Cooperative Research Centre

Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) are an Australian Federal Government program involved in Australian scientific research. The CRC programme is administered by the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Resources, which provides funding for projects through a series of funding rounds.

History
Since the commencement of the CRC Program in 1991, there have been a number of selection rounds. Selection rounds were conducted in March 1991, December 1991, December 1992, December 1994, and then at regular two-year intervals: 1996 through 2006. Following the review of the Programme in 2008, the 11th and 12th selection rounds were both held in 2009.

Reviews of the CRC program are regularly undertaken. In 2012, an independent impact study found that from 1991 to 2017 CRCs generated a net economic benefit of $7.5 billion. This equates to an annual contribution of $278 million, or around 0.03 percentage points to GDP.

Round 15 occurred in February 2024, providing $51 million in grants for 21 projects.

CRCA/Cooperative Research Australia
The Cooperative Research Centre Association (CRCA) was established on 1 December 1994 to promote the CRC program while also acting as a conduit for information sharing and learning between CRCs. It was renamed Cooperative Research Australia in 2021 and is active in representing CRCs, post-CRC entities, universities and research organisations as well as businesses involved in R&D.

Governance and description
The Cooperative Research Centres program is intended to enhance Australia's industrial, commercial and economic growth through development of cooperative public-private research centres that achieve high levels of outcomes in adoption and commercialisation.

The CRC program is administered by the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Resources.

Current programs
, programs include:


 * 2022 One Basin CRC $50M
 * 2022 CRC Solving Antimicrobial Resistance in Agribusiness, Food and Environments (SAAFE) $34M
 * 2022 Sovereign Manufacturing Automation for Composites (SoMAC) CRC $70M
 * 2021 Digital Finance CRC $60M
 * 2021 Heavy Industry Low-carbon Transition Cooperative Research Centre (HILT CRC) $39M
 * 2021 Marine Bioproducts CRC $59M
 * 2020 RACE for 2030 CRC $68M
 * 2020 CRC for Transformations in Mining Economies $29
 * 2020 Future Energy Exports CRC $40M
 * 2020 Building 4.0 CRC $28M
 * 2020 SmartCrete CRC $21M
 * 2019 Blue Economy CRC $70,M
 * 2019 Future Food Systems CRC $35M
 * 2019 Future Battery Industries CRC $25M
 * 2019 SmartSat, located at Lot Fourteen in Adelaide $55M
 * 2018 Cyber Security CRC $50M
 * 2018 Future Fuels CRC $26M
 * 2018 Digital Health CRC $55M
 * 2018 MinEx CRC $50M
 * 2018 Fight Food Waste CRC $30M
 * 2017 iMove CRC $55M
 * 2017 CRC for High Performance Soils $39M
 * 2017 Food Agility CRC $50M
 * 2017 CRC for Developing Northern Australia $75M

Retired programs
A number of websites of the previously-funded CRCs are archived in perpetuity on the National Library of Australia's Trove online library database aggregator.


 * CRC for Alloy and Solidification Technology (1993-1999)
 * CRC for Cast Metals Manufacturing (1999 – 2005)
 * CAST CRC (2005-2012)
 * CRC for Mining Technology and Equipment (1991 – 2003)
 * CRC Mining (2003-2017) which became Mining3
 * CRC for Intelligent Manufacturing Systems and Technologies (IMST) 1993-2006
 * Advanced Manufacturing CRC (AMCRC) (2008 to 2015)
 * Innovative Manufacturing CRC (IMCRC) (2016 to 2022)

SERC
The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Space Environment Management was administered by the Space Environment Research Centre (SERC). Based on Mount Stromlo, SERC operated from 2014 to 2021 and conducted research into practical global efforts for space debris management, mitigation and removal. SERC Participants included EOS Space Systems, Lockheed Martin, Optus Satellite, Australian National University, RMIT University and NICT (Japan).

Bushfire CRC
The Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre was an Australian-based organisation which conducted research into the social, environmental, and economic impact of bushfires. Although the CRC has completed operations, a legacy of a decade of research content is still online and accessible. Funded originally by a grant from the Australian government's Cooperative Research Centre in 2003, the Bushfire CRC was funded to 2014 to address key issues raised by recent major fires. The Bushfire CRC was made up of all the fire and land management agencies in Australia and New Zealand, CSIRO, the Bureau of Meteorology, the Attorney General's Department and several other fire related organisations. A small executive office was maintained in East Melbourne. The organisation participated in the Cooperative Research Centres Association (CRCA). The work of Bushfire research was carried forward within the expanded research portfolio of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, from 2013 to 2021, and now with Natural Hazards Research Australia.

CSSIP
The Cooperative Research Centre for Sensor Signal and Information Processing (or CSSIP) was an organisation established under the Cooperative Research Centres program. It operated from 1992 to 2006, performing research, development, and education within several Information and Communications Technology areas: CSSIP's education arm was assigned to NICTA in mid-2005.

Spatial information
The CRC for Spatial Information (CRCSI) was a research organisation funded by Australia's Cooperative Research Centre Programme (CRC) and by participant contributions. The CRCSI was founded in 2003 with the successful re-bid announced in August 2009. The programme ended in June 2018. The CRCSI conducted research and development projects that involved collaboration between government, corporate, and academic resources. The CRCSI ensured Australia and New Zealand remained relevant in a spatially-connected world. The CRCSI was responsible for innovative research; the application and commercialisation of spatial information technologies by building collaborative partnerships. A study commissioned by the CRCSI and ANZLIC in 2008 found that the spatial information industry contributed between $6.4 and $12.6 billion to Australia's GDP in 2006-2007 alone. CRCSI has offices in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Wellington in New Zealand. The CRCSI research delved into key industry sectors, including: agriculture, natural resources and climate change; defence; built environment; and health through the delivery of spatial information across positioning, rapid spatial analytics and spatial infrastructures.