Mallee Hub

The Mallee Regional Innovation Centre (MRIC) is excited to host the Mallee Hub of the One Basin CRC.

This Hub is strategically located in an area with a presence of Federal and State Government agencies, an office of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the Murray-Darling Inspector-General of Water Resources Southern Basin office, headquarters for peak horticultural industry bodies and home of SuniTAFE’s Smart Farm. Research organisations with a regional presence include the MRIC’s partners of the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University.

The Mallee Hub will cover the Victorian Council areas of Mildura Rural City Council, Swan Hill Rural City Council and in New South Wales the Wentworth Shire Council government area. The region has a heavy dependence on water resources (availability and security of supply of good-quality water) for both the environment and key industries like horticulture, which in turn support service industries of the region. The economic health and wellbeing of the region is directly linked to water. The region is also home to the confluence of the Murray River and the Darling River at Wentworth.

What is the One Basin CRC?

The ONE Basin CRC will be a world-leading initiative in dealing with the emerging challenge of adapting agriculture to a changing climate. This will provide a production line of new research outputs that can be translated worldwide, sustaining Australia’s reputation as a leader in water and agricultural research.

The ONE Basin CRC (Cooperative Research Centre) vision is a resilient and sustainable Murray-Darling Basin, powered by a strong innovation capacity that supports rural communities, businesses and water managers to adapt and thrive with changing global drivers.

A place-based research agenda

Many of the challenges being tackled by the CRC are centred in regional areas, so the CRC will focus much of its efforts in the five regional hubs. The regional hubs will provide an “efficiency of scale”. supporting a concentration of facilities, partnerships, and research effort to maximise progress with these challenges.

The regional hubs will build on existing research capabilities of the research partners and other agencies in the regions. As well as being a site for research, the hubs will be used for testing and demonstrating applications of research outcomes.

The CRC will have a strong focus on participatory research – providing a platform to direct research efforts to the needs of the regions and to facilitate the uptake of the research by regional communities, businesses and industries.

To support this, the Regional Hubs will have a critical role in shepherding effective and sustained research-industry collaborations. The CRC partners including businesses, industries, government, researchers and the community will collaborate closely to address real problems, leading to action.

To find out more

Visit the One Basin CRC website

Contact

The interim lead of the One Basin CRC is Rebecca Wells,  Chief Executive – Mallee Regional Innovation Centre.  To find out more about the One Basin CRC Mildura Hub contact mric-info@unimelb.edu.au