Australia's science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) sector has called for a seat at the Economic Reform Roundtable to ensure a focus on using research and development (R&D) to create new industries and build an innovation-driven economy to power productivity.
In its submission to the Roundtable, Science & Technology Australia (STA), has highlighted how R&D is driving productivity across all sectors of the economy, and that the only way to rise to the challenges of the future is through the invention and innovation that comes from research.
That's why the Government's nationally important discussions on productivity must be directly informed by ways to boost Australia's R&D - and the impacts it has on our economic resilience, health and wellbeing and environmental sustainability.
"Our greatest productivity shifts in history have all been driven by technology and industrial revolutions underpinned by research and innovation - and that's where our next productivity jump will come from as well," said STA President Professor Sharath Sriram.
"So a genuine conversation about productivity must have a focus on R&D and leverage the expertise and ingenuity of the nation's science and technology sector. As Australia's peak body representing more than 235,000 STEM professionals, we're calling for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) specialists driving innovation and transformation to have a seat at the Roundtable."
"From generating electricity out of thin air using enzymes, to developing methods to grow plants on the moon and using First Nations knowledge systems to create pain treatments from tree bark, Australian research and development is already driving innovation in the economy."
"Innovation like that is what Australia is going to need to tackle all the significant global challenges of the coming decades - from driving the transition to clean energy to building sovereign capacity in AI, and from restructuring our industrial base to addressing the devastating impacts of climate change."
But Australia's national investment in R&D as a percentage of GDP has been in decline for a decade and we now sit well behind the OECD average and a country mile behind global innovation leaders.
"If you don't invest in R&D, then you don't innovate new products and services, you lose your best ideas to overseas, and productivity will collapse. A decade of decline in national investment has flattened the batteries of the economy," said Professor Sriram.
"Each dollar invested in R&D returns $3-6 for the economy, so there's a clear case for putting R&D at the heart of economic reform. We can jump-start productivity today, and build the economy of tomorrow, by leaning in to STEM sector R&D."
