Opening remarks by Sarah Witty MP
Sarah Witty MP, Federal Member for Melbourne
11 June 2026 | Transcript | ON Translate 2026
Good morning everyone.
It’s a pleasure to be here at ON Translate 2026, joining researchers, founders, investors, industry leaders and government representatives from across Australia.
ON Translate is an important national gathering for Australia’s research translation community. It brings together the people and organisations who understand that great ideas alone are not enough. The real challenge, and the real opportunity, lies in turning those ideas into outcomes that create value for our communities, our economy and our future.
I’d like to acknowledge CSIRO for its leadership in building a connected innovation ecosystem that helps make that possible.
Through programs like ON, CSIRO has played a critical role in bringing together researchers, industry, investors and government, creating the partnerships and pathways needed to translate world-class Australian research into real-world impact.
Events like ON Translate are central to Australia’s ambition to build a Future Made in Australia, where our research excellence, talent and innovation are translated into capability, new industries, secure jobs and long-term economic growth.
Australia has every reason to be proud of its research achievements.
We are home to outstanding scientists, researchers and innovators whose discoveries are helping address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
But research excellence on its own is not enough.
The true value of innovation is realised when ideas leave the laboratory and enter the world. When discoveries become products, services and technologies. When research creates businesses, strengthens industries, improves lives and delivers benefits for communities.
That is why research translation matters.
It sits at the intersection of national productivity, economic growth, sovereign capability and global competitiveness. It is also about something much broader: ensuring innovation improves quality of life for Australians and helps create opportunities for future generations.
A Future Made in Australia depends not just on great research, but on our ability to take that research further. Into new ventures. Into new industries. Into real-world impact.
That brings me to today’s theme: Innovation in Action.
And really, that’s about what happens beyond the idea itself.
It’s about the journey from possibility to impact.
It’s about translating great thinking into practical action. It’s about the momentum that builds when people come together with purpose. And it’s about the outcomes that follow when ideas are backed by commitment, collaboration and clear decisions.
Above all, it’s about the partnerships, persistence and practical steps that turn potential into progress.
In many areas, the challenge is no longer discovery alone. The challenge is what comes next.
How do we execute effectively?
How do we scale promising ideas?
How do we ensure innovation reaches the people, industries and communities who can benefit most?
That is where real progress is made. Not only in generating new knowledge, but in applying that knowledge with ambition, focus and purpose.
And that requires stronger connections across the innovation ecosystem.
We need stronger pathways between universities, industry and investors.
We need continued support for commercialisation and deep-tech innovation.
And we need ongoing collaboration between government, research organisations, businesses and investors to help great ideas move further and faster.
That is exactly what ON Translate and the ON Program is designed to support.
It creates space for honest conversations, practical learning and shared experiences. It helps identify opportunities for collaboration, tackle barriers to progress and strengthen the networks that are essential for innovation success.
Most importantly, it helps build the connections that enable Australia’s deep-tech community to move forward together.
One of the highlights of the program is today’s ON Accelerate Showcase – which will be held later this afternoon.
The teams presenting today are a powerful example of Australian innovation in action.
They represent the next generation of researcher-founders. They are developing deep-tech innovations grounded in Australian research and applying them to challenges that matter both here and around the world.
What makes their achievement particularly impressive is the journey they have undertaken to get here.
They have engaged with customers, challenged their assumptions, refined their value propositions and worked to build genuine pathways to impact.
Innovation is never a straight line, and each of these teams has demonstrated the resilience, adaptability and determination needed to move from discovery towards commercial opportunity.
Collectively, they represent a growing pipeline of ventures helping to close Australia’s translation gap and strengthen our innovation future.
We know Australia excels at discovery.
The opportunity, and the focus of initiatives like ON, is ensuring those discoveries become outcomes that benefit our economy, our industries and our communities.
What we will see in today’s showcase is exactly what a Future Made in Australia looks like: Australian ideas, built on Australian research, with the potential to create impact locally and scale globally.
As we look ahead, collaboration remains critical.
Government cannot do this alone.
Researchers cannot do this alone.
Industry and investors cannot do this alone.
Success comes when all parts of the ecosystem work together with a shared focus on impact.
That is why gatherings like ON Translate matter.
They help ensure Australia’s innovation efforts are connected, coordinated and aligned with our national priorities.
For investors and industry partners in the room, this is an opportunity to see what is coming next.
For researchers, it is a reminder of what is possible when ideas are taken beyond the laboratory.
And for all of us, it is a chance to strengthen the partnerships that will help shape Australia’s future.
Before I conclude, I would like to congratulate everyone involved in ON Translate 2026, particularly the Cohort 10 teams, the mentors, partners and the broader ON community.
The growth of this community and the milestones it continues to achieve demonstrate the importance of investing in research translation and supporting Australia’s next generation of innovators.
Australia has the talent.
We have the ideas.
And we have the ambition.
Through programs like ON, we are helping ensure those strengths translate into a Future Made in Australia.
Thank you, and congratulations again to everyone involved today.