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PART C - OPERATIONAL REPORTING
Accountability to IndustryFor the purposes of reporting on operations in 1998/99, RIRDC had three organisations prescribed by Section 7 of its legislation. This requires RIRDC to report annually on its activities each financial period. This accountability runs parallel to RIRDC’s Annual Report to the Minister and the Parliament. Reporting during 1998/99 occurred as follows:
- National Farmers’ Federation (NFF)
25 November 1998
- The Australian Egg Industry Association (AEIA)
11 November 1998RIRDC’s reporting to these three prescribed bodies was done when industry meetings were being held for their own purposes. The Corporation made no payments towards the costs of these meetings.
- Australian Chicken Meat Association (ACMA)
By correspondence dated 4 December 1998, and again on 13 May, 1999On 27 March 1999 the Corporation reported to the Deer Industry Association of Australia on the operations of sub-program 2.4 Deer. The cost of this consultation to the Corporation was nearly $4000.
The reporting of these consultation arrangements is in accord with new guidelines issued by the Minister on 6 July 1998 on the ‘Funding of Consultation Costs by Primary Industry and Energy Portfolio Statutory Authorities’.
In relation to these guidelines, it should be noted that two of our representative organisations held operative research contracts with the Corporation in 1998/99.
Org Project No. Project Title NFF TA989-31 WTO High Level Meetings on Trade and Environment, and Trade and Development (Geneva, March 1999) NFF MS989-13 A Prefeasibility Investigation of Biotechnology Commercialisation for Agriculture and Veterinary Chemicals NFF WS978-15 Communications in Regional Australia (8-9 July 1998) AEIA AEI-5A National Industry Databases AEIA TA989-64 International Egg Commission Half-Yearly Conference (London, March 1998) AEIA MS989-60 International Industry Updates During 1998/99 the Corporation engaged consultants to review our communications strategy, to compare our cost structures with other like agencies and to conduct a stakeholder survey. The Corporation also engaged Professor Pitman to review our contract processes in one of our program areas. These external reviews cost $77,216 and are available on request.
The Corporation continues to have a very active publications program. Sales catalogues are issued twice a year to an increasingly wider range of audiences and revenue from sales in 1998/99 was $168,766, down from $200,386 from the previous year, and up from $100,113 three years ago.
Publication revenue was down in 1998/99 because we had two very big sellers the previous year - The New Rural Industries' Handbook and The Australian Farmer’s Guide to the Internet.
An updated version of The Australian Farmer's Guide to the Internet is due towards the end of 1999 which should be as popular as the original.
The Corporation now has almost 400 publication titles (including final reports, short reports, newsletters and five year plans) available to our stakeholders on a wide cross-section of research topics and issues. Details on new publications issued in 1998/99 for each sub-program are set out under each respective sub-program.
In March 1999 RIRDC launched its catalogue through the CSIRO internet bookshop, enabling people to view and buy all the Corporation’s research publications electronically. In the first month of e-commerce operation RIRDC received $2000 worth of orders. The Corporation also set up a similar partnership with the Rural Press online bookshop (selected titles only).We are currently investigating additional distribution outlets, both online and traditional, to facilitate national dissemination of RIRDC research.
The Corporation’s pricing policy is based on recouping only the costs of printing and distribution for sub-program specific publications. Corporate publications are free and, for 1998/99, included:
Corporate documents
Newsletters
- 1998/1999 Annual Report
- 1998/1999 Annual Operational Plan
- 1999/2000 Program Prospectus
- 1998/1999 RIRDC Research in Progress (issued as individual sub-program chapters)
- Publications Catalogue
- Communicating with Industry – RIRDC’s Communications Plan
Five Year Plans
- Corporate Newsletter (four issues)
- Newsletters for 9 of the sub-programs:
- Agroforestry and Farm Forestry
- Organic Produce
- Tea Tree Oil
- Human Capital, Communications & Information Systems
- Essential Oils
- Wildflowers and Native Plants
- Asian Foods
- Deer
- New Plant Products
During 1999/2000 RIRDC will develop a comprehensive Marketing Plan for the production, promotion and distribution of its publications, as outlined in its Communications Plan, which was released in May 1999.
