Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm an extremely passionate advocate for higher education as both someone who's worked for years in the sector and someone who represents an electorate with Monash University, Deakin University and the University of Divinity campuses, so I know how important our nation's support for higher education is and how important it is to my own local community of Chisholm and our local economy. I do believe we have some of the finest researchers and thinkers in the world in Australia, but we need to do more to see their great ideas thrive and get transformed into innovative products. The Higher Education Support Amendment (Australia's Economic Accelerator) Bill 2022 amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to support our universities in turning Australia's world-class research into the innovative products and processes for the businesses of the future.

In the 2022 World Intellectual Property Organization's Global Innovation Index, Australia was ranked fifth in the world for our human capital and research, which is just incredible and again points to the fact that we have some of the finest minds in the world working right here in Australia. Many of them are working in my electorate of Chisholm, and I'm very proud of that. But we do have a gap when it comes to getting that world-class research to the stage where it can be translated into practical and commercial applications. Research translation and commercialisation is really important, and we need to do better as a nation on that front. I hear about this all the time when I talk to the universities in my electorate and to the businesses in my electorate who are wanting to partner with researchers. But there is such a significant gap at the moment in translation and commercialisation, and that's unfortunately really holding us back as a country. This gap limits those relationships and links that can be forged right across the eastern and south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, in my electorate, with lots of different companies, including those in advanced manufacturing, medical technologies and defence. Many companies would love to be able to do more work with the researchers that live, study and work in our local area.

Research translation and commercialisation is important on a number of fronts. It means that we get a bigger dividend from our investment in research in this country, and that's really important. New technologies developed in Australia improve our production processes. They reduce costs, create innovative new products and lead to greater diversity in our exports, which is really good for our trading relationships and our wealth as a nation. On that same Global Innovation Index where we were ranked fifth in the world for human capital and research—and that is incredible—we were ranked 37th for our knowledge and technology outputs, so we're really seeing a significant gap in those rankings. This means that right now we're not realising the full potential of our university research because we lack the support needed to translate that research and bring it to the commercialisation stage. This is something we need to address. We must address it if we're going to be able to reap the greatest benefits from the wonderful work being undertaken every day in universities right across Australia.

The former government's university research commercialisation panel did consider this problem and recommended a dedicated funding program to help higher education providers to bridge this gap. That's what this bill does. This bill amends the Higher Education Support Act to provide legislative authority to establish Australia's Economic Accelerator program in the Other Grants Guidelines (Research) made under that act. Australia's Economic Accelerator program, or AEA program, is a new funding program targeted at supporting research translation and commercialisation within our universities. It is a program that we should be really excited about and supportive of. This helps us as a nation to unlocks so much fantastic potential, and it will lead to better outcomes for researchers, universities and Australia as we are able to more fully realise the translation and commercialisation possibilities generated by ideas.

Table A and B universities will be able to apply for project funding to progress their projects to a state of commercial investor readiness. All the universities in my electorate are in these categories, and I'm really looking forward to working with them and seeing what they are able to do with this new opportunity. Distinct from other funding models in research, the AEA will have a fast-fail focus. It will fill a gap in the current research commercialisation landscape by funding translational research from early-stage research into a product that shows viability for industry partnership and investment, so we'll be able to know early on what is going to be able to transition into more advanced stages and therefore be more successful. Projects that progress through that program will do so based on the continued success and achievement milestones in the program. This funding will benefit projects which have high commercialisation potential but which are at proof-of-concept or proof-of-scale stage.

In what I think is some really exciting alignment here, funding will be targeted at projects which sit within the priority areas identified in the government's National Reconstruction Fund, which is yet another incredibly important and exciting initiative of the Albanese government and one which I am, frankly, genuinely disappointed that those opposite have indicated they won't support. We stand at a terribly significant moment of rebuilding the nation after the worst impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it would be wonderful if the parliament were able to unite in an effort to stimulate the economy and stimulate industry. I do urge those opposite to reconsider. We get one opportunity to rebuild the country after the kind of crisis we've just seen, and it would be really great if we could unite and do it right. I would encourage those opposite to be on the right side of history here when it comes to supporting industry, the economy and our communities.

The establishment of a $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund is one of the largest peacetime investments in our country's manufacturing capability in living memory. The projects under the AEA program will align with the priority areas of that fund. This alignment is very welcome in my community. The people I've spoken to are incredibly thrilled about this. We will be focusing on the priority areas of value-adding in resources; in agriculture, forestry and fisheries; in transport; in medical science; in renewables and low-emission technologies; in defence capabilities; and in enabling capabilities across sectors like robotics, AI and quantum technologies. I think of the interactions that these priority areas and the universities in my electorate already have, and I've been speaking to them about the work we as a government are undertaking. It is really thrilling to think about the new points of engagement that will be made possible and the new products and ideas to emerge from the AEA as well as from the National Reconstruction Fund. These are areas where Australian research already has runs on the board, and the measures in this bill will support bringing that research to maturity, utilisation and commercialisation.

The bill establishes a governance framework for the AEA program with an advisory board of up to eight expert representatives from government, industry, business and research sectors. The advisory board will oversee the program and make recommendations for grants in accordance with a research commercialisation strategy.

The bill also provides legislative authority to establish a National Industry PhD Program. This new program offers a really great new opportunity to pursue a higher degree and to be a leading part of the industries of the future. We already have a lot of people with PhDs in my community—including me—and I'm really excited about being able to expand opportunities to people right across my community who are interested in pursuing research through the National Industry PhD Program. This is about equipping our PhD students with the skills they need to better translate university research into a range of commercialisation outcomes. The measures will provide a basis for new industry-led postgraduate programs that create a clear and structured career pathway in innovation- and commercialisation-focused research. These programs are intended to embed researchers in industry settings, enhancing research commercialisation and translation skills and helping to build research careers in the industry.

We are so fortunate in this country to have world-leading researchers in our higher education sector, and this bill supports our higher education providers. It supports the providers in my electorate and in communities right across the country, and the researchers who work there, in realising the great potential of Australian ingenuity and innovation. This bill will make it much easier for universities and businesses to work together to commercialise research, which will build our sovereign capability and boost our economy. I'm really looking forward to the possibilities this will open up for the people in Chisholm, and I'm really glad to be able to support this bill today.

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