September 23, 2019
The Federal Government is calling for ideas to modernise Australia’s rural Research and Development Corporations (RDCs).
The RDCs, which were set up in 1989, are jointly funded by the Federal Government and primary producer levies to undertake research and development.
The government released a discussion paper into the system on Monday.
There are currently 15 RDCs: five Commonwealth statutory bodies – Wine Australia, Cotton RDC, Fisheries RDC, Grains RDC and AgriFutures Australia – and 10 industry-owned companies, including Meat and Livestock Australia, Australian Pork Limited and Forest and Wood Products Australia.
“If we’re to position agriculture as an agile industry of choice for the 21st century we need to see what improvements we can make that will help us get there,” Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie said.
“This is an opportunity for those who have a stake in the system to be involved so we can make sure our agriculture sector is operating as effectively and efficiently as it can.
“This discussion paper is about modernising our agricultural research and development to ensure the RDC system is delivering value for our levy and tax payers into the future.”
The discussion paper is open for comment until November 4.
- Download: Modernising the RDC System (1.95Mb PDF)
- External link: Have Your Say
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Discussion paper questions:
• Is the current RDC system delivering value for levypayers and taxpayers? In what ways?
• What are some of the benefits of keeping the same number of RDCs?
• What are some of the benefits of changing the number of RDCs?
• What are some of the cross-sectoral issues being faced by the wider agricultural sector?
• How can RDCs increase collaboration to ensure better investment in, and returns from, cross-sectoral, transformative and public good research?
• What are the cultural changes necessary in RDCs to achieve a modern fit-for-purpose RDC system?
• What other ways are there for increasing investment in cross-sectoral, transformative and public good research?
• What is the best way for RDCs to engage with levy payers to inform investment decisions?
• How can we encourage increased investment in the RDC system from the private sector and international partners?
• How can we form stronger linkages between the RDC system and the food value chain?
• What changes might encourage improved RDC collaboration with the private sector, including those outside the agricultural sector?
• Where should the balance of investment between R&D and extension lie?
• How could RDCs play a stronger role in extension service delivery, in light of existing private and State Government extension efforts?
• How could RDCs help researchers, entrepreneurs and others better engage with producers to accelerate uptake?
• How could industry and levy payers drive increased uptake of R&D?
• How might RDCs be able to increase their role in policy research and development and participate in policy debate alongside industry representative bodies?
• If RDCs were to play a greater role in this area how could this activity be clearly distinguished from partisan and political activity, which must remain a role for industry representative bodies?
