The Marshall Liberal Government is supporting South Australia’s innovation and science agenda with $12.6 million in the 2019-20 State Budget to support six SA based National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) facilities.
Funding over the next six years will support six South Australian based NCRIS facilities through the purchase of new infrastructure and equipment and the upgrade of existing infrastructure and equipment.
A further $7 million will be provided through a reprioritisation of existing resources, bringing the total state contribution to $19.6 million as part of a total funding package of $82.1 million, including $47.1 million from the Commonwealth Government and $15.4 million from the research institutions themselves.
“The Marshall Liberal Government is investing in facilities which will allow our state’s brightest minds to be at the forefront of Australia’s innovation and science research agenda,” said Minister for Innovation and Skills David Pisoni.
“South Australia has a proud history of innovation and research breakthroughs in a number of different sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, environmental sustainability, and medical research.
“For SA to remain at the cutting edge in the innovation space, governments need to invest in research facilities in collaboration with the private sector, universities and other research bodies – and that’s exactly what we’re doing in this State Budget.
“South Australia’s growth in the space, defence and cyber sectors is complementary to the investments being made in the national innovation and science agenda.”
The six NCRIS facilities cover the following areas of research and innovation:
- Australian National Fabrication Facility – producing high technology optical components and devices;
- Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (Plant Accelerator) – a high technology glass house facility that measures plant growth and attributes;
- Bioplatforms Australia – provides high technology research to support the wine industry;
- Microscopy Australia – undertakes microscopy and microanalytical research to support medicine, agriculture, advanced manufacturing, geology and materials science;
- National Imaging Facility – provides a range of leading-edge imaging instrumentation and expertise for developing large animal models of human diseases; and
- Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network – provides Australian land observations to measure changes in Australia’s land-based ecosystem biodiversity.