- RIRDC Strategic Plan (1997-2002)
- Five Year R&D Plans for 17 of the sub-programs:
- Agroforestry and Farm Forestry
- Resilient Agricultural Systems
- Organic Produce
- Farm Occupational Health and Safety
- Chicken Meat
- Eggs
- Fodder Crops
- Rare Natural Animal Fibres
- Honeybee
- Essential Oils and Plant Extracts
- Tea Tree Oil
- Horses
- New Plant Products (individual plans for bushfoods, durians, longans, olives, rambutan, mangosteen)
- Wildflowers and Native Plants
- Pasture Seeds
- Deer
- Rice
During 1998/99 the corporation's web site saw some major improvements in design and addition of new navigational features with a resulting increase in the number of visits ('hits').
The number of weekly visits to the site has grown steadily from an average of 4000-6000 to an average of 7000-8000 with a continuously increasing trend rate. The number of "feedback" email messages has grown from an average of one every two days to three to four per day. Three out of every four messages are growers or researchers seeking more information and are passed to the specialist research managers. The others are students, commercial inquirers or technical site inquiries.
Major redesign features
Major additions
- Redesign of the "home" (opening) page to include links to as many areas of the site as possible, giving a 'snapshot' feel of available RIRDC material;
- A new, powerful, comprehensive site search engine, which searches all text of all pages by any keywords;
- Inclusion of all research reports on CSIRO's online catalogue, with links from each entry in RIRDC's catalogue, giving customers the option of purchasing reports online directly from either the RIRDC or CSIRO sites. This arrangement was organised at no cost to RIRDC, with CSIRO purchasing ordered titles in the normal trade manner as needed (by June 1999 orders were running at an average of 15 reports a week);
- Each Program area page was made into a "virtual homepage" with comprehensive links to all related pages.
Project Listings
- 100 new full reports, bringing the total online to 250 reports;
- An average of five news releases a month (keeping the site "fresh");
- Final report guidelines and template for researchers ;
- RIRDC's Communications Strategy;
- 20 new short reports;
- Four RIRDC general newsletters and a number of specialist newsletters such as Rural Australia Online Newsletter (2), Deer Newsletter (2), Agroforestry Newsletter (2), Tea Tree Newsletter (1);
- Full text of compendium of Projects Completed in 1997/98 & Research in Progress;
- Annual Operational Plan;
- Five Year Plans for Egg, Chicken, Farm OH&S, Organic, Fodder, Bushfood, Tea Tree, Agroforestry and Olive industries;
- Prospectus of information for researchers' preliminary funding; and
- Full proposal information and application form.
This Annual Report does not contain a listing of projects under contract. There were around 600 at the end of June 1999.
As an aid to getting the details on each of these individual projects, the Corporation finalised its ‘Research-in-Progress’ report, which shows ‘current status’ of projects at the end of May 1999.
In addition, all projects completed in 1998/99 have summaries showing their key outcomes. As already noted, this report Research-in-Progress, June 1999 has been published on our web site (www.rirdc.gov.au) under each respective program area.
In line with the communication strategy developed this year, RIRDC has expanded its public relations and media role, extending research results to eight grouped target audiences (see table below).
Profile planning for the Corporation was undertaken, to build the RIRDC brand with audiences. This was done through a broadened media campaign profiling RIRDC research results and the Corporation’s objectives.
An expanded broadcast and identification system was used and new marketing products included into the mix of information delivered by RIRDC.
These included:
The result has been greater exposure in the industry and general media, and associated linkages such as publication sales, general inquiries and web hits.
- Direct mail to known specialist interest groups.
- Expanded Corporation newsletter profile to include members of specified farmers’ federations.
- Commissioned research articles in industry journals.
1 Producers Current Potential/new entrants xx xx xx xx 2. Grower organisations Industry Associations NFF State-based affiliates xx xx xx 3. Government and policy makers Federal Minister Parliamentary Secretary AFFA State Ministers xx xx 4. Research partners & technical providers State departments for agriculture and resources CSIRO Universities Private companies Austrade & Supermarket to Asia Others 5. Media Rural specialists Metropolitan Regional Trade incl. food industry R&D journalists Others 6. Community Libraries Educators Interested others xx xx xx 7. End users Consumers Marketers xx xx xx xx 8. Internal Canberra-based staff Externally based staff Directors Advisory Committee Members Contractors xx Joint Activities with other R&D Corporations
Each year coordination meetings of R&D Corporation Chairs are held to develop interaction and collaboration. In 1998/99 the Chairs meeting was held on 16 March 1999.
