Media Release Reserve Bank Welcomes Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre Announcement

The Reserve Bank has welcomed the announcement that the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) has been selected to receive funding under the CRC Program administered by the Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology. The program provides funding for medium- to long-term, industry-led research collaborations. The Reserve Bank is participating in the Digital Finance CRC as part of work on the Bank's strategic focus area of supporting the evolution of payments.

The Digital Finance CRC brings together more than 20 organisations in the finance industry, ranging from recently established fintechs to large established organisations including the Reserve Bank, as well as academics from numerous Australian universities. It has been established to develop and exploit the opportunities arising from the digitisation of assets so they can be traded and exchanged directly and in real-time between any individual or organisation.

Participation in the CRC will provide the Bank with an opportunity to collaborate with industry and academic partners on tailored longer-term research related to innovations in digital finance, including asset tokenisation, central bank digital currency and regulatory technology. The Bank's involvement in the CRC will be coordinated through the Bank's in-house Innovation Lab, which was established in late 2018 as a way to strengthen engagement with new and emerging technologies that are relevant to the Bank's policy and operational responsibilities.