The Australian Government’s research translation and commercialisation agenda is a $2.2 billion investment to place university innovation and industry collaboration front and centre of building sovereign capability in Australia.
Australia’s Economic Accelerator, the Trailblazers Universities program, the National Industry PhD Program, and the expansion of CSIRO’s Main Sequence Ventures are initiatives which are reforming Australia’s research commercialisation landscape.
These initiatives support the Australian Government identified priority areas of the economy (outlined in the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (Priority Areas) Declaration 2023), ensuring government research investment is focused in sectors where Australian research can build scale and have real-world impact.
These programs will see universities, industry and government partner together on effective research. They will align and prioritise investment across sectors and boost collaboration between universities and industry, driving commercial returns.
Trailblazer Universities Program
$370.3 million over 4 years from 2021–2022 to 2025–2026 to support select universities boost prioritised research and development, and drive commercialisation outcomes with industry partners. This includes a total of $45 million for participating universities to partner with CSIRO and access specialist equipment to supercharge their commercialisation capabilities.
National Industry PhD Program
$296 million to establish a suite of Industry PhD and research fellowship schemes that span the research career pathway. This includes funding to establish the National Industry PhD Program that will add over 1,300 Industry PhDs over 10 years, fundamentally challenging promotion and reward structures in Australia’s universities and encouraging mobility and collaboration.