A Labor government would seek to boost funding to peak science body, the CSIRO.
The 2014/15 federal budget cut almost $900 million from science and research agencies, including almost $115 million from the CSIRO.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who attended a farewell for CSIRO head Megan Clark last week, could not put a figure on a Labor government's science funding, but said it would increase.
"The CSIRO is doing amazing stuff," he said in Adelaide on Monday.
"I think Australia tends to talk down what we can achieve in science, and we adopt almost a small-country mentality to what's possible.
"So there's no doubt in my mind that we have to invest more in science."
New CSIRO chief Dr Larry Marshall starts in January.
Mr Shorten is in Adelaide to visit IXL Solar and discuss the future of the renewable energy target.
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane, who is responsible for coalition science policy, said in government Labor had slashed funding to the CSIRO.
The first Labor cut was $63.4 million in 2008, while the 2013 budget imposed an efficiency dividend that led to CSIRO job cuts, he said.
Labor did not fund the operation and maintenance of the RV Investigator, the CSIRO's research vessel, while the coalition had allocated $65.7 million to this.
Difficult decisions had to be made to deal with Labor's legacy of debt and deficit, Mr Macfarlane said, but the government was making a significant investment in both the CSIRO and the broader scientific community.
The government will spend $9.2 billion this year on science, research and innovation, with the CSIRO receiving $3 billion over four years.
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