National Survey of Research Commercialisation Data Collection
Policy Framework
Introduction
Consistent with government policy to improve research industry collaboration and
commercialisation in Australia, of which improving research system assessment is part, the
Department of Industry and Science is implementing new data arrangements.
Since 2001, the Department has conducted the National Survey of Research
Commercialisation (NSRC) to collect data on Australian research system performance
regarding the commercialisation of publicly funded research.
In the 2014-15 review of the NSRC, a range of actions were agreed in order to refocus and
streamline the NSRC survey, including removing a number of questions and introducing new
metrics to capture different information on commercialisation pathways such as
engagement and collaboration. Changes to the NSRC will be progressively implemented
from 2015 onwards.
In addition to revamping the NSRC survey, the review identified the value of acquiring
information from existing data sources to bring together a broader spread of indicators
relevant to research industry engagement and commercialisation without increasing
administrative burden on stakeholders. To achieve this, the NSRC Data Collection (the
Collection) has been established. This will comprise a range of collaboration and
commercialisation performance data sourced from the NSRC survey and relevant existing,
external collections that have data on publicly funded research organisations’ knowledge
transfer. Data sources will include IP Australia, the ANZ Clinical Trials Registry, bibliometric
collections and other sources such as government programmes, Australian Policy Online and
The Conversation.
Accessing data from external sources will ensure the NSRC survey is streamlined and wellfocused, while improving the scope and quality of the Collection by accessing data wherever
possible from the primary data custodians.
This framework provides information on the purpose, principles and scope of the NSRC
survey and the NSRC Data Collection.
Purpose
The NSRC Data Collection is a suite of performance information on the industry engagement
and commercialisation efforts of Australian publicly funded research organisations. It is a
comprehensive data source for government, research organisations, industry and the
general public to help understand trends, priorities and gaps across a range of knowledge
exchange activities in Australia’s public research system.
The Collection has quantitative and qualitative data on research engagement, collaboration,
commercialisation and impact and provides multiple applications for stakeholders including
informing strategic policy analysis and development, benchmarking, planning and ultimately
performance assessment.
The NSRC Data Collection is comprised of NSRC survey data and data sourced from external
collections.
Guiding Principles
The following principles will guide the administration and evolution of the Collection. These
principles establish the broad features of the Collection with respect to quality, relevance,
scope, streamlining, accessibility and usage and are articulated to ensure the Collection is
implemented and evolves in a responsible and responsive manner. The guiding principles
apply to both data collected through the NSRC survey and data sourced from external
collections.
NSRC data must:

Be beneficial to respondents;

Cover a range of commercialisation and collaboration activities;

Wherever possible be relevant to the majority of Australian publicly funded research
organisations;

Support domestic and international comparison;

Minimise administrative burden and use the ‘collect once, use often’ ethos;

Meet the specifications of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Data Quality Framework;

Include a mix of quantitative and qualitative data including narrative information;

Be reported electronically, ideally with software that supports data visualisation and
analysis;

Inform and be actively used by government and shared publicly through various
communication products; and

Evolve in consultation with stakeholders.
Scope
The NRSC Data Collection will include performance information relevant to the commercial
outcomes of Australia’s publicly funded research organisations (PFROs).
The scope of the NSRC Survey population includes PFROs that:

Undertake research (rather than commissioning research such as CRCs and most RDCs)

Receive public funding for research (this excludes research service providers that are
funded entirely through contracts with research users)

Are not-for-profit (this excludes businesses that receive public funding through the R&D
Tax Incentive); and

Have an Australian Business Number (ABN) or an Australian Company Number (ACN)
(this excludes sub-units within universities).
Historically, the NSRC survey population has comprised universities, medical research
institutes and major publicly funded research agencies1. Further work will be done to
expand the survey to include other entities that meet the survey population criteria such as
some RDCs, hospitals and government agencies.
The scope of NSRC survey metrics includes a range of quantitative and qualitative
performance indicators along the commercialisation pathway from engagement and
collaboration through to licensing and impact. While the primary focus of the survey is on
knowledge transfer with Australian businesses, the definition of industry is based on the
Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classifications which includes community
and not-for-profit and government sectors, as well as the general public.
1
Major PFRAs as noted on the Science, Research and Innovation Budget Tables
Benefits
The NSRC Data Collection will provide a range of benefits to stakeholders including:
For research organisations

public recognition of their research engagement and knowledge transfer activities,
and the impacts that arise from them;

a source of data for developing and refining institutional engagement and
commercialisation strategies and general planning, policy and performance
benchmarking; and

recognition for researchers and faculties that are successfully collaborating with
industry.
For industry

a guide to which research organisations are actively collaborating with industry and
are ‘open for business’;

potential recognition of successful collaborations undertaken with publicly funded
research organisations; and

a source of data for developing and refining business development and/or
innovation plans.
For government

evidence that publicly funded research skills and knowledge are being transferred to
industry and other research users;

robust and comprehensive data to:
o inform the development of science and research policy; and
o contribute to the assessment of research system performance; and

A focal point for discussions with departments, agencies, and other stakeholders
regarding data management.
Analysis and Reporting
NSRC data will be collected annually and published electronically on the department’s
website as a complete unit record and in separate data sets such as time series,
international comparison, domestic summaries and others as it becomes available. The unit
record will include data at the institutional level to support benchmarking across
organisations, regions and cohorts.
As well as publishing data, the Department will release NSRC data reports that includes
trends and highlights in addition to commissioning analytical pieces on emerging priorities.
Software tools will be provided on the NSRC website to encourage the data to be actively
accessed, used and shared by stakeholders.
Evaluation
The NSRC Data Collection will be subject to internal reviews every three years. These
evaluations should assess the operation and outcomes of the Collection against the policy
framework and identify any adjustments to the Collection to ensure ongoing effectiveness
and efficiency.