In 1998/99 RIRDC was engaged in 111 collaborative projects with 11 of the 14 R&D corporations.
Project / program name Participating R&D corporations 1. COMPETITIVENESS – increasing value from production Optimisation of an innovative method for cultivating exotic mushrooms, with particular reference to shiitake RIRDC HRDC Diversifying Asian vegetable markets (ii) – Asian vegetables in every household RIRDC HRDC Extending shelf-life of minimally-processed leafy Asian vegetables RIRDC HRDC 2. FARM PRODUCTION – increasing productivity, labour and capital in rural industries Alternatives to soil fumigation with methyl bromide in the strawberry and ornamental industries RIRDC HRDC Assessment of olive yield and oil quality and cultivar identification RIRDC HRDC Assessment of olive yield and oil quality and cultivar identification RIRDC HRDC Determining the role of boer goat crosses in the Australian meat industry RIRDC MLA DNA-based diagnostics for Phytophthora RIRDC GRDC HRDC Economic market analysis of fibre crops in Australia RIRDC GRDC Effect of windbreaks on crop and pasture productivity RIRDC GRDC Evaluation of plant back periods for methyl bromide and alternative fumigants for soil disinfestation in the strawberry industry RIRDC HRDC Farm occupational health and safety program (Includes 4 projects) RIRDC Woolmark CRDC GRDC Improved handling of chaffy grass seeds RIRDC LWRRDC Inclusion of data for additional livestock species in the Australasian Livestock Feed Ingredient (ALFI) database RIRDC GRDC
PRDC FRDCJoint Venture Agroforestry Program (Includes 53 projects) RIRDC LWRRDC FWPRDC Management of soil-borne pathogens in vegetable cropping systems at Bundaberg, Queensland RIRDC HRDC New Crops: development and application of improved selection and evaluation procedures to produce new crops for northern Australia RIRDC GRDC Premium feed grains program (Includes 7 projects) RIRDC GRDC DRDC MLA PRDC Production of a soil test interpretation manual RIRDC CRDC GRDC GWRDC HRDC MLA SRDC LWRRDC Woolmark Use of a simulation model to predict future distributions of exotic woody weeds under climate change RIRDC MLA Wild olive selection for quality oil production RIRDC HRDC 3. NATURAL RESOURCES – protecting and enhancing Australia’s natural resource base Australian farm families’ experience of the drought in the 1990s: a sociological investigation RIRDC LWRRDC Evaluating the role of seasonal climate forecasting in tactical management of cropping lands in the subtropics RIRDC LWRRDC GRDC Further development and application of Australian RAINMAN to improve management of climate variability RIRDC LWRRDC Investigating the conservation characteristics of native trees on agricultural land RIRDC LWRRDC PRDC Leguminous shrubs in sandplain cropping systems for improved water management and nutrient cycling RIRDC GRDC Managing the plant protection aspects of the rural–urban interface RIRDC SRDC National climate variability program (Includes 27 projects) RIRDC LWRRDC DRDC GRDC FRDC Woolmark SRDC North Queensland windbreaks RIRDC LWRRDC Productive use of saline lands RIRDC LWRRDC The Australian On-Line Agrometeorological Information Service (Weather Wise) RIRDC LWRRDC Trees on cotton farms RIRDC CRDC
Project / program name Participating R&D corporations 4. RESEARCH MANAGEMENT – identifying specific research needs and the effective transfer and adoption of research results Assessment of the future of horticultural information technology within Australia and how maximum benefit can be provided to the horticultural grower RIRDC GWRDC Australian Rural Leadership Program (ARLP) RIRDC DRDC CRDC Woolmark SRDC FRDC GRDC HRDC MLA PRDC Woolmark Australian rural research in progress (ARRIP) RIRDC DRDC CRDC Woolmark SRDC FRDC GRDC HRDC GWRDC PRDC MLA LWRRDC FWPRDC Woolmark Harmonisation of environmental management systems in Australia LWRRDC Irrigated cropping advance 2000: industry development and implementation of best practice RIRDC LWRRDC GRDC Minor crops registration HRDC National communication of research and policy issues related to phase-out methyl bromide for soil disinfestation purposes RIRDC HRDC See the glossary of acronyms.
