Leaders from across government, universities, industry, national research infrastructure facilities, and international partners came together in Canberra on 30 June 2026 for the NCRIS@20 Symposium, celebrating two decades of impact from the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) and to define future priorities.
The Australian Government has invested $5.5 billion in NCRIS over the past two decades and it has been a cornerstone of Australia’s research and development capability. It supports more than 130,000 Australian and international users each year by providing access to world-class research infrastructure facilitated by technical expertise. It has enabled critical research, innovation and industry-led development through a coordinated network of leading-edge equipment and highly skilled technical staff.
The NCRIS network has driven real world outcomes in health, energy, agriculture, environment, defence, resources and advanced manufacturing. It has enabled 5,000 Australian startups and SMEs to be more innovative and develop new products and industries.
The strength of the NCRIS model lies in its unique collaborative architecture, shaped by nationally developed Roadmaps. NCRIS leverages Commonwealth funding to deliver exceptional returns on investment, connecting universities, government agencies and industry to strive for excellence and impact. While decisions on research themes or projects might be made through competitive processes, investment in the underpinning national research infrastructure that enables research should be made in a strategic, collaborative manner, avoiding fragmentation and unnecessary duplication.
As we celebrate twenty years of NCRIS, we should recognise that the challenges facing Australia and its scientific efforts are becoming more complex. Artificial intelligence is transforming discovery. Climate change demands unprecedented modelling and observational capability. Precision medicine is generating vast new datasets. National resilience increasingly depends on sovereign scientific capability across a range of domains.
Meeting these challenges will require infrastructure that is more connected, more data-intensive, and more interdisciplinary than ever before. NCRIS was built for exactly this kind of future. The development of the next National Research Infrastructure Roadmap provides an opportunity to ensure that Australia's research ecosystem remains globally competitive and responsive to emerging needs.
The ecosystem in which NCRIS operates is also changing. The Ambitious Australia Report, released by Government in March 2026, makes clear that a world-leading knowledge base is critical to broaden Australia’s economy from a reliance on coal, gas, iron ore and agriculture, and to ensure intergenerational equity by enabling a new generation of growth that gives Australians a chance to prosper.
A world-leading knowledge base cannot be achieved without access to world-leading research infrastructure. While NCRIS has received bipartisan support, there is no formal funding commitment to sustain NCRIS at its current levels beyond 2028-29. A clear, long-term plan is needed to secure this capability and ensure Australia’s research system can drive the knowledge and innovation required for future economic prosperity.
A defining priority for NCRIS over the coming decade is to build on its already strong collaborative foundation by making it more seamless, connected and effective. It is the unanimous view of this symposium that deep, reliable and long-term investment in research infrastructure is required to enable excellent research and facilitate its translation to benefit Australians. This includes long-term commitments that enable ambitious research agendas, retention and recruitment of the best global talent, that embed First Nations knowledge systems into Australia’s research ecosystem, and connect with international partners to solve global challenges using research infrastructure that is of a scale, cost and level of complexity that no single nation can support on its own.
We encourage governments, research institutions and industry partners to continue their shared commitment to recognising national research infrastructure as a long-term sovereign asset. Achieving this requires deep, reliable and long-range investment to sustain the excellence of NCRIS capabilities and the collaborative frameworks that have enabled them to work together effectively. By maintaining this partnership and investing in specialised, world-class facilities operating at the frontier of their domains and connected by shared purpose, Australia can continue to strengthen its position as a global leader in research infrastructure and equip the nation to meet the challenges and opportunities of the decades ahead.
This Statement is supported by the leaders of each NCRIS Provider and demonstrates their commitment to continuing collaboration to ensure NCRIS remains fit-for-purpose, future-focused and delivering maximum benefit to Australia.