Rural research, development and extension (RD&E) has been a significant contributor to making Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries into what they are today—world-leading, productive and innovative industries.

The Australian rural sector includes a diverse range of industries, which largely comprise small family businesses. The incentive and capacity for individual small businesses to invest in RD&E is low, resulting in potential under-investment in RD&E in the rural sector. The government helps rural industries overcome this by providing rural producers with a means of investing collectively in RD&E to benefit their industry and wider community. This is done through the rural Research and Development Corporations (RDCs)—a partnership between government and industry in priority setting and funding.