During 1998/99 the Corporation received approximately $17,300 in royalty income from the following activities.
- Royalties (approximately $14,700) were generated from sales in relation to vaccines developed for Mycoplasma gallisepticum and infectious laryngotracheitis, research outputs from the Corporation's Chicken Meat and Egg sub-programs.
- Royalties (approximately $1200) were generated from sales of a riceflower variety known as 'Redlands Sandra', an output of the Corporation's Wildflowers and Native Plants sub-program.
- Minor royalties were generated from sales of the ILT 20A vaccine that was developed by CSIRO with funding from the Chicken Meat and Egg sub-programs to control infectious laryngotracheitis, a viral respiratory tract disease in poultry.
- Minor royalties were also received from sales of the ‘Australian Rainman’ computer software development under the Corporation's Resilient Agricultural Systems sub-program.
- The Corporation received $27,257 directly from income generated by seed sale of improved seed resulting from the Corporation's Tea Tree Oil sub-program. Another $27,257 was provided to the Corporation's Tea Tree Oil sub-program from ATTIA's share of the income.
RIRDC's Commercialisation Policy Framework In December 1998, the Board adopted the following commercialisation framework for the Corporation (Resolution 47–1998–3).
Which Road – Public Domain or Commercial Vehicle?
Should RIRDC Always Claim Ownership?
- Public domain mechanism is the primary adoption vehicle for the commercialisation of RIRDC research outcomes.
- Commercial mechanisms such as licensing are secondary and will be pursued where appropriate; for example, where the commercialisation processes set up their own incentives which foster adoption.
Conditions for Intellectual Property Agreements
- RIRDC retains contractual rights to the ownership of intellectual property rights arising from contracted projects.
- RIRDC retains the rights to decide whether such intellectual property should be subject to arrangements such as licensing, patenting or plant breeders' rights.
Should RIRDC Sell its Intellectual Property Rights?
- The choice of licensing options should be those which enhance commercialisation but it should be noted that RIRDC has a preference for allocating intellectual property rights which are non-exclusive.
- RIRDC and the potential contracting party will agree on a set of minimum performance criteria before any commercialisation agreement covering an intellectual property right is finalised.
- Where an exclusive right is awarded, an appropriate tendering process should be undertaken.
- Where an intellectual property right is awarded, RIRDC requires indemnity provisions against any damages that may arise out of the licensed technology.
- The holder of the intellectual property right cannot grant a sub-licence without the written authority of RIRDC.
Intellectual Property Rights held by RIRDC may be assigned in exchange for an upfront fee provided there is a commercialisation timetable in the assignment. A breach of the timetable voids the assignment.
Lead Agency, Ownership and Equity Sharing Arrangements
Inventory Arrangements for Project Intellectual Property
- Provided the research contract partner has demonstrated commercial competencies, RIRDC is prepared to accept this agency to lead intellectual property negotiations subject to the agreement of broad negotiation parameters.
- Equity sharing/royalty arrangements must be finalised before an intellectual property right can be licensed.
RIRDC will maintain a formal register of all intellectual property rights which are subject to commercialisation arrangements.
Should RIRDC Fund Start-up?
RIRDC will seek to foster commercialisation by supporting the development of business plans for the commercialisation of specific RIRDC funded research and, subject to its merits, may provide repayable loans to foster the development of such research.
A key aim of the R&D program is to ensure that portfolio-related industries are supported by people with high-quality scientific, technical and leadership skills. In 1998/99 the programs also continued to support conferences and field days aimed at providing the platform for transferring information and commercialising R&D outcomes.
The Formal Postgraduate Education Program of the Corporation seeks to ensure the industries have a continuous supply of well-trained people. In 1998/99 the Corporation spent $353,662 on this area, $291,534 for continuing scholarships and $62,128 for new scholarships.
