Australian research lobby groups are pressing the government to fund the Strategic Examination of Research and Development (Serd) reforms over multiple budgets, arguing that a single fiscal package will be insufficient. The Group of Eight, Australian Academy of Science and other bodies warned that reversing a decade of R&D decline requires sustained capital and multiyear commitments. Separately, critics say the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) is being underspent because of a legislated cap that limits annual disbursements to A$650 million, even as fund capital has risen above original targets. Universities and scientific societies argue that the cap leaves research programs underfunded at a time of rising costs and increasing global competition for talent and innovation. Stakeholders urged policymakers to lift caps and align budgets with long‑term research goals, warning that delayed implementation risks losing momentum in critical fields such as health, AI, and manufacturing where public‑private partnerships drive translation.