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] The objectives were:[7][8][9]