Innovation is firmly on the economic policy agenda, with all sides of politics converging on the importance of boosting and sustaining innovation and maximising the benefits that Australia derives from it. And innovation has never been so important for Australian businesses, as they confront fierce global competition and rapidly changing markets and consumer preferences. But innovation is not something businesses need to do alone.

Embedding collaboration in Australia’s culture is vital, but challenging: we are building up from a very low base, where collaborative innovation is rare and shallow. Despite strong interest and effort from industry, government and the public research sector, improvement is slow. We must do better. This report contains lessons from successful businesses on how we can.