The Australian Government's Innovation Report

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The programme is providing $11.9 million over the five years to June 2007. Two centres of excellence have been established: the National Centre of Excellence in Functional Foods at the University of Wollongong (NFIS contribution $5.5 million over five years) and the Australian Food Safety Centre of Excellence at the University of Tasmania (NFIS contribution $4.5 million over five years). The National Centre of Excellence in Functional Foods is leading the advancement of functional foods in Australia and overseas by: • integrating activity related to diet and health in industry, scientific, regulatory and consumer domains; • participating in standards development at the national and international levels for research that substantiates the effects of functional foods; • providing critical review of the development of a regulatory framework for functional foods through responses to Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) consultations and supplying useful regulatory information and references to companies through the website, conferences and other industry events; • providing access to knowledge on the science, market intelligence and regulatory environment relevant to functional foods; and • pooling the individual capabilities of its members. The centre has conducted 20 company consultancies with a value of more than $400 000, including a project for Uncle Toby’s to establish nutritional criteria for nutritious snacks. This resulted in a major report that has been disseminated widely to the media and health professionals and the criteria have now been adopted by Uncle Toby’s as the basis of new development guidelines for muesli bars and other nutritious snacks. The Functional Foods Centre continues to develop a portfolio of underpinning science in two key areas: Foods for Appetite Control and Foods for Healthy Ageing. Foods for Appetite Control aims to build the scientific evidence for the effects of dietary protein on appetite and satiety to underpin opportunities for innovative food products targeting weight management. Foods for Healthy Ageing focuses on oxidative stress as a function of ageing and building the science base for foods delivering protective agents such as Selenium and other antioxidants in promoting health. More information can be found at: National Food Industry Strategy Ltd – www.nfis.com.au National Centre of Excellence in Functional Foods – www.nceff.com.au Australian Food Safety Centre of Excellence – www.foodsafetycentre.com.au Healthy export There are about 5.4 million cases of food-borne illness in Australia each year and the chilling of meat carcasses has been identified by the Australian Food Safety Centre of Excellence (AFSCOE) as a potential health hazard. In 2004-05, AFSCOE conducted a study into E. coli growth when chilling meat carcasses. This involved developing a laboratory-based model system that mimicked the temperature, water activity and water content changes of beef during Australian commercial air chilling operations. By studying the changes in E. coli populations exposed to the chilling regimes and evaluating whether combined chilling and drying regimes reduce the pathogens, AFSCOE aimed to optimise product quality and safety. In 2005-06, the study was accepted into the Revised Export (Meat and Meat Product) Control Orders 2005 as a refrigeration index. The recommendations are reported to have helped maintain Australia’s position as the sixth largest exporter of unprocessed food in the world, bringing an estimated net direct benefit of $85 million a year to the Australian meat industry. Chapter 2 - Initiatives for a dynamic national innovation system 47
Food Innovation Grants Programme As part of the National Food Industry Strategy (NFIS), the Food Innovation Grants (FIG) Programme fosters innovation and increased industry investment in R&D in the Australian food industry. It provides competitive, merit-based grants on a matching dollar-for-dollar basis for up to half the eligible project costs to Australian food businesses. Projects funded involve R&D to resolve a scientific or technical challenge for the Australian food industry and must have strong potential for product commercialisation. The Australian Government initially allocated $34.7 million to FIG over the five years to June 2007. Another $12 million was announced from 2005-06 to 2006-07. A further $3.43 million was redirected from other NFIS programmes to FIG, providing total funding of $50.1 million. In 2005-06 12 FIG projects were completed, contracts were finalised for 31 new FIG grants, payments to FIG projects totalled $14.6 million and 55 projects were active at the end of the financial year. Six companies were approved for grant funding under round 11 of FIG in early 2006-07. A mid-term review undertaken in 2004 found that the programme had been performing strongly. Of the total number of FIG recipients: 58% successfully commercialised new technology, 58% developed a new product, 68% reported benefits through improved linkages with the research community and 53% increased market share. The results of an evaluation of the NFIS, including the FIG programme will be available in 2007. More information about FIG can be found at: www.nfis.com.au Innovation in the food industry Twenty-three Australian companies were given a boost by the Food Innovation Grants programme when the ninth and 10 th funding rounds were announced in 2005-06. The companies, including Masterfoods and Anchor foods, were selected after a competitive, merits-based assessment. They shared in $11.4 million worth of grants with the aim of encouraging innovation within the Australian food industry. Since the beginning of the Food Innovation Grants programme in 2003, 79 grants of up to $1 million have been awarded across all states with a total investment of $45 million. The programme has also helped stimulate approximately $105 million worth of investment in research and development in Australia. A Food Innovation Grant of around $300,000 helped Anchor Foods develop it’s range of specialty vinegars. Photo credits: DAFF Upgrading research infrastructure National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy The National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) aims to provide strategic direction for Australian Government investment in major research facilities, supporting infrastructure and networks. Funding of $542 million was committed for the period 2004-05 to 2010-11 to develop and implement the strategy and to: • ensure that Australian research contributes effectively to economic development, national security, well-being and environmental sustainability; • focus infrastructure investment in areas where Australia has the potential to be world-class and provide international leadership; • ensure Australia is a participant in cutting-edge, high-impact international research; and • encourage and support national research collaboration that focuses strengths and resources on highvalue research. 48 Backing Australia’s Ability
