The Ambitious Australia report has been released as the final outcome of the Commonwealth Government’s Strategic Examination of Research and Development (SERD) in Australia.
Water Research Australia provided a submission to the SERD process (view it here) and has continued to monitor developments and participate in updates and roundtables through its membership of Cooperative Research Australia (CRA), the association representing current and former CRC organisations.
The WaterRA submission proposed four interconnected themes for consideration through the Strategic Examination consultation process:
- Speed and flexibility
- Complexity and clarity
- Cross-sectoral opportunities and avoiding duplication
- Scaleup investment
Overview of the Ambitious Australia report
In March 2026, Ambitious Australia, the final report of the independent SERD panel led by Robyn Denholm, was released by the Minister for Innovation and Industry and Minister for Science, Senator the Hon Tim Ayres.
WaterRA welcomes the Ambitious Australia report and invites feedback from members, as well as discussion and debate on the detail and implementation of the six elements of the proposed reform package:
- Greater focus and scale for RD&I impact
- A worldclass foundational research system creating knowledge and expertise
- Incentives to build the RD&I businesses and industries of the future
- Investment and capital to fuel the innovation cycle
- Building workforce capability to power RD&I activities
- Government leadership and coordination
Aligned with the four key themes outlined in WaterRA’s submission, the following commentary is provided to encourage further engagement, discussion and progress on the report’s recommendations.
Key observations from a water sector perspective
The proposal to establish a National Innovation Council to oversee all Commonwealth RD&I funding (Recommendation 1a) has the potential, if implemented well, to provide the clarity and reduced complexity sought by the water research sector. This could assist in avoiding duplication and creating new opportunities across funding programs.
The proposal to consolidate national RD&I efforts into six National Innovation Pillars:
- Health and medical
- Agriculture and food
- Defence
- Environment and energy
- Resources
- Technology
(Recommendation 1b) is approached more cautiously. Water is ubiquitous across all of these pillars, and further detail will be required to ensure appropriate recognition and effective mechanisms that enable water researchers and organisations to operate across multiple pillars.
The emphasis on retaining and supporting foundational research capability in Australia (Element 2) is strongly supported. WaterRA particularly supports the recommendation to allow universities to pursue greater research specialisation by reforming registration requirements that currently incentivise breadth over depth (Recommendation 3). This approach has the potential to build scale in areas of competitive and comparative advantage, supporting higher quality research, faster delivery and reduced complexity for water and wastewater research capability.
Incentives, workforce and scaleup
Incentives for RD&I must be legitimate and well-targeted. It is not yet clear how Recommendations 5a–d will support investment in water sector research or enable the desired cross-sectoral opportunities.
The workforce recommendations to increase the attractiveness of PhD programs (Recommendations 12a and 12b) are broadly supported and are expected to improve PhD candidate availability. Further consideration of pathways into PhD study would also be welcome, particularly in relation to First Nations participation, as well as additional professional and leadership development opportunities to ensure PhD graduates are industry-ready, whether working in industry or undertaking research with industry partners.
The fourth key theme identified by WaterRA, scaleup investment, is supported through Recommendations 8–11 of the Ambitious Australia report. However, implementation will need to consider the regulatory and enabling environment in the water sector, including settings that allow and encourage effective public private partnerships.
Government leadership and procurement
The report also emphasises the role of government in leading RD&I transformation. Many WaterRA utility members are government-owned corporations or state-owned enterprises and will be keen to understand how these recommendations may apply in practice.
Recommendation 15 calls for prioritisation of procurement of Australian RD&I, alongside public reporting of outcomes and goals. WaterRA is broadly supportive of this direction but notes that it must be implemented in a way that encourages joint procurement, avoids duplication, does not slow delivery and does not introduce additional unnecessary red tape.
Continued engagement
WaterRA broadly welcomes the Ambitious Australia report and its recommendations. We continue to invite feedback and input from our members and will remain engaged as the Government considers next steps.
WaterRA also encourages policymakers to consider additional measures to accelerate research through reduced administrative burden, faster program mobilisation and more flexible funding mechanisms.
We look forward to continuing to work with our members and partners, including Cooperative Research Australia, and encourage the Australian Government to articulate its proposed action, engagement and delivery plan.