The NCRIS Secretariat has engaged Dr Trevor Powell to review the documentation developed through the TERN facilitation process, and to develop a strategic planning paper for consideration by the NCRIS Committee.
At its meeting held on 28 February the NCRIS Committee considered the TERN Strategic Planning Paper prepared by Dr Trevor Powell.
The Committee agreed to:
- endorse the priorities for NCRIS investment in TERN stated in the Strategic Planning Paper
- endorse the purpose, requirements and principles for TERN as stated in the Strategic Planning Paper
- undertake a process of engagement with relevant communities including key stakeholders, researchers and Federal and State Government agencies with regards to progressing the development of investment proposals for the first three priorities for TERN as outlined in the Strategic Planning Paper:
- a governance system that provides strategic long term planning and research coordination with an emphasis on integrative science that serves regional and national goals
- a modelling capability with fit for purpose models for addressing ‘integrative science’ and management scenarios as a national service to the ecosystem research and environmental management communities
- a data management system, including interoperability, for data and information management, discovery and access; and then
- to undertake engagement with regard to the development of site and observation networks.
The TERN Strategic Planning Paper is available
here 
(1.4 MB).
The NCRIS Secretariat will provide further advice in early March of the process of engagement to be undertaken.
The objective of the TERN is to provide infrastructure that builds on the significant past and present investments of State, Territory and Commonwealth Governments to facilitate the development of an integrated approach to understanding Australia’s ecosystems.
The TERN was identified in the NCRIS Roadmap as a high priority area requiring further scoping prior to development of a full investment plan. The
scoping was undertaken with the research community from May to December 2006.
The NCRIS Committee approved the revised TERN Roadmap (54.0 KB) in November 2006. The document provides a starting point for the development of an investment plan for the TERN.
The former, Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Julie Bishop MP, announced on 27 November 2006 that she had provisionally allocated $20 million to implement the TERN pending development of a suitable investment plan.
The NCRIS Committee engaged Professor Paul Perkins as facilitator for the TERN. Professor Perkins delivered the final report of the TERN Facilitation process to the Committee in September 2007.
The NCRIS Committee considered the TERN Facilitation Final Report at its meeting on 5 October 2007.
At the meeting the Committee agreed to conclude the TERN Facilitation process and instructed the NCRIS Secretariat to prepare a high-level strategic framework for the development of a national capability for terrestrial ecosystems.
Outcomes of the NCRIS Committee discussion on TERN can be found here (21.8 KB).
Further information regarding the role and responsibilities of NCRIS facilitators is available in section 2.2 of the NCRIS Investment Framework (114.7 KB)
The NCRIS Committee engaged Professor Graham Harris to assist Professor Perkins in developing the TERN. Professor Harris chaired a Science Reference Group for the TERN in January 2007, and led the development of a science case to aid the development of the TERN investment plan.
Meeting summary (89.7 KB)
For enquiries related to the status of TERN, please contact the NCRIS Team by email at
ncris@dest.gov.au or by telephone on 02 6229 4223.