National Centre of Excellence in Desalination

Perth, Western Australia

Funding: The Australian Government is providing $20 million over five years to support the establishment of the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination.

Establishing the centre has an estimated total funding of approximately $68.1 million.

About the project

The Australian Government is investing in research through the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination to support the development and commercialisation of innovative technologies in desalination. With access to new technologies, our desalination industry will be able to deliver water with greater effectiveness and energy-efficiency.

The centre is based in Perth, Western Australia, at Murdoch University. It is currently developing its applied research facilities at Murdoch University’s Rockingham Campus. The Grand Opening of these facilities is scheduled for 4 September 2011.

The founding participating organisations centre are: CSIRO ; Curtin University ; Deakin University ; Edith Cowan University ; Flinders University ; Monash University ; University of NSW ; University of Queensland ; University of South Australia , University of Technology Sydney ; Victoria University , University of Western Australia ; and, Murdoch University . The University of Wollongong was recently announced as the centre's 14th participating organisation, through its Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory.

Project benefits

The centre will:

provide leadership in accelerating ground-breaking research on energy-efficient desalination technology
provide facilities to researchers and industry to support the development and piloting of new technologies
commercialise the resultant technologies for the benefit of the nation.

While based in Perth, the centre will involve collaborative research based on partnerships across the nation between:

research institutions with expertise in a range of disciplines relevant to desalination and water recycling technologies
industry leaders aimed to position Australia as an international leader in these fields.

The centre has developed a National Desalination Research Roadmap to guide research direction and investment. The roadmap provides a clear picture of Australia's water needs and opportunities for desalination research. It points the way forward for targeted research activity and guides the centre, and its participating organisations, in delivering the centre's mission.

The centre works closely with the Australian Centre of Excellence in Water Recycling in Brisbane.

The centre is also closely involved in preparations for the International Desalination Association's World Congress , which will be held in Perth, Australia on 4-9 September 2011.

The Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research has announced that the centre has been included on the Australian Competitive Grants Register for five years from 2011.

Further information

On 15 May 2009, the Hon Gary Gray AO, MP, then Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Northern Australia, Member for Brand, announced that Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, had been selected to host the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination.

Murdoch uni chosen to host desalination centre of excellence - media release 15 May 2009

The 12 successful project from the centre's second funding round were announced by Senator the Hon Don Farrell, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water, on 21 December 2010.