National Research Priorities - Department of Innovation, Industry ...

3. Do the descriptions underneath the draft NRP and each priority goal adequately explain their
purposes? Please provide specific example of any alternate text and the context to explain your
comments or suggestions.
REFRESHING THE PRIORITY GOALS
KEY FINDINGS OF THE REVIEW
In addition to the option of including a new NRP to recognise the role of the HASS disciplines in
contributing to Australia’s innovation dividend, the review also recommended that consideration be given to
whether the priority goals under each of the NRPs needed to be refreshed. For example, concern was
raised that the NRP of Safeguarding Australia does not adequately cater for non-defence national security,
which has grown in prominence since the NRPs were introduced (refer Box 2).
BOX 2: NON-DEFENCE NATIONAL SECURITY PRIORITY SETTING
The Australian Government’s National Security Science and Innovation Strategy (NSSIS), published in
November 2009 provides a framework for enhancing the application of science and innovation to
Australia’s national security. The NSSIS foreshadowed the publication of Annual Statements of Priorities,
the first of which was published in November 2011.
The NSSIS 2011 Annual Statement of Priorities identifies six national security themes where a strong
national security science and innovation focus is particularly important over the next one to five years to
help support NSSIS objectives and deliver capability gains to members of the national security community.
While the priorities will be reviewed annually and updated as required, they are intended to be relatively
enduring. The priorities are expressed in terms of outcomes and capabilities that the Australian national
security agencies are seeking to achieve. The priorities are deliberately not expressed as science and
innovation tasks requiring technology or system specific solutions and so are discipline-neutral and
designed not to restrict the application of novel ideas and technologies.
The 2011 Annual Statement of Priorities is available from
http://www.dpmc.gov.au/nsst/annual_statement.cfm
Possibilities for refreshing priority goals within each of the existing NRPs are considered below.
AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE AUSTRALIA
Preliminary stakeholder consultations have suggested some changes for the priority goals within this NRP,
including that:
• reference be made to population pressures and governance of resources within this NRP
• removal of the overlap between ‘Transforming existing industries’ and ‘Developing deep earth
resources’
• the language used within ‘Reducing and capturing emissions . . .’ may require updating.
Based upon the outcomes of preliminary consultations, possible amendments to this NRP and its
associated priority goals are provided below as a basis for discussion.
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