Name of Submitter:
Alexander Hayward on behalf of the Queensland Museum Network
Draft 2016 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap
Submission
The Draft 2016 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap clearly defines a shared view of key
challenges and opportunities for the development of Australian research infrastructure within the
Key recommendations and National Research Infrastructure Focus Areas.
The Queensland Museum is fully supportive of the recognition of the HAAS sector in the Roadmap
focus areas. Research in this sector is fundamental to our cultural heritage and underpins effective
policy and programs in communities, culture and the arts. The digitisation of collections and the
development of databases, and especially progress with Trove, in the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries,
Archives & Museums) sector illustrate the potential of research infrastructure in the HAAS sector in
facilitating research and engaging community. Further strategic analysis within the HAAS sector will
identify additional and enhanced significant opportunities for research infrastructure to drive
innovation, economic growth and societal benefit. We note that there may be considerable
opportunity to secure significant co-investment into these capability areas - leveraging both existing
investment and the ability to attract significant new co-investment, especially through corporate and
philanthropic support.
Queensland Museum's role as custodian of a significant component of Australia’s major biodiversity
collections supports significant research in the Environmental Systems and Biosecurity focus
areas. As observed in the Roadmap, these areas are fundamental to effective environmental
management, biodiversity conservation, primary production, and resource development. The
digitisation of collections and progress with the ALA represents critical foundational research
infrastructure within this sector. While significant challenges remain in sustaining collections,
effective curation and fundamental taxonomic/biosystematics research within these distributed
national collections, research infrastructure investments such as the ALA provide an immediate
dividend to the wider research community. Queensland Museum further notes the opportunity for
continued co-investment in this capability.
The Complex Biology focus area includes biobanks. The future directions section acknowledges the
value of biobanking to manage and sustain essential environmental ecosystems and improve
agricultural productivity. Some recognition of the desirability of stronger integration of the living
plant germplasm collections (- tissue cultures, seeds & living plants) that support biodiversity
conservation and agricultural production (- crops and crop wild relatives) may be helpful here.
Contact details:
Alexander Hayward
Director of Collections, Research and Lifelong Learning
Queensland Museum
[email protected]