Australian Water Management Review Vol. 1 2014 | Page 154

Water ra ...a cooperative
research centre success story!

Water Research Australia (WaterRA) is
one of very few companies to successfully
transition from a Cooperative Research
Centre. Previously the CRC for Water
Quality and Treatment (CRC WQT, 1995
– 2008) and Water Quality Research
Australia (2008 – 2013), WaterRA is a
member-funded not-for-profit company
that coordinates and facilitates water
research.

O

ver the past five years around $7m in
member funds, $24.7m from external
funding sources and nearly $31m of in
kind contributions from research members
and partners (~$63m) has been invested
in priority research for the Australian water
industry. Despite the significant reduction in
income compared with the former CRC WQT,
the company has built a significant research
portfolio. There are currently 62 active projects,
43 completed, and 23 student (PhD, Masters and
Honours) projects in progress with 10 completed
student projects.
The WaterRA model
A pivotal feature of WaterRA is that its formation was
driven by a committed group within the Australian
water industry. The CRC WQT ran for 14 years, and
during that time developed an extensive network
of collaborators, both in Australia and with leading
researchers and affiliated groups internationally.
Industry representatives who had exposure to this
“virtual centre” were supportive when a plan was
proposed to continue investing in research through
a member-funded company. It is now nearly six
years since formation and our course has been true
through a time of major change in the industry.
Annual industry member contributions are scaled
according to the organisation’s size. Principally,
Industry Members provide cash funds, while
Research Members provide ‘in kind’ contributions to
the company. Victoria has by far the largest industry

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representation with 11 member organisations, which
is primarily due to the structure of the industry in
Victoria. NSW has two industry members; SA, WA,
Tasmania and NT each have one, although each of
these represents their entire respective State. Of
20 research members, 16 are Universities and the
other f