Page 1 and 2: 2006 07 The Australian Government
Page 3 and 4: ISBN: 0 642 77 675x ISBN: 0 642 77
Page 5 and 6: Enhancing industrial R&D 44 R&D Tax
Page 7 and 8: PRIORITY 3 - FRONTIER TECHNOLOGIES
Page 9 and 10: 8 Backing Australia’s Ability
Page 11 and 12: FRDC GDP GERD GGAP GOVERD GRDC HECS
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Page 15 and 16: The year also saw significant outco
Page 17 and 18: The Australian Innovation Scorecard
Page 19 and 20: Table 1: Australian Government supp
Page 21 and 22: The Australian Government’s inves
Page 23 and 24: Sustaining funding for government r
Page 25 and 26: • Key to Australasian liverwort a
Page 27 and 28: Australian Institute of Marine Scie
Page 29 and 30: Coral gives new insight into changi
Page 31 and 32: • As part of the joint Careers in
Page 33 and 34: Developing meaningful, long-term co
Page 35 and 36: Defence Science and Technology Orga
Page 37 and 38: In 2005-06, Geoscience Australia st
Page 39 and 40: The majority of research-related pu
Page 41 and 42: The successful proposals represent
Page 43 and 44: In addition to the continued large
Page 45 and 46: Enhancing industrial R&D R&D Tax Co
Page 47: • improving the management of nat
Page 51 and 52: Most facilities provide training pr
Page 53 and 54: Total funding for the ISL programme
Page 55 and 56: Improving research quality and acce
Page 57 and 58: PART 2 - Accelerating the commercia
Page 59 and 60: Pooled Development Funds The Pooled
Page 61 and 62: In 2005-06, $12.83 million was inve
Page 63 and 64: Table 9: Sectoral distribution of C
Page 65 and 66: Building on ICT strengths Advanced
Page 67 and 68: Other achievements included: • ge
Page 69 and 70: Seafood Services Australia Ltd An I
Page 71 and 72: Interest in ITOL and e-business rem
Page 73 and 74: • provision of a business develop
Page 75 and 76: Building links to facilitate commer
Page 77 and 78: Taking a closer look at stem cells
Page 79 and 80: Biotechnology Australia Public Awar
Page 81 and 82: • commercialisation seminars for
Page 83 and 84: Advancing SET skills Audit of Scien
Page 85 and 86: National Youth Science Forum The Na
Page 87 and 88: Mathematics and informatics In 2005
Page 89 and 90: Higher Education Loan Programme The
Page 91 and 92: Fostering entrepreneurship and awar
Page 93 and 94: Skilled Immigration Migration conti
Page 95 and 96: ANSTO’s Dr Tony Taylor with the m
Page 97 and 98: The millimetre wave radar stope mon
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Sustainable use of Australia’s bi
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New techniques assist exploration c
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Pushing the heater bank used to run
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The diagnostic tool uses a unique a
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The researchers anticipate that the
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Advanced materials Quick dry merino
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Promoting an innovation culture and
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Dairy for Tomorrow launch in Tasman
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David Griffin (left) and Andreas Sc
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Scientists are searching for an eff
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Clearinghouse-type websites are cur
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The scorecard provides an overview
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Notes: 1. Australia’s ranking is
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FIGURE 1: Percentage change in the
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FIGURE 2: Australia’s innovation
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Compared to the 2004 scorecard Aust
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FIGURE 6: Number of scientific and
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FIGURE 9: Percentage of the workfor
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Knowledge Diffusion Investment in I
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FIGURE 16: Investment in new equipm
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Percentage of Turnover Attributed t
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Conclusions The Australian Innovati
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Commonwealth State and Territory Ad
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• promoting and marketing industr
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Australian Bureau of Statistics The
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Informing the future House of Repre
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152 Backing Australia’s Ability
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Appendix 1: Major flows of funding
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Appendix 3: Overview of Australia
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Appendix 4: Backing Australia’s A
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Appendix 5: Overview of R&D in regi
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Appendix 7: National Research Prior
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CRC for Spatial Information http://
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Desert Knowledge CRC http://www.des
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ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision
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170 Backing Australia’s Ability B
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The Australian Government's Innovation Report

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