Nationally significant shared research infrastructure plays a vital role in advancing and commercialising research, and serves as a key driver of productivity and economic growth.
Academia, industry and government have long benefited from research facilities supported under the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).
In recognition of the strategic importance of these facilities, the recent SA State Budget allocated an additional $30 million to further strengthen their capacity and impact.
The Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) provides funding for strategic, national-scale research and innovation infrastructure, facilitating strong partnerships and collaborations between the research sector, business, industry and government.
Australian Government investment into the national NCRIS network is supported by co-investments by state governments, universities, research institutes and industry to support new and upgraded infrastructure, services and skilled personnel.
South Australia is home to six NCRIS facilities that add value to priority industry sectors such as agriculture, food and wine, health and medical, defence and space, advanced manufacturing, environment, energy, and mining and resources:
- Australian National Fabrication Facility
- Australian Plant Phenomics Network
- Bioplatforms Australia
- Microscopy Australia
- National Imaging Facility
- Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
These cutting-edge facilities are spawning impressive results in long term industry-research collaboration.
In 2023-24 alone, 250 businesses utilised the specialised capabilities of these facilities, while research enabled by NCRIS facilities resulted in 52 patents filed and 495 refereed research publications and conference papers. Connections were facilitated between local researchers and 355 Australian researchers, 377 Australian industry stakeholders, 147 international researchers, and 41 international industry stakeholders.
Longer term, between 2019 and 2023 the facilities enabled 996 collaborations with research providers and government agencies, and facilitated 253 research collaborations involving industry partners.
These outcomes are transformational, and they are critical to South Australia’s efforts in supporting innovative technology businesses and attracting and retaining world-class research talent.
Between 2007 and 2028 the South Australian Government has co-invested a total of $67.5 million in these facilities, leveraging $132.1 million from the Australian Government and $55.6 million from the state’s three public universities and two research institutes.
And now the 2025-26 State Budget has allocated a further $30 million over four years to ensure this good work continues.
The Department of State Development will engage with South Australia’s NCRIS facilities to support further step change upgrades, maintaining access to the critical infrastructure that SA researchers and industry need to remain competitive and take our innovations to the world.
