Partnering for Queensland's future: How universities, government and industry can drive innovation and growth

Earlier this month I had the great pleasure of joining the Honourable David Chrisafulli MP, Premier of Queensland and Minister for Veterans, on a trip to India, along with my Vice-Chancellor counterparts from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Griffith University, Margaret Sheil AO and Carolyn Evans.

This visit coincided with the launch of the Queensland-India Trade and Investment Strategy, and it was a good reminder of what can be achieved when government and universities work effectively together. 

We can leverage our international links, as in the case of India, to boost trade, attract investment and foster partnerships, or help to produce and progress innovations that have the potential to drive economic growth and spread prosperity. 

Queensland’s universities are some of our longest-standing and strongest institutions, and we’re uniquely positioned to play a collaborative role in our State’s future success. 

In its 2025 Productivity Bulletin, the Productivity Commission identified that growth in ‘multifactor productivity’ – that is, how labour and capital combine to produce economic outputs – requires two key ingredients: new ideas need to be discovered; and these new ideas need to be applied or used.

Both of these ingredients are readily available at universities. Innovation is what we do – or, to put it another way, generating new ideas and helping to apply them is our bread and butter. 

There is no better recent example of this than global healthcare company, Sanofi’s, landmark acquisition of ViceBio, a company utilising The University of Queensland’s Molecular Clamp technology to help fast-track new generation vaccines.

This acquisition, announced in July, is the largest ever deal involving a company that is commercialising intellectual property from an Australian university. 

It’s significant because it’s the story of a university-born idea. But it’s also the product of the goal to make Queensland a global leader in biomedical research and innovation, which has led to the expansion of expertise and infrastructure across South-East Queensland over the last couple of decades.

One particularly exciting example of this expansion is the rapidly growing Boggo Road Innovation Precinct, which will strengthen the critically important tripartite relationship between universities, government and industry. 

Within this precinct is the soon to be completed ENTRI building – a collaboration between the Queensland Government and the Translational Research Institute and its partners (UQ, QUT, Metro South, the Mater Research Institute) – which will be Australia’s first biomedical manufacturing facility dedicated to scaling up biotech start-ups. 

Other examples include projects being funding through the South-East Queensland Innovation Economy Fund: 

• Griffith University’s Health and Advanced Technology Research and Innovation Centre, an initiative that will create a vibrant interface on the Gold Coast to support industry-led research translation; and 
• UQ’s Queensland Animal Science Innovation Hub on our Gatton campus – a place where animal producers, farmers and industry will trial, scale and commercialise new farming and biosecurity innovations. 

Importantly though, we’re not just contributing to the South-East. We’re also working to support our regional communities and contribute to their success. 

For example, by collaborating with our regional university partners as well as local hospitals and health services, we are providing a Regional Medical Pathway which enables trainee doctors to do the entirety of their training within their region. 

This will lead to better health outcomes for Queenslanders living outside metro areas, create jobs and boost local economies. 

With the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games on the horizon, we have a rare opportunity to continue to accelerate our state’s growth and development. 

From a university perspective, I speak for UQ, and our other Queensland universities, when I say that we stand ready and willing to partner with government and industry to deliver the innovation, capabilities and talent to help get the job done. 

Because if our research institutions, industry partners and government can continue to work together to strengthen the innovation ecosystem here in Queensland, who knows what kind of life-changing, productivity-boosting advancements will come out of our state in the decades to come.