The strategic examination of Australia’s research and development (R&D) system announced in tonight’s Federal Budget is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to power up R&D in Australia that the Australian Academy of Science has been calling for since 2018.

Academy President, Professor Chennupati Jagadish, said science and technology is central to the government’s signature policy – Future Made in Australia.

“Significant investments in net zero industrial transformation, and technologies like quantum, are testament to the opportunities that science can offer the nation,” he said.

“However, needed re-investments in discovery science – the basic feedstock of a Future Made in Australia and the government’s net zero ambitions – are fundamentally missing. 

“Addressing this missing component of the Australian Government’s vision for science will be the essential task of the strategic examination of the R&D system.

“Our national investment in science and research – by all governments, industry and universities – continues to decline.  

“That is why the Academy strongly welcomes the announcement of a strategic examination of the national R&D system as a necessary step towards the urgent development of a national action plan for science,” Professor Jagadish said.

As outlined in Budget paper no. 1 (p. 201), the science system faces challenges as the Australian Government will need to address funding cliffs such as the expiration of national research infrastructure measures.

Also missing from this budget were any substantial investments in Australia’s sovereign AI capability so that our nation can remain competitive.

Nevertheless, the budget makes several welcome investments in developing science and technology spillovers in quantum, battery technology, renewable energy, green steel and hydrogen – all of which build on investments in discovery research made 10 to 20 years ago.

The imperative to enable the participation of all the available STEM talent is recognised with an investment of $38.2 million over eight years to respond to the Pathways to Diversity in STEM report recommendations.

There are necessary infrastructure investments in science agencies, with funding for Australia’s nuclear medicine enterprise at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), and modernising the dilapidated facilities at the National Measurement Institute.

The budget also makes several key investments in recognition of the value that science brings to the nation, including:

• $1.7b Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund to support innovative green technologies and $1.5b to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to supercharge investments in renewable energy
• $566.1m to Geoscience Australia to map Australia’s resources and critical minerals
• $523.2m to establish the Battery Breakthrough Initiative
• an additional $290.5m over five years to continue delivery of the Australian Antarctic Program
• $95m for the Square Kilometre Array, reallocated to help address Australia’s obligations to the ongoing construction in Murchinson, WA.

The budget notes the intended establishment of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, a key recommendation of the Australian Universities Accord Final Report.

Federal Budget 2024–25 science and research snapshot

The Academy has published an interactive data report that provides a snapshot of the Australian Government’s science and research expenditure estimated in the Federal Budget.

The Australian Academy of Science applauds the Australian Government’s commitment to a strategic examination of Australia’s research and development (R&D) system announced in the Federal Budget tonight.

Academy President, Professor Chennupati Jagadish, said the strategic examination is a welcome acknowledgement by the government that a stronger, more resilient nation cannot be built with a stagnant, siloed and atomised R&D system based on decades-old settings way past their use-by date.

“The Academy has been arguing the case for this long-overdue whole-of-sector analysis since 2018,” Professor Jagadish said.

“It is a necessary precursor to the creation of a strategic roadmap that can direct R&D in Australia and reverse the 14-year decline in investment that has left Australia well below the OECD average, uncompetitive and ill-equipped to meet our national ambitions.

Investment in Australia’s science and research system is currently spread over 227 programs and 15 federal portfolios, with multiple ministers and departments having key responsibilities.

“A strategic examination of Australia’s R&D system is the first step to align national effort across the whole of government, industry, universities and philanthropy to create an environment where investment is effective, strategic and scaled."

“The examination is cross-portfolio and cross-sectoral and is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create the necessary conditions for science and research to maximise its contribution to our national prosperity.

“The Academy looks forward to working closely with the government as it undertakes this important strategic examination,” Professor Jagadish said.

The Academy earlier this month announced it is developing a 10-year plan to explore ways to ensure that Australia has the necessary scientific capability to meet an unpredictable future and consider how science needs to evolve to advance Australian interests locally and globally.

“The Academy’s 10-year plan, to be published later this year, will be a complementary and independent input into the strategic examination announced in the Budget,” Professor Jagadish said.

