Crown Research Institutes

COMU monitors eight Crown research institutes:

• AgResearch Ltd (AgResearch).
• Industrial Research Ltd (IRL).
• Institute of Environmental Science & Research Ltd (ESR).
• Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences Ltd (GNS Science).
• Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd (Landcare Research).
• National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA).
• New Zealand Forest Research Institute Ltd - trading as Scion
• The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Ltd (Plant & Food Research).

Crown research institutes are subject to the Crown Entities Act 2004, the Crown Research Institutes Act 1992 and the Companies Act 1993.

Science reforms

Public sector science was reformed in the early 1990s following a number of studies and reviews conducted in the 1980s and early 1990s. In general, these studies noted the comparatively poor state of New Zealand's investment in science and technology, and proposed a range of remedies to address this, including increased funding, better prioritisation of funding, incentives to increase the level of private sector investment, and structural reform to improve efficiency within the overall system.

In practical terms, this resulted in the division of a number of responsibilities from the parent departments into separate organisations:

• The Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MoRST) that provides science policy advice.
• The Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST) that is primarily responsible for funding science outputs.
• The Crown research institutes (CRIs) that perform actual scientific research.

Creation of the CRIs

On 1 July 1992, 10 CRIs were established out of former government departments. These departments were:

• Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR).
• MAF Technology out of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF).
• Forest Research Institute out of the Ministry of Forestry.
• part of the Meteorological Service of the Ministry of Transport.
• Health Service Laboratories of the Ministry of Health.

The underlying benefits from this restructuring were identified as:

• provision of a clearer framework for management of all risks,
• devolution of operational management decision-making,
• wider access to capital,
• enhanced management accountability.

Of the original 10 CRIs, one CRI, the Institute for Social Research and Development Ltd, was closed in August 1995 due to its failure to establish commercial viability.

On 1 December 2008, New Zealand Institute for Crop & Food Research Ltd (Crop & Food Research) and The Horticulture & Food Research Institute of New Zealand Ltd (HortResearch) merged to form The New Zealand Institute for Plant &Food Research Ltd (Plant & Food Research). This was the first merger between CRIs since the CRIs were created.

For purposes of historical data only, we have retained Crop & Food Research and HortResearch pages on this website. They will be removed shortly.
 

Results of the science reforms

Since 1992, all CRIs have restructured and repositioned themselves, invested heavily in science assets and new facilities, and made considerable investments in new science capabilities. The eight CRIs now have total assets of $669.2 million and employ 4,235 staff members, of whom 3,478 are engaged in research and research support (as at 30 June 2008).

The organisations now exhibit a stronger and more pervasive strategic focus and have greater performance expectations than the departments from which they were formed. They are also broadening their revenue base and are becoming much more market-focused. Consequently, the CRIs are much stronger organisations now than at the time of their establishment.