Backing Australia's Ability (BAA) was a five-year innovation plan launched by the Howard government in January 2001.[1][2]
Previous policies for this group of portfolios under the Howard government were:
The Science and Innovation Committee (SIC), originally known as the Ministerial Committee to Oversight Implementation of Backing Australia's Ability (MCOIBAA), is a sub-committee of Cabinet established as part of the initiative to oversee the implementation of Backing Australia's Ability.[3][4] It is composed of:[5]
The initiative set aside AUD 2.9 billion over five years 2001–02 to 2005–06, overseen by a Science and Innovation Ministerial Council, chaired by the Prime Minister and advised by the Chief Scientist.[6]
The objectives were:[1]
On 4 May 2004 the Prime Minister announced a second plan, subtitled "Building our future through science and innovation", which is referred to as "BAA2".[7]