Federal Budget 2024–25 science and research snapshot

The Academy has published an interactive data report that provides a snapshot of the Australian Government’s science and research expenditure estimated in the Federal Budget. You can read about how science and research featured in the Federal Budget here.

The Australian Academy of Science welcomes the Australian Government’s renewed investment in Geoscience Australia (GA).

This investment will help drive our nation’s critical minerals industry through large-scale mapping and exploration.

Such a comprehensive exploration of Australia’s mineral wealth, surface and sub-surface, will require new scientific knowledge, data analysing capacity, tools and skills, however. 

The Chair of the Academy’s National Committee for Earth Sciences, Professor Ian Jackson, said the renewed funding of GA for precompetitive exploration represents a strong focus on identifying the extent and nature of Australia’s critical minerals and other vital resources like groundwater.

“But this must be supported by investments in building a stronger workforce. 

“Existing gaps must be reversed if we are to extract full value from the opportunities we have,” he said. 

For Australia to remain a significant player in the global resources industry, including in the critical minerals that drive the 21st-century economy, more resources must be provided for science and technology infrastructure, scientific research in the geosciences and training of geoscientists with sophisticated data management skills.

The UNCOVER initiative, led by the Australian Academy of Science, has provided the vision and accompanying framework for the necessary transformation of exploration geoscience.

A detailed UNCOVER roadmap, funded through Amira Global (formerly known as the Australian Mineral Industry Research Association), provides a comprehensive plan for the step-change needed to modernise the technologies to understand our land, revolutionise our understanding of subsurface geology and map our hidden mineral systems.

The Academy welcomes the package of health and medical research initiatives announced today by the Australian Government, including the powerful Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) research missions that will be delivered through the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

Academy President, Professor Chennupati Jagadish, said the package recognises the power of science, expertise and evidence to drive medical research, drug discovery, health care technology, and the best medical care for Australians.

“The review announced by Minister Butler last year to improve alignment and coordination between the MRFF and NHMRC’s Medical Research Endowment Account provided an opportunity to look at the ways in which the governance of two important schemes could be improved.

“The Academy supports the government’s commitment to making sure public funding of research is coordinated and well governed,” he said.   

The Academy also welcomes the centralising of clinical trials in Australia to create a ‘One Stop Shop’. It will improve the accessibility of life-saving technologies developed from scientific research and reduce regulatory burden. 

The Academy supports the continued leadership of Emeritus Professor Ian Chubb AC FAA FTSE as Chair of the Inter-Governmental Policy Reform Group.

Today’s health and medical research announcement acknowledges the urgent need for wider reform of Australia’s research sector.

“Australian research and researchers are not well served by a fragmented research support system with some 190 programs funded through 13 departments and agencies.

“The government’s commitment to a National Health and Medical Research Strategy is welcome but we also need a strategic roadmap for all Australian research,” Professor Jagadish said.

The Australian Academy of Science has announced that four early career researchers have received the 2024 J G Russell Award.

The J G Russell Award provides financial assistance to talented younger researchers in the basic sciences, in recognition of the community’s regard for them.

This award is supported by the generosity of the late Miss J Russell and provides top-up grants to projects funded through the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA).

Dr Mareike Dressler, University of New South Wales

Mathematician Dr Mareike Dressler is using mathematical methods to make optimal decisions for real-world problems. Optimisation is a type of mathematical problem for making the best possible (optimal) decision from a set of numerous feasible choices.  

Dr Dressler said many real-world problems can be cast as polynomial optimisation problems. But the mathematical methods and algorithms currently used for solving polynomial problems of a large size are not sufficiently developed, limiting their application.

“By using an innovative combination of a novel theory of algebraic geometry and convex optimisation, my project aims to generate new knowledge and develop efficient methods to solve large-scale polynomial optimisation.”

She will use the award funding to travel to Germany and France, visiting mathematical institutions to expand her knowledge, build networks and bring large-scale optimisation technologies back to Australia.

Dr Mirindi Eric Dusenge, Australian National University

Dr Mirindi Eric Dusenge’s research aims to enhance our understanding of how climate change impacts key plant carbon metabolic processes, including leaf respiration and photosynthesis, on a global scale.

