Budget 2018-19: NERA funding extended

10/05/2018

NERA welcomes the Australian Government’s commitment in the Budget 2018-19 to continue support for the energy resources sector through ongoing funding of science, technology, research and innovation initiatives.

NERA opened its doors in 2016 as an independent, not-for-profit company with an industry led Board, focused on working collaboratively with our stakeholders to transform the productivity and global competitiveness of the energy resources sector.

NERA was established with an initial four years of funding from the Australian Government. In the two years since our inception, we have developed a Sector Competitiveness Plan (SCP) in consultation with operators and the supply chain (including SMEs, researchers and innovators) and we have supported a wide range of technology and innovation projects to help foster the industry’s efficiency, digital and low carbon transition.

In this year's Budget, the Federal Government recognised the early success of NERA and the Industry Growth Centres, extending our funding for an additional two years until 2022.

This extended timeframe will allow NERA to build on our early achievements, having committed more than $10 million, which has been matched by our stakeholders to a total of $24 million for 33 projects.

Our project portfolio is underpinned by our Sector Competitiveness Plan – the roadmap for the future of the energy resources sector in Australia - pointing to a potential for $10 billion in value to be unlocked across eight knowledge priorities.

We are looking forward to releasing the 2018 update of the SCP in May 2018.

Other relevant Budget details which impact the sector include:

• $20 million Export Hubs Initiative - The Export Hubs Initiative will help Australian businesses to grow, export and increase local and regional jobs. It will help the private sector develop local business hubs. Through the hubs, local and regional businesses will learn from each other to support their export growth. The Export Hubs Initiative will complement and build upon Growth Centres’ existing cluster activities as well as other regional development initiatives. The existing cluster organisations that Growth Centres are currently working with will be able to take advantage of this initiative. It will also fund new hubs.
• $29.9 million to build Australia’s Artificial Intelligence capability to support businesses and workers, including funding for CRC projects with a focus on AI and a national framework to address standards and ethics for the use of this technology.
• $20 million to support Australian innovation in Asia. This will help capture opportunities for Australian business, entrepreneurs and researchers in Asia, a region that stands to deliver nearly two-thirds of global growth to 2030 and continues the successful Australia-India Strategic Research Fund.
• $4.5 million to encourage more women to pursue STEM education and careers. This will comprise the Women in Science Strategy and the development of the Decadal Plan for Women in Science and includes the previously announced Women in Science Ambassador.
• Over $260 million for Geoscience Australia to develop world-leading satellite infrastructure and technologies.
• $160.9 million for Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) will deliver satellite positioning data across all of Australia and its maritime territories with an accuracy of 10cm. Its complete coverage will have enormous benefits for rural and regional Australia and sectors such as mining and agriculture.
• $64 million for National Positioning Infrastructure Capability (NPIC) will establish a national ground station network to deliver positioning data with 3-5cm accuracy within areas of mobile phone coverage across Australia.
• $36.9 million for Digital Earth Australia to make a vast wealth of satellite data available to businesses, researchers and the community.

The NERA team is enthused and committed to working with the energy resources sector now and into the future.