For Research Infrastructures

Connecting research to the infrastructure that powers it

Australia has invested heavily in the infrastructure that makes the work possible – the data, instruments, computing, platforms and collections researchers rely on.

But that investment only pays off when the right people can find what they need and access it securely.

By connecting to the Australian Access Federation, your infrastructure gives researchers, students and collaborators a simpler way in – using the trusted institutional identity they already have, instead of yet another account to manage.

That means less friction and a more connected national research ecosystem.

Backing a national vision

The 2021 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap calls for a more integrated, connected national research infrastructure ecosystem.

AAF provides the trust and identity capability that makes that vision achievable.

It’s a simple idea with real impact: investment builds the infrastructure, trust connects the people, access enables discovery, and discovery creates impact.

Trust & Identity Australia Capability

people connected globally secure logins each year National and international services % network availability

Figures based on 2025.

AAF puts your organisation inside one of Australia’s most trusted and widely used identity networks.

The same infrastructure supports every individual member, and it’s working at scale every day.

Benefits at a glance

Joining the Federation changes who can reach your infrastructure, how fast they get access, and how much of the admin sits on your team.

Join a global research community
AAF connects universities, NCRIS facilities, government agencies, medical research institutes and industry through a single trust framework.
Membership puts your infrastructure within reach of both the Australian community, and through eduGAIN, research and education communities worldwide.
Wider use, greater impact
When the barriers to access come down, more researchers can use what you’ve built.
Higher utilisation means a stronger return on national investment, and better outcomes for the people and communities relying on it.
Infrastructure that works together
A shared trust framework makes it easier for research infrastructures to connect with each other.
That supports multi-facility workflows and a more connected system. A system where data, computing, facilities and people can work together seamlessly and at scale.
A trusted way in for industry
The same framework opens your infrastructure to approved industry partners, supporting research translation, innovation partnerships and commercial collaboration.
You don’t need a separate trust arrangement for every new partner.
Connect once and scale with your community
Approved researchers are onboarded through their institution’s trusted identity processes, not manual account set-up, so they can get started sooner.
Whether you’re a small specialist facility or a national platform supporting thousands of users, you can grow without the admin growing with you.
Protected, accountable access
Every user is verified by their own institution against internationally recognised standards, so you can make confident access decisions for sensitive data, HPC environments and specialised facilities.
On top of this, every access event is traceable back to a verified identity, which gives you a clear record for governance, privacy and compliance without building that reporting yourself.

Services

Explore the AAF services working behind the scenes to connect people, identities and infrastructure across the sector:

Federation
The trust framework behind it all, how institutions and services connect through a single, trusted identity.
The Federation
Australian ORCID Consortium
A globally unique, persistent identifier for every researcher, connected through the federation you already trust.
Australian ORCID Consortium
Virtual Home
Support for users who don’t have an institutional login of their own.
Virtual Home