Dr Dusenge said we don’t yet fully understand how future climate conditions will impact photosynthesis and plant respiration and plans to develop a framework to improve climate models.

“Studying leaf respiration in Australian forest trees will enable more accurate modelling of the global carbon cycle exchange, guide financial carbon markets, and improve food security.”

This funding will support Dr Dusenge’s field research at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment and contribute to hiring equipment that is essential to his research.

Dr Emily Roycroft, Australian National University

Evolutionary biologist Dr Emily Roycroft will use the funding from this award to travel to work with colleagues in Germany. She will be trained by experts in the application of a newly developed genomic sequencing method that provides an efficient and cost-effective way of generating higher resolution genomic data compared to current approaches.

Dr Roycroft will bring this knowledge back to Australia, to implement into her research on the evolution of Australian biodiversity, and to inform ongoing conservation management of threatened and declining species.

Dr Roycroft said this award would allow her to tackle long-standing questions about the evolutionary biology and molecular evolution and genetic health of Australian mammals.

“The new approaches I will apply as part of this project will accelerate my research, and place Australia on the cutting edge of advances in global research on conservation and evolutionary genomics.”

Dr Chen Zhao, University of Tasmania

Dr Chen Zhao’s research is dedicated to unravelling the intricate puzzle of how Antarctica’s ice sheets contribute to rising sea levels.

The J G Russell Award will contribute to Dr Zhao’s travel to the COP29 conference, where she will organise a side event to showcase the Australian research on Antarctic ice sheets and sea level rise projections through talks and panel discussions. She will also visit Dartmouth Engineering in the US to present her project to international collaborators.

“This opportunity allows me to share critical knowledge and findings with a diverse global audience, advocate for policies that preserve ice sheets, combat climate change and influence climate policies both nationally and internationally,” Dr Zhao said.

The Academy’s awards program

The Academy provides many awards and opportunities that support researchers at all stages of their career. Applications for funding opportunities for 2025 are still open, with a closing date of 1 June 2024.

The Australian Academy of Science is developing a 10-year plan to demonstrate how science needs to evolve to achieve our national ambitions and advance Australian interests locally and globally.

‘Australian Science, Australia’s Future: Science 2035’ will assess the capability of Australia’s science system, its ability to compete and collaborate globally, and its contribution to the nation’s economy, security, health and quality of life.

President of the Academy, Professor Chennupati Jagadish, said as a nation we have ambitions to decarbonise and diversify our economy, create a future made in Australia, strengthen our defence capabilities, and grow sovereign capability. Every one of these ambitions will need a strong, resilient and responsive science system. But is our science system structured to support our national ambitions?

“We need to ensure we have the capacity, technology, skills and knowledge to address the challenges that will shape our nation,” Professor Jagadish said.

“Australian Science, Australia’s Future: Science 2035 will equip decision makers with the evidence they need to address capability gaps and direct resources strategically so Australia can confidently put its best foot forward.”

The Academy will convene experts from within its Fellowship and across the research and innovation sectors to inform this initiative.

Sector consultations and analysis will be conducted over the course of 2024, with the Academy delivering its independent report in early 2025.

The Advisory Panel members are:

• Professor Ian Chubb AC FAA FTSE (Chair)
• Professor Andrew Cuthbertson AO FAA FAHMS FTSE
• Ms Mibu Fischer
• Professor Joan Leach
• Dr Martin Parkinson AC PSM
• Professor Philip Poronnik
• Ms Kate Pounder
• Professor Margaret Sheil AO FAA FTSE
• Dr Ed Simpson
• Mrs Fiona Simson
• Dr Katherine Woodthorpe AO FTSE

 Find out more about Australian Science, Australia’s Future: Science 2035.

The Australian Academy of Science has long supported the need for Australia and Australian governments to invest in what is important for our future.

The pursuit of designed and made in Australia is critical to building a prosperous, secure and safe country.

Academy President, Professor Chennupati Jagadish, said a future made in Australia is heavily dependent on the breadth and depth of Australian science and investment at scale.

