CEO's Update

Students from the University of Melbourne collect Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) data from the Carrara-1 drill hole on Wakaya Country (Northern Territory). This hole was drilled by Geoscience Australia, the Northern Territory Geological Survey and MinEX CRC as part of the National Drilling Initiative. The DTS equipment is supplied by AuScope. Image: Nick White

As this most eventful and important year draws to a close, I want to thank you once again for our community's combined efforts to influence the national science agenda on behalf of our discipline and for the nation's benefit.

After some uncertainties around timelines and processes, we now have clarity regarding future funding. The Hon Jason Clare MP, Minister for Education, recently announced the NCRIS Operational guidelines, providing AuScope with a guarantee of operational funding for financial years 2023 - 2028.

In addition, the government will soon announce the Research Infrastructure Investment Plan (RIIP) process relating to new capital funding. The submissions addressing the 2021 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap challenges, enhancements and step-changes will be accepted in January 2023. We welcome this news and have proposals co-designed with the community over the last several years, ready for submission.

This new funding, combined with the recommendations delivered by the Independent Review, will allow us to refine our programs over the next five years and develop new capacity according to the vision and goals identified in the AuScope 10-Year Strategy 2020 - 2030.

As 2022 comes to a close, we have our AuScope Highlights 2022 to share with you. This short video captures the great work that AuScope and our research infrastructure community have achieved this year and provides a glimpse into what is possible over the next five years.

The 2022 AuScope highlights video. Image: AuScope

And finally, the Australian Government invites submissions to the National Critical Mineral Strategy 2022 refresh. Please register and add your submission to help us highlight the message:

For Australia to ensure its supply of critical minerals, we need stronger exploration related geoscience research and predictive geoscience capacities.

This important message has been lost in the current roadmap and should be reinforced wherever possible. Have a happy and safe holiday, and I look forward to continuing this journey with you all next year.

Tim Rawling

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