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Rural Industries
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RIRDC's ability to carry out its job rests on the creativity of its staff. It has an obligation to do this in a way which, when benchmarked, is best practice. It also has an obligation to ensure that RIRDC operations are open and transparent and that Research and Development program outputs are accessible to clients.
 Staffing
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To ensure that all our principal stakeholders have access to sufficient information about RIRDC's role, activities and R&D program outputs to make rational choices on adoption within their enterprises or policies.
Communicating effectively with our many stakeholders in industry, government, research agencies, the media and the community, located across the length and breadth of rural and metropolitan Australia, poses a special challenge for RIRDC.
We shall achieve this objective by:
1. encouraging and fostering farmers and other stakeholders to access RIRDC's information bank through our web site (http://www.rirdc.gov.au/) and general communication through our e-mail address (rirdc@netinfo.com.au);
2. promoting the role, activities and R&D outputs of the Corporation through a variety of channels to our broad range of target client audiences;
3. encouraging research agencies with whom we contract activities to communicate closely with Australian industry in both the planning and the results delivery phases of their research work; and
4. developing specialised programs and products to encourage the expeditious and broadest uptake of R&D results from RIRDC sponsored activity within Australian industry.
We will measure our success by:
To attract and retain an innovative, productive, creative and committed group of staff.
Most of RIRDC's staff are headquartered in Canberra but there are program managers who operate on a part-time basis from other parts of the country. It is vital that all of our staff, full-time and part-time, work as a team which delivers value for money.
We shall achieve this objective by:
1. recruiting competent people to our staff team by providing a stimulating, safe and healthy work environment, and by appropriate training to regularly update our skills;
2. remunerating our staff team by reference to market movements and personal performance; and
3. supporting our staff team by the provision of leading edge IT services.
We will measure our success by:
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RIRDC CULTURAL STATEMENT |
To provide cost-effective and best practice support services for the Corporation.
Our finance and administrative support services provide essential back up and accountability for all our activities.
We shall achieve this objective by:
1. maintaining our financial records and accounts to Department of Finance guidelines and in accord with management and audit requirements;
2. instituting appropriate risk management procedures; and
3. providing cost-effective office support services.
We will measure our success by:
To provide quantification of the impacts of the Corporation's research programs and use these to support more effective decision-making.
Program impact evaluation provides an important component of determining whether the research programs are achieving specified performance targets and whether stakeholders funds are achieving measurable impacts.
We shall achieve this objective by:
1. Developing a schedule of impact evaluation for completed projects such that a sample of projects in each of the major research programs isevaluated on a four-year rotating basis;
2. Devising effective measures of the direct benefits to the targeted industry and also of indirect benefits to the broader community;
3. Undertaking these evaluations in a manner such that in the longer term they can be used to develop more effective support for the research programs and strengthen the project selection process; and
4. Developing effective collaborative evaluation activities with other RDC's and institutions.
Performance indicators
We will measure our success by:
A majority of Corporation funding comes from the Federal Government. Other funds come from statutory industry levies and direct contributions from industry partners.
Much of the case for taxpayer investment rests on the market failure aspects of R&D and the public good characteristics of the knowledge developed - its lack of appropriability and wide applicability - enabling spillovers to the community from industry R&D investments.
Without public support, there would be significant under investment and under performance of rural industries and the broader community would be worse off.
In the case of the Corporation, each of its core businesses have strong public good characteristics. Large spillover effects for the wider community and rural communities in particular can be expected. Just one or two new industries in a remote area can overcome the problem of critical mass for a rural town and improve its viability. Also, research ideas discovered in one area can often find wider applicability in the community, delivering safer products produced in a more sustainable way.
And, in serving the broader community interests, we will seek an R&D program where:
The Corporation has two sources of funds. The first is general funding support from the Commonwealth Government of around $10.5 million each year.
These funds are directed to those industries which do not have statutory research levies in place and to those generic cross-sectoral areas where there are potential benefits to a significant number of rural industries.
The second is statutory levies where the Commonwealth Government matches industry contributions on a dollar for dollar basis up to the maximum of 0.5 per cent of the gross value of production of the product.
The magnitude of the research investment from statutory levies will depend on Industry and Government decisions.
The Corporation will encourage greater industry self-funding and will not maintain funding to industries which do not contribute to the research investment - either via statutory levies or voluntary contributions - after an initial investment period of no more than five years by the Corporation.
The decision of where the Corporation will invest the initial budget allocation from the Commonwealth Government - be it new and emerging industries or the cross-sectoral research agenda - will depend on the anticipated returns from the research investment and knowledge gained from ex-post benefit cost analyses of projects and programs.
While these judgements will be made annually in the context of the Corporation's Annual Operational Plan, the Corporation's intention is that more than half of the general funding support from the Commonwealth Government should be directed to the 'new and emerging' agenda. It proposes this allocation for two reasons:
1. There are growing pressures to broaden the enterprise mix of Australian agriculture. Profitability of existing enterprises is under pressure and there is strong demand for information and alternatives; and
2. Additional funding is being allocated to sustainable agriculture by the National Heritage Trust. Investment by other RDC's on sustainable agriculture is also growing.
The very nature of the cross-sectoral agenda means that pay-offs from research can be very high. In addition there will need to be a R&D dimension to the operation of the National Heritage Trust.
But, on balance, our judgement is that the 'new and emerging' agenda should be allocated more than half of general funding support during the period of this Plan.
This Plan sets out performance indicators for each of the key objectives of the Portfolio. In addition there are corporate targets to which we commit ourselves. In the next five years:
Performance Target Performance Measure
We are aiming for: We will measure our performance by:
Involvement of end users in Independent survey of the membership of
all aspects of R&D investment Industry Advisory Panels, Representative
program. Organisations and Industry Organisations and
Portfolio Department each two years.
In consultation with industry, development of
Five-year Plans for each of the specific
industry sub-programs by June 1998.
Translation of research Independent research impact analyses of
outputs into industry projects in the new, emerging and established
benefits. industry programs and future agricultural
systems program with hurdle internal rates of
return of 15%, 20%, 25% and 25%, and/or
average benefit/cost ratios of 2, 5, 10 and 10
respectively.
Review of programs on a Impact evaluations will be undertaken on a
four-year rolling evaluation rolling basis with a separate program targeted
basis. each year. At least ten projects will be
evaluated annually.
Expansion of GVP of new and Comparisons over time and with sector-wide
emerging industries supported movements in GVP.
by RIRDC programs.
Strong partnerships with Level of external funding to new, emerging and
stakeholders in new, emerging established industry programs. In aggregate
and established industry terms, at least 50 per cent by June 1999.
programs.
Strong partnership with Level of external funding in aggregate terms,
stakeholders in Future at least 50 per cent by June 2000.
Farming Systems program.
Progressive reduction of Meeting target by end 1998-99.
corporate and administrative
costs and to keep these below
6 per cent of total budget
expenditure.
There are four key accountability processes to and associated documents for stakeholders:
Last updated: June 1997
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