“It is an opportunity to drive economic growth, enhance national security, and position our nation as a leader in next-generation technologies such as quantum computing.”

Professor Jagadish said any investment in quantum computing must be supported by a supercomputing national strategy. Such a strategy is critical for Australia to have access to the full spectrum of world-leading computing infrastructure domestically.

“High-performance computing and data (HPCD) and development of quantum computing are mutually dependent. HPCD is required for multiple sophisticated applications, including emulation and design of quantum computers; it will be essential for the full realisation of quantum computing.

“Additionally, as quantum applications are developed and scaled up, Australia will still require high performance computing capacity for the other functions that quantum computing will not be able to replace.

Read the Academy’s the future computing needs of the Australian science sector brief and the Academy’s submission on the proposed framework for a national quantum strategy.

Research into the insidious and far-reaching impacts of pesticides has seen an environmental engineer chosen to represent Australia in a global competition for breakthroughs in sustainability science.

On 22 April 2024, Associate Professor Federico Maggi of the University of Sydney was declared a National Champion for the Frontiers Planet Prize, an initiative of the not-for-profit Frontiers Research Foundation.

Now in its second year, the prize focusses on research that shows the greatest potential to help humanity remain within the boundaries of our planet’s ecosystem.

Associate Professor Maggi is one of three researchers nominated by the Australian Academy of Science, for his paper ‘Agricultural pesticide land budget and river discharge to oceans’.

He is now in the running for one of three International Championship prizes, each worth one million Swiss francs or around A$1.6 million, which are awarded as a grant to the recipients’ host institutions to fund their continued research.

The winners of the International Championships will be announced at an award ceremony on 26 June at the Frontiers Planet Prize Award Ceremony in Villars, Switzerland.

The National and International Champions are chosen by a jury of 100 leading sustainability scientists, and will become part of the Frontiers Planet Prize alumni network, where they will have opportunities to share their research and findings at events in collaboration with the Frontiers Planet Prize partners. 

Associate Professor Maggi said he and the paper’s co-authors, Fiona Tang and Francesco Tubiello, were humbled to have their work of many years receive this recognition.

Their study represents the first comprehensive environmental assessment conducted on the journey of individual pesticides from their origins to their endpoints across the globe.

With each pesticide carrying its own distinct toxicity and mode of action, the research provides insights into the impacts of substances resistant to degradation and identifies biodiversity risk hotspots where they accumulate, Associate Professor Maggi said.

“The geographic extent of pesticide contamination is so broad that there is no pristine environment in the world left ... every corner of the Earth has been adulterated by these chemicals,” he said.

“Agriculture is by far the greatest consumer of pesticides, with about three million tonnes of active substances used on crops each year. Active substances in pesticides are designed to kill unwanted invasive species in agriculture but have severe adverse side effects on non-target living organisms.

“Our research has led to greater worldwide awareness of the severe pollution from these invisible chemicals that are greatly affecting ecosystems and humanity.”

Associate Professor Maggi said the findings underscore the “urgent need to enact a radical change in the food production system, where profit should be equally valued as environmental conservation and human health. Our paper is a salient warning: now is the time to set planetary boundaries over the use of these pesticides.”

One of the two Australian runner-up nominees is looking at alternatives to pesticides, to address the devastation caused by rodent invasions.

Professor Peter Banks of the University of Sydney was nominated for his research into “olfactory misinformation” as an ecologically sensitive approach to rodent management, including the use of masking odours to hide desirable food such as crop seeds.

Dr Sachinthani (Sachi) Karunarathna of the University of Melbourne was nominated for her work developing rubberised concrete road barriers. By incorporating around 45kg of waste tyre per barrier, Dr Karunarathna said occupant safety is enhanced, while tackling the problem of tyre waste and extending the lifespan of road barriers.

Read about the 2023 National Champion.

Learn more about the Frontiers Planet Prize.

Australia is failing to halt, slow, or reverse the loss of biodiversity. 

We have one of the worst records of species extinctions of any continent, with nearly 50% of the world’s known and historically recorded mammal extinctions.  

