Sugar Research Australia’s (SRA’s) Annual Operating Plan 2024-25 has been released and can be found here.
The Annual Operating Plan details SRA’s investments in research activities and outputs over the coming year. It includes funded grant projects, programs, and services that will deliver innovations to the Australian sugarcane industry and regional communities.
The plan also reports investment allocation by Australian Government priorities, including outlining forecast expenditure in biosecurity, climate change and sustainability, trade, First Nations engagement, and workforce.
Additionally, the plan incorporates recommendations from SRA’s recently completed Independent Performance Review such as details on our procurement methods and allocation of investment between core and contestable funded research activities.
The AOP details SRA’s investment in Research, Development and Extension (RD&E activities and outputs, aligning with SRA’s Strategic and Ten-Year R&D Plans, over the coming year. It includes all core and contestable funded activities such as grant projects, programs, and services, specifying delivery providers, expenditure, and anticipated impacts to levy payers and regional communities.
The AOP incorporates recommendations from the recently completed Independent Performance Review by GHD. It outlines SRA’s process of engaging with industry and government stakeholders to identify RD&E priorities and investment allocation by Australian Government priorities. Additionally, it details SRA’s procurement methods and investment allocation between contestable and core activities.
The AOP is structured around our newly released Ten-Year Research and Development Plan 2024-2034, detailing an integrated approach to research investment across five R&D Programs. By aligning investment with these Programs – as opposed to Research Missions as in previous AOPs – SRA has embarked on a new method of reporting, offering consistency with the Ten-Year Plan. However, we also report investment allocations by Research Mission and Strategic Pillar for additional clarity.
Additionally, SRA will release an updated AOP in September after contracting new grant projects from our 10th Anniversary Research Fund Call. This update aims to provide our stakeholders with a comprehensive overview of the research portfolio.
