Northern Australia has vast untapped potential. To continue the transformation of the north, truly understanding that potential is critical. This is especially the case when it comes to sustainable use of land and water resources, and how those resources can be leveraged for development while still preserving environmental and cultural heritage.
CSIRO started working in northern Australia in the late 1920s, soon after the Australian Government first set out a vision to further develop the north. Now, for over 100 years, CSIRO has been the mission-led national science agency for Australia, collaborating across the innovation system.
For agricultural and water resource assessments CSIRO have led across the north over the past 10 years, they have utilised their multidisciplinary expertise to look at the scale of the opportunity for irrigated agriculture. These assessments are conducted with the explicit understanding that transformation cannot occur unless there are opportunities for Indigenous people to directly benefit. Such an approach has resulted in new research partnerships between CSIRO, National Indigenous Australians Agency, and the National Native Title Council.
Another area CSIRO has been instrumental in developing northern Australia is new industries — specifically those emerging to meet the growing demand for protein in all its forms: red meat, dairy, fish and in plants. To help Australia capture high-growth global protein markets, CSIRO launched a Future Protein Mission, led by Professor Michelle Colgrave. The Future Protein Mission has a bold plan to develop new Australian protein products and ingredients that earn an additional $10b in revenue by 2027. This includes using new technologies to create more sustainable animal protein production in order to protect and grow Australia’s traditional high-value protein industries of livestock and aquaculture.
Read more about what the CSIRO are doing to transform northern Australia.