In that context, we welcome the announcement that the Australian Government will seek to legislate the Environment Protection Agency and particularly, Environment Information Australia. 

The Academy endorses establishing a data agency.

Australia’s biodiversity monitoring, data collection, and curation standards are insufficient.

A national biodiversity information system, overseen by an independent agency, is crucial for integrating data, supporting decision-makers, and ensuring public trust supported by a national environmental data standard.

Given this, we are disappointed in the decision to delay other important reforms recommended by the independent review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

In going forward without National Environmental Standards, we risk entrenching the failures of the current legislation. The new agencies will be locked into supporting the current—broken, inadequate—framework. 

Further, as the 2021 State of the Environment Report found, there are key scientific capabilities missing. 

For example, while the discovery, naming and documentation of Australian species by Western scientists has been ongoing for about three centuries, current knowledge of Australia’s biodiversity is incomplete. 

The best estimate is that 70% (or 420,000) of all Australian species have yet to be discovered, documented, named, and classified. At the current rate, it will take more than four centuries to finish the job.

This gap hinders the effective management, conservation, and the sustainable use of Australia’s biodiversity, Australia’s biosecurity, biodiscovery, and effective environmental regulation. Many unnamed species are likely to be rare and threatened, and many of these will become extinct before they can be recognised.

What we do not know, we cannot protect.

For the national political system, for this Parliament, to maintain these failed systems and consider that an adequate response is unfathomable.  

The Academy provides scientific advice. We’re happy to do so. We provided scientific advice to Professor Graeme Samuel, and we’re providing scientific advice to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water. 

The scientific advice is that the situation facing Australia’s threatened species and its threatened ecological communities is dire. It is not getting better. 

The need for legislative reform is very clear.  

Failure to progress these reforms is a failure of the political system.  

This statement was provided to the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee inquiry into Australia’s extinction crisis.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a leading authority in climate and oceanic research, declared a global coral bleaching event overnight.

This declaration, and more evidence of the mass bleaching event occurring on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), is a stark reminder of the entirely predictable consequences of extensive global warming for Australia and the planet.

The damage to the GBR and reefs globally serves as a poignant symbol of the real-time impacts of a warming climate and the increasing frequency of severe weather events.

The widespread bleaching of the GBR and the resulting threat to coral survival are disasters for the diversity of reef ecosystems. This bleaching also significantly impacts the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Australians and the communities they reside in.

The frequency of marine heatwaves and mass bleaching on the GBR weaken its ability to recover and makes the entire ecosystem less resilient to a changing climate. The effects of bleaching range from short-term physiological damage to widespread mortality.

As an independent and authoritative science adviser, the Academy has long observed that climate change is the primary threat to the GBR and its connected systems. Scientists expect more severe, irreversible, and costly impacts unless bold action is taken to reduce emissions.

Simply continuing with a business-as-usual approach is no longer an option.

It is crucial that Australia implements strong and effective national and local environmental laws.

These laws must prioritise scientific evidence and prevent practices that damage the GBR’s ability to adapt to climate change, including damage to the habitats in the GBR catchments.

To increase our chances of success, we must collaborate with local communities, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups, to ensure we utilise all available evidence and knowledge.

Data and evidence must be shared and understood by all landholders and stakeholders so that they can be informed participants in the decision-making process and incentivised to restore the GBR catchments.

The Academy’s Reef Futures Roundtables Report published last year highlighted that in the medium-term, there are opportunities to slow the decline in the health of the Great Barrier Reef, but this requires Australia to take further action now.

The upcoming review of the Reef 2050 plan needs to show ambition and align with the scale of the challenge—acknowledging that there can be no quick fix and putting all options on the table, from finding new ways to manage the GBR catchments to institutional arrangements, activating required resources, protecting and restoring habitats where possible, and drawing on Traditional Knowledges.

The Great Barrier Reef is a precious natural wonder, and safeguarding it demands collective effort and unwavering commitment.

Professor Chennupati Jagadish AC PresAA FREng FTSE 
President, Australian Academy of Science