation and education strategy, led by the Australian Space Agency, that is consistent with the national curriculum, spans the primary, secondary, tertiary, VET and industry sectors, and aims to grow STEM participation, and improve career pathways and industry outcomes, cognisant of the values of diversity and equity.
5. A program of small space missions to advance knowledge and discovery, foster and leverage international collaboration, accelerate development of new technologies, applications and the skilled workforce, and help grow sovereign capability. This should be the responsibility of the Australian Space Agency, with NCRIS or similar support.
6. A national program focusing on space weather research activities to help protect critical infrastructure and advance space weather forecasting and space situational awareness activities. This program should be supported by observations from a diverse and extensive suite of sovereign ground- and space-based sensors.
7. An ongoing Earth observation satellite program led by the Australian Space Agency to mitigate data supply risk, address grand national challenges, grow capacity and contribute to global programs. As part of this, Australia should lead international efforts on global instrument and data calibration and validation.
8. An integrated program to advance basic and applied research on transformative technologies in secure, high bandwidth RF and optical communications technologies including across satellite networks, advanced on-board processing, and next generation secure positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) capabilities. This should include technology demonstrator satellite missions and associated ground infrastructure.
9. A commitment of support to space life science research, including space medicine and human factors, and space agriculture and nutrition, engaging with international programs and providing translation of research to improve everyday life. 

Successful implementation of the plan will result in a range of benefits, including:

• a sustainable national space science program
• enhanced innovation-led growth of the space economy
• more effective science-to-industry partnerships across the space sector
• enhanced STEM engagement and workforce capability
• sovereign capability to develop and operate small and medium satellite space missions
• ability to collaborate and contribute substantively to transnational missions
• an Earth observation program addressing national challenges and providing international leadership
• world-leading space weather forecasting helping protect critical infrastructure and contributing to space situational awareness capability
• next generation space-based communications and secure PNT services
• improvements in telehealth delivery and health outcomes
• improvements in sustainable agriculture and provision of plant-based nutrition.

Companion report

This companion document that contains reports prepared by 12 expert working groups that provide the basis for the findings of the plan.

The decadal plan Mathematical sciences in Australia: a vision for 2025 presented an overview of the priorities, objectives, goals and recommendations for the mathematical sciences in Australia. 

This mid-term review has found that the original objectives of the decadal plan remain relevant and important to the community, and opportunities arising in the changing sector should continue to be identified and progressed.

The 2023 Boden Research Conference ‘Advancing the science of precision and personalised nutrition’ was held at the Shine Dome in Canberra on 19 and 20 October.

The conference aimed to accelerate the implementation of Nourishing Australia’s pillar on precision and personalised nutrition as well as celebrating the state of the science at a national and international level.

The primary goal of the conference was to empower early to mid-career researchers (EMCRs) to take an active role in leading the implementation of the pillar’s recommendations by reviewing progress to date, setting new objectives, and collaborating with key organisational influencers.

The summary report presents the collective efforts undertaken by the working group and informs the direction of an implementation plan.

The National Committee for Astronomy has conducted a strategic review for Australian astronomy for the decade 2026–2035.

The decadal plan provides a vision for Australian astronomy, setting a roadmap for addressing critical scientific questions and building the necessary infrastructure.

Download high-resolution version

Executive summary

Australian astronomy is unravelling the deepest mysteries of our cosmos and our place in it – from exoplanets to detecting gravitational waves and accelerating the hunt for dark matter. It is addressing national priorities, including STEM education, elevating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems, and technologies that support new jobs in areas such as manufacturing.

Fundamental scientific discoveries, Australian instrumentation advancements, technology development, data science capabilities, and partnerships with industry are delivering value for the nation. Alongside, astronomy education programs are shaping an in-demand, high-tech workforce contributing to the country’s prosperity.

This decadal plan sketches the vision and priorities for Australian astronomy over the next decade. It identifies nine priorities organised into three overarching themes. Implementing these priority actions will ensure Australia's homegrown research remains a world-class endeavour, where the nation benefits from excellence in fundamental science and the applications that result.

Key highlights of the decadal plan

This decadal plan outlines the capabilities and facilities that will be key to empowering Australian research that pushes new frontiers across four big questions:

1. How is stellar and galaxy evolution interconnected across all scales?
2. What is the dark Universe made of?
3. How does physics work in extreme environments?
4. How do planetary systems form and evolve – and are they habitable?

These complex questions require a cross-disciplinary approach, diverse techniques, high-performance computing capability, industry partnership, and international cooperation.

The plan recommends ways in which the astronomy research community can inspire and connect with all Australians, including engaging with future scientists and boosting diversity in the sector. Notably, this decadal plan is the first time Australian astronomy has focused on and incorporated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander astronomy.

In our vision for Australian astronomy, the nation reaps the rewards from excellence in fundamental science, innovative technology, and industry partnership.

About the cover artwork

The artwork on the decadal plan’s cover is Seven sisters (2024) by Noeleen Hamlett, Wajarri Yamaji. The artwork is part of the Cosmic echoes: shared sky Indigenous art exhibition, which is an SKAO initiative, in collaboration with SARAO, CSIRO and the Wajarri Yamaji Aboriginal Corporation.

The Australian Academy of Science hosted a second consultative forum on therapeutic cloning for tissue repair on 16 September 1999.

The meeting was planned to contribute to ongoing community discussion on human embryonic stem cell (ES cell) research.

The objective is to realise the therapeutic benefits of human stem cell research in ways that the community finds acceptable.

The views expressed in this forum summary are those of the Australian Academy of Science and were endorsed at an Academy Council meeting.

In October 2004, the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering hosted delegates from the Chinese Academy of Sciences for a symposium on sustainability.

This report details the participants, activities and outcomes of the symposium, funded by the Department of Education, Science and Training under the International Science Linkages program.

The 2009–2010 science Budget represents important initial steps toward the goals expressed in the Academy’s 2007 publication, Research and innovation in Australia: a policy statement.

Along with the Budget, the Government released its white paper Powering ideas: an innovation agenda for the 21st century.

A brief assessment is provided about the extent to which Powering ideas and the Budget measures are consistent with the Academy’s vision and priorities as articulated in the 2007 policy statement.

The report of the committee established to review the Learned Academies in Australia, first published in September 2005.

The Australian Academy of Humanities, the Australian Academy of Science, the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (collectively the ‘Learned Academies’), and the National Academies Forum, are a unique set of five, interacting, non-governmental institutions.

This report analyses their activities over the past five years and evaluates their achievements from the perspective of Australia’s future prosperity and success as a nation.

A series of 26 recommendations is presented; these concern future activities and structures, as well as proposed resource needs.