CRCs' time to shine

Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane has announced the CRC Program will undergo an external review led by David Miles.

 “We’ve had a lot of reviews over the years and generally we do very well,” said the CEO of the CRC Association, Dr Tony Peacock, who has been in the position for the last four years. “Now is our time to shine.”

Miles, who is former chair of Innovation Australia and former CEO and managing partner of law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth, will conduct a thorough examination of the program.

The review was announced on Budget night in May this year, in line with regular reviews of the CRC Program.

“The CRCs are regarded around the world as one of the really good mechanisms for doing collaborative research, so we hope to do quite well,” Peacock said.

“At the moment in Australia, I’d say people are more aware about the need for collaboration and more aware of the need for industry-research organisation interaction than ever before,” he continued. “Industry Minister Ian MacFarlane keeps saying that collaboration is key - there’s no doubt that he is really aware of it.”

The review will begin this month, with the final report and recommendations expected to be delivered in early 2015.

The CRC program began under the Hawke government in 1991. Since then, 209 CRCs have been funded by the Australian Government with more than $3.8 billion. There are 36 CRCs currently in progress.