The DFAT–CSIRO Research for Development Alliance was established in 2007.

In the first phase of the Alliance a suite of 8 small Scoping Projects were jointly commissioned by AusAID and CSIRO in June 2008. The projects were completed during 2008–2009.

From the learnings obtained from these initial projects, phase 2 of the Alliance involved 5 research projects, completed during 2010–2014.