This report to DEST was prepared by the consulting firm PhillipsKPA. Completed in March 2006, it explores the nature and dimensions of the practice and value of knowledge transfer within Australia, as practised by universities and PFRAs, against a background of international and domestic developments.

It begins by examining questions concerning the definition and scope of knowledge transfer and follows with a systematic analysis of current policies, programmes and funding arrangements to determine the extent to which knowledge transfer activities are currently supported and promoted in Australia. The report includes a gap analysis, identifying areas where there is insufficient or inappropriate support for such activities. It also presents a range of case studies of knowledge transfer for commercial benefit and for other material, human, social and environmental benefits. The report concludes with a series of observations about the nature of knowledge transfer and its effects. It draws many of its concluding observations from the more than a dozen case studies it presents.