The Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Programme was established to bring together researchers and research users.

The programme emphasises the importance of collaborative arrangements to maximise the benefits of research through an enhanced process of utilisation, commercialisation and technology transfer. It also has a strong education component with a focus on producing graduates with skills relevant to industry needs.

Since the commencement of the CRC Programme, all parties have committed more than $9.6 billion (cash and in-kind) to CRCs. This includes $2.2 billion from the CRC Programme, $1.8 billion from industry, $2.6 billion from universities, more than $1 billion from state governments, more than $1 billion from CSIRO, $467 million from other Australian government agencies and $449 million from other institutions.

Some figures about the CRC programme:

• The CRC programme boosted the Aus economy by $2.7b over the 1991 to 2010
• From 1991 – 2000 the CRC programme has a net negative impact of around $200m
• Aus GDP is now more than $330 million higher per annum than it would have been without the CRC programme
• The return to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for each dollar invested in the CRC programme is $2.16 a return of more that 2:1.
• Since the programme’s inception, the Australian Government has shown its commitment through funding of more than $2.3 billion.
• “Universities, their staff and students are integral to the success of the CRC program. They play important roles in knowledge generation and transfer and in the creation of CRC-based university research graduates over the working life of the CRCs to date, some 2,070 PhD graduates and 1,206 Masters by Research graduates. The non-monetary value of these contributions should not be under-estimated”
• “Sustained investment in programs such as the CRC Programme that support collaboration between universities, public sector research agencies such as the CSIRO, business and industry shows that patient capital reaps considerable economic, social and environmental rewards”