| UNDERSTANDING PBR HOME > 1. PLANT BREEDER'S RIGHTS > 1.4 HISTORY OF PBR IN AUSTRALIA > Page 1.4 More Info
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 Debate about the need for intellectual property rights for new plant varieties occurred in Australia for at least 20 years prior to the introduction of the Plant Variety Rights Act in 1987. Debate generally centred around the social benefits and/or costs of allowing proprietary rights for living things. This was emphasised in Australia because of the tradition of a high level of government versus private investment in plant breeding, in contrast to many overseas countries where most of the plant breeding was done by the private sector. In the 1980’s Australian governments were reassessing their investment in R&D, including plant breeding and were forming the view that where a commercial return could be obtained, then the private sector should be encouraged to increase its investment. As a result more effort was put into seeking support for the Plant Variety Rights Scheme. The nursery industry was a key driver in the introduction of Plant Variety Rights as Australian growers were not getting access to many new overseas varieties because Australia did not have the benefit of UPOV Convention protection. On the other hand, broad acre farmers were concerned that they may incur increased costs to gain access to new varieties bred in Australia by public research organisations, which had traditionally been “public domain” releases.
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