Background

1. The National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) provides national research infrastructure (NRI) grants to selected Australian universities, publicly funded research agencies, and private companies.¹ NRI is defined as ‘nationally significant assets, facilities and services that support leading-edge research and innovation’ (for example, see Case study 1, a full list of NCRIS funded projects is at Appendix 3).

2. NCRIS was established in 2006 in response to the March 2004 Final Report of the National Research Infrastructure Taskforce, which stated:

The consensus across all Australian Governments and research institutions is that, while decisions on research themes or projects might be made through a competitive process, investment in research infrastructure should be made in a strategic, collaborative manner.²

Rationale for undertaking the audit

3. From 2004–05 to 2028–29, NCRIS will deliver an estimated $5 billion in grants. NCRIS facilities are nationally significant assets, which are usually too large to be funded by individual research organisations. This means that without effective Australian Government support, these facilities would not be available to researchers.

4. This audit was conducted to provide assurance to the Parliament over the effectiveness of Education’s administration of NCRIS.

Audit objective and criteria

5. The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Education’s administration of NCRIS in achieving the outcomes of the program.

6. To form a conclusion against the objective, the following high-level audit criteria were adopted:

• Does the administration of funding opportunities and funding decisions promote the proper use and management of public resources?
• Have appropriate arrangements been established to measure and assess the outcomes from grant funding?

7. The audit focused on NCRIS funding delivered from 2022 to 2025. This included all funding under the 2021 NCRIS Roadmap, except for the outcomes of the second funding round of 2025, which was still in progress at the time of the audit, with an anticipated completion date of early to mid-2026.

Conclusion

8. The Department of Education’s administration of NCRIS is partly effective. While strategic planning arrangements are a strength of the NCRIS program design, elements of this have not been effectively implemented under the 2021 Roadmap, and deficiencies in grant assessments and approvals undermine Education’s ability to demonstrate proper use and management of public resources. The development of an approach to program evaluation, and improved use of grant recipients’ reported performance information in public reporting of program performance could help Education understand if they are achieving the outcomes of the program.

9. Education’s administration of funding opportunities and funding decisions partly promotes the proper use and management of public resources. An effective planning process has been designed in the form of five-yearly roadmaps and two-yearly investment plans, but under the 2021 Roadmap, the investment planning process has not supported strategic planning of NCRIS investments. Processes to ensure probity and transparency in grant administration have not been fully established. The application assessment approach can be strengthened through more transparency and effective documentation of the process which meets requirements of the applicable Commonwealth Grant Rules and Principles (previously Commonwealth Grant Rules and Guidelines).

10. Education has established partly effective arrangements to measure and assess the outcomes from grant funding. Education has established processes for twice yearly reporting by NCRIS grant recipients. Key performance information does not always relate directly to grant purposes, and Education does not confirm the accuracy of information collected from grant recipients. Education does not monitor and evaluate progress against NCRIS roadmap priorities and recommendations. Education has worked to establish improved performance reporting in line with the Commonwealth Performance Framework by publishing more NCRIS specific performance information in its 2024–25 annual performance statements.

Supporting findings

Administration of funding

11. Education allocates NCRIS funding through closed non-competitive grants, supported by a strategic planning process designed to consist of five-yearly roadmaps and two-yearly investment plans. Investment plans under the 2021 Roadmap have not supported strategic planning of NCRIS investments, compared with previous investment plans released in 2018 and 2020. (See paragraphs 2.3 to 2.20)

12. Between 2022 and 2025, Education’s assessment and approval processes for grants did not meet all requirements of the Commonwealth Grant Rules and Principles (or previously, Commonwealth Grant Rules and Guidelines). Education’s process included additional assessment criteria not set out in guidelines, did not specifically document consideration of value for money in assessments and approvals and did not provide complete advice to grant approvers. (See paragraphs 2.21 to 2.39)

13. Arrangements to ensure probity and transparency such as conflict-of-interest declaration and management arrangements, have improved since mid-2025, but as of December 2025 have not been fully implemented. (See paragraphs 2.46 to 2.47, and Table 2.7)

Performance measurement and reporting

14. At the individual grant recipient level, Education has established reporting and information gathering arrangements with grant recipients to enable collection of performance information. Improvements to develop more relevant key performance measures at a grant recipient level are in progress. While this performance information provides a picture of performance at the level of individual grant recipients, it is not used to evaluate NCRIS program outcomes, to report on progress against NCRIS roadmaps, or to report overall program performance. Education assesses, but does not verify, reported information. (See paragraphs 3.4 to 3.23)

Recommendations

Summary of entity response

15. The proposed audit report was provided to the Department of Education. The summary response to the report is below and the full response is at Appendix 1. Improvements observed by the ANAO during the course of this audit are listed in Appendix 2.

Department of Education

The Department of Education (the department) acknowledges the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) performance audit of the department’s administration of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

NCRIS is a significant national investment supporting Australia’s research and innovation system. The department recognises the importance of transparent investment planning, robust grant administration and well evidenced decision making to ensure strong stewardship of the program.

Over the past three years, the department has undertaken substantial work to strengthen its administration of NCRIS. This includes clearer documentation of assessment processes, strengthened record keeping, enhanced probity arrangements and formalised conflict of interest processes. Work to address the opportunities identified by the ANAO commenced in 2025 and will continue to be progressively implemented as part of our ongoing commitment to strengthening program delivery.

The department notes that recent NCRIS investment rounds were informed by a strong strategic foundation, including the 2021 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap, NRIAG advice, expert committees, and step change priorities, with robust and transparent assessment and approval processes. The department acknowledges the value of clearly communicating forward planning for NCRIS, the rationale behind investment decisions, and how project level success relates to program level goals.

The department welcomes the three Recommendations and affirms its commitment to continuous improvement to support the effective long term delivery of NCRIS.