Empowering Rural Industries

About the Rural RDCs

There are 15 Rural RDCs across agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries in Australia. Each one is tasked with delivering tangible and practical improvements for their industries in terms of productivity and profitability, sustainability, and the community. They do this through strategic and targeted investments in and partnerships for research, development and adoption, and in some cases, market access, market development and promotion. Each RDC is focused on specific commodities and sectors. This means it is important to also work together as needed to address common issues and complex challenges.

Australia’s rural producers and industries face a range of unique biophysical, environmental and societal challenges while also being highly exposed to global competition. A major element of the national response to these challenges is an effective rural innovation system, and a cornerstone of this system is a unique industry-government investment partnership delivered through the Rural Research and Development Corporations (RDCs).

The rural Research and Development Corporations (RDCs) have helped drive innovation in agriculture, fisheries and forestry since they were established in 1989 under the Primary Industries and Energy Research and Development Act 1989, now the Primary Industries Research and Development Act
There are 15 RDCs
- 5 Commonwealth statutory bodies
- 10 industry-owned companies (IOCs)
All RDCs manage research, development and extension (RD&E). Most IOCs also provide other industry services, mainly marketing. Since 2013, statutory RDCs have also been able to undertake marketing activities at the request of industry, where supported by a statutory marketing levy.
The ten industry-owned companies (IOCs) have been established where the industry has seen an opportunity to merge and streamline organisations and structures, and to provide additional services like market development, market access and promotion.
The RDCs provide the mechanism for the Australian Government to co-invest with primary producers in RD&E to improve the profitability, productivity, competitiveness and sustainability of Australia's agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors. They are funded primarily by statutory research and development levies (or charges), with matching government funding. The government matches expenditure, generally up to 0.5% of the determined industry gross value of production. Other services, like marketing and promotion, are funded only by industry. The RDCs manage around $800 million per annum in RD&E. For more information go to levy system.
The RDCs are accountable to both industry and government. Commonwealth statutory RDCs are Australian Government entities with a board of directors appointed by the Minister for Agriculture, based on recommendations from a selection committee, they have enabling legislation and declared representative organisation(s). These RDCs are required to meet other whole-of-government policies and requirements, including the Commonwealth finance and administrative arrangements as detailed in the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013