Australia’s innovation drift challenged in new book

A new book published by the Acton Institute for Policy Research and Innovation confronts the persistent failure of successive Australian governments to deliver a coherent, long-term innovation policy. 

In Thinking in Public: Australia’s Missing Innovation Policy—Will it Ever Be Found?, author John H. Howard, a leading figure in Australian innovation and public policy circles for over three decades, synthesises three years of incisive commentary into a call for institutional reform and policy courage.

Drawing together over 60 Innovation Insights written between 2022 and 2025, Howard presents a deeply informed critique of the policy inertia, institutional churn, and rhetorical excess that have characterised Australia’s science, research, and innovation (SRI) landscape. 

The book addresses and explores the paradox at the heart of Australian innovation discourse: despite frequent declarations of commitment, innovation policy remains fragmented, short-term, and structurally incoherent.

But this is not merely a critique. Howard’s book presents an integrative reform agenda across nine thematic parts, encompassing system design and governance, talent pipelines, place-based innovation, and international learning. 

He argues that Australia’s underperformance is not due to a lack of ideas or capability but to the absence of enduring institutions and policy frameworks capable of translating ambition into coordinated action.

The foreword features contributions from Professor Glyn Davis AC, former Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; David Thodey AO, Chancellor of The University of Sydney and Chair of Xero;  Dr Cathy Foley, Australia’s Chief Scientist (2021–2024), and Emeritus Professor Roy Green, Vice Chancellor’s Special Adviser of Innovation  (UTS), with each offering perspectives on the practical and policy implications of Howard’s insights.  

Professor Davis notes, “Despite surveying so much failure, Thinking in Public still concludes on an upbeat note,” while Thodey calls the book “a rare blend of scholarship, policy insight, and practical realism.” Professor Green writes, “John Howard is one of the few policy thinkers in Australia capable of diagnosing why we keep missing the mark—and what to do about it.”

The title reflects Howard’s signature style—thinking aloud in public forums and in written form to test ideas, reveal assumptions, and provoke serious debate. 

Acknowledging the influence of integrative thinkers like Roger Martin and Ernest Boyer, the book offers not answers but better questions—posed with the clarity of experience and the urgency of national interest.

“This book is not a critique from the sidelines,” Howard writes in the preface.

“Its Insights were written in real-time, in response to real decisions, and in full view of those in positions to act.”

Thinking in Public is essential reading for policymakers, business leaders, academics, and citizens concerned with Australia’s economic future. It urges a departure from the performative politics of innovation and a recommitment to long-term, system-level reform.

Title: Thinking in Public: Australia’s Missing Innovation Policy—Will it Ever Be Found?
Author: Dr John H. Howard
Publisher: Acton Institute for Policy Research and Innovation
ISBN: 978-1-7641407-0-6
Release Date: 27 June 2025

Available at: Amazon (Paperback) and Kindle, including Kindle Unlimited
Website: www.actoninstitute.au

About the Author:
John H. Howard is one of Australia’s leading thinkers on science, research, and innovation policy. With a career spanning three decades as an adviser, consultant, academic and commentator, he has contributed to national strategy reviews, authored landmark reports, and shaped public debate on innovation and industry capability. He is the co-founder of the Acton Institute for Policy Research and Innovation.