National Research Infrastructure Capability: Research Australia Submission in Response to the Issues Paper

This submission responds to the Capability Issues Paper for the 2016 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap, prepared for the Expert Working Group, and uses the template provided. Research Australia accepts the capability areas and governance characteristics proposed, adding that specific governance frameworks are needed where infrastructure holds sensitive data such as health information. It sets out criteria for choosing access to international facilities over building national ones, including Australian demand, guaranteed priority, protection of intellectual property, relative cost and the value of expertise gained from operating a facility, citing New Zealand’s contribution to the Australian Synchrotron. It maintains that research workforce skills, particularly data skills, should be considered alongside infrastructure, and that training of facility staff and external users should be treated as an ongoing operating cost. Other recommendations are that access be open, competitive and merit-based, guided by the National Science and Research Priorities and industry growth sectors; that funding be committed for the full lifecycle, including upgrades and decommissioning; that financing arrangements make clear who funds what, including indirect costs, and avoid open-ended commitments; and that standards and accreditation costs be tested in proposals. For health and medical sciences, it recommends national infrastructure to link health data across Commonwealth, state and territory jurisdictions, as part of a broader strategy addressing legislative barriers, skills shortages and agency reluctance to share data. Many template questions are left unanswered.