CRC Program To Re-Focus On Dealing With Significant Challenges Facing Australia

As part of the wider examination of Australia's national innovation system, the Federal Government commissioned a review of the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Program. The resulting report, Collaborating to a purpose (Report), released in August 2008, recognised the important role the CRC Program still plays in Australia's innovation system by encouraging large-scale collaborative research, but also recommended a range of changes and improvements to address perceived problems with the CRC Program raised by universities, other research entities, industry and CRCs themselves.

Criticisms of the CRC Program from the higher education sector

According to the Report, although universities have been important contributors to the CRC Program (representing 15 of the top 20 contributors to date), they are becoming less willing to be involved due to a range of factors.