Member Matters
National RD&I reform: an opportunity to provide your feedback
17 September 2025
The Department of Industry, Science and Resources is undertaking a major review of the national research, development and innovation (RD&I) system. This is a crucial opportunity for us, as an industry, to influence how government policy can better support the food, beverage, and grocery manufacturing sector.
Earlier this year, the AFGC made a submission on this review, drawing on the insights you provided. Our goal was to highlight the specific challenges our industry faces and provide key recommendations to ensure our voice was heard.
The expert panel leading this review has summarised what they heard from almost 500 submissions. It’s pleasing to see many of the core issues we raised in our submission are now at the forefront of the conversation, including:
- The system is too fragmented. We said that the current system is a mix of uncoordinated programs and complicated rules. The panel agreed, calling it a “proliferation of fragmented initiatives.”
- Research isn’t reaching the market. We highlighted the challenge of translating great scientific research into products and technologies that the industry can use. The panel acknowledged this translation gap, stating it’s vital for Australia to “create value from our research investments.”
- Collaboration is difficult. We pointed out the silos that exist between research institutions and businesses. The panel confirmed that progress is “hindered by the barriers, silos and cultural divides” between different sectors.
Issue papers – future directions for reform
The Department has now released four issues papers for public consultation – due 30 September – outlining the ideas for reforming the RD&I system:
Paper 1: National coordination: This paper proposes a new model to tackle fragmentation. It suggests focusing R&D funding on a few long-term national priorities in key sectors like defence, health, agriculture, energy, and resources. The goal is to encourage large-scale “tri-sector partnerships” between industry, researchers, and government to achieve ambitious goals.
Paper 2: Scaling the system: This paper focuses on how we can turn more research into successful, growing businesses. It explores ideas to make the R&D tax incentive easier to access, and to improve connections between large scale as well as early-stage innovation companies and the innovation ecosystem.
Paper 3: RD&I incentives: The paper presents ways to enhance research, development and innovation incentives to foster greater ambition. It sets out how incentives, including the RD&I tax incentive, can be better directed to support growth and achieve greater economic and social impact.
Paper 4: Investment and capital: This paper addresses the need to grow private investment and capital to support the R&DI system. It identifies Australia’s “conservative capital culture” as a key challenge and highlights that Australia lags behind other countries in venture capital (VC) investment. The paper proposes strengthening incentives for angel investments, adjusting VC support frameworks, and reforming superannuation policy to reduce barriers to investing in innovative Australian firms.
How you can get involved
Your continued feedback is essential to ensure these reforms truly benefit our sector. We encourage you to review these papers and provide your feedback as part of the AFGC’s submission – please contact Devika Thakkar (devika.thakkar@afgc.org.au) by 23 September.
