Southern NSW Innovation Hub: research impact through collaboration

The Southern NSW Innovation hub leads collaborative and impactful research that supports building resilient regional communities.

The Southern NSW Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (Southern NSW Innovation Hub) was established in June 2021 at Charles Sturt, forming an unincorporated joint venture with seven partners. It is one of eight hubs funded by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. The hub’s partners include industry and community groups, researchers, educational institutions, resource management practitioners, and state government agencies. Hosted by Charles Sturt at our Wagga Wagga campus, this partnership provides the hub with institutional support and access to extensive resources, research, educational networks, and facilities.

Since its inception, Southern NSW Innovation Hub has generated significant economic impacts, transforming an initial cash and in-kind investment of $19 million into over $50 million in value-added economic activity. Key projects include making soil science accessible through Regional Soils Coordinators, establishing the Drought Resilient Long-term Mixed Farming System Trials with a core site at Charles Sturt, delivering the GRDC and CSIRO RiskWi$e program across NSW, and making practical on-ground support available to farmers through drought adoption officers. The hub’s innovative approach to project development through collaboration and people-centred co-design has engaged diverse communities and individuals and led to significant proposals for future funding, demonstrating its impact on drought resilience and agricultural innovation in southern NSW.

In 2024, Southern NSW Innovation Hub launched the Early Insights for More Resilient Communities Dashboard, which helps regional NSW communities visualise their resilience and is set to expand nationally. The hub won a 2024 Australian Biosecurity Award in the community category for its Managing Biosecurity Risks project, which worked with high value industry and producers in the southern half of NSW to find ways to increase the speed of tracking possible vectors to reduce, halt or eradicate biosecurity threats.