Scholarships awarded in 1998/99
Name Sub-program Research topic Organisation Louise Hilton Chicken Meat; Eggs The overall objective of this research is to enhance disease resistance and vaccine efficacy in poultry through the administration of cytokine therapy CSIRO Animal Health Andrew Woodward Agroforestry and Farm Forestry The use of Abscisic Acid and Compatible Solutes as a Determinant of Salt Tolerance in Eucalyptus spp. Edith Cowan University Michelle Peters Eggs To develop an attenuated strain of Chicken Anaemia Virus suitable for vaccination of chickens University of Melbourne Rod Coogan Asian Foods Factors of Quality in Commercialisation of Semi-Processes and Processed White Radish (Raphanus sativus L. cv 'Hoshiriso') for Export to Japan University of Newcastle Xiao Min Chicken Meat Verification of odour separation distance at poultry farms using tracer gas technique and Ausplume University of New South Wales Lisa Jane Daniel Resilient Agricultural Systems Development of Biotechnology: Rural Industry Intergration Processes University of Queensland Xuanli Ma Wildflowers and Native Plants Development of Molecular Markers to Support Wildflower Breeding University of Western Australia Timothy Wilson Eggs Masters in Avian Health University of Melbourne
Ongoing scholarsips
Since 1985, 53 scholarships have been awarded by RIRDC (and its predecessor ASRRC). The Corporation sponsored 14 ongoing post graduate scholarships and junior research fellowships in 1998/99.
Name Sub-program Research topic Organisation Ron Newman Chicken Meat Manipulation of lean tissue deposition by altering the sensitivity of tissues to the metabolic hormones University of Sydney Andreas Kocher Chicken Meat Increasing the nutritive value of grain legumes for poultry by use of more efficacious enzyme systems University of New England Matthew Rudd Chicken Meat; Eggs Identification of virulence determinants of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) CSIRO Animal Health David Witcombe Chicken Meat; Eggs Production and characterisation of recombinant antigens of Eimeria and their potential use in a maternally-delivered vaccine against poultry coccidiosis University of Technology, Sydney Greg Underwood Chicken Meat; Eggs Tropism and transport of Marek's disease virus during the initial phase of infection Institute for Animal Health, Compton, UK Wei Leng (Belinda) Chung Eggs Defined probiotic preparations for competitive exclusion of enteropathogens from poultry University of New South Wales Gemma Graham New Animal Products The role of leptin in seasonal weight loss and puberty in the emu University of Western Australia Louise Silvers Resilient Agricultural Systems To examine the biological basis of host specificity of myxomia virus strains from North and South America and from Australia in different leporid species at both the cellular and molecular level Australian National University Anne Morgan Wildflowers & Native Plants Development of Acacia baileyana and A. baileyana Purpurea for cut-foliage and cut-flowers University of Adelaide Alison Leary Eggs Factors affecting egg and eggshell quality in various strains of laying hen University of New England Kate Lawrence Resilient Agricultural Systems Analysis of systems and processes of consultation and decision making in regard to vocational education and training (VET) in Australia for the rural sector University of Adelaide David Pearson Resilient Agricultural Systems Brokering a new reality in sustainable food production – the necessity for marketer mandated information in the organic food industry University of New England Nerida Donovan Resilient Agricultural Systems Breakdown of mancozeb and related fungicides in horticultural produce University of Sydney Brian Jones Wildflowers and Native Plants Isolate molecular factors responsible for conferring the ethylene response and to transforming fruit and cut flowers to control their expression University of New England Robert Taylor Eggs Effects of strain feeding method and calcium presentations on calcium absorption and utilisation in laying hens University of New England The Corporation publishes or holds the following categories of documents: those provided free to the public, while stocks are available, or displayed on the Corporation’s web site; those sold to the public on a partial cost-recovery basis; and general administrative documents, including project and personnel files.
A full listing of projects funded by the Corporation in 1998/99 is set out in Research-in-Progress, June 1999 which is on the Corporation’s web site. Funding information on individual projects is available, on request, from the Corporation.
The Corporation received no requests under the Freedom of Information Act in 1998/99. General inquiries about access to documents or other matters relating to FOI should be directed to:
Mr Claudio Ciuffetelli
Manager, Business & Finance
Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation
PO Box 4776
KINGSTON ACT 2604Phone: (02) 6272 4656
Fax: (02) 6272 5877
Email: claudioc@rirdc.gov.au
