Under CRDC's Funding Agreement with the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, CRDC is required to commission an independent review of its performance. The most recent independent review was conducted by Forest Hill Consulting in 2023. 

A typical review conducted by Forest Hill categorises recommendations as: critical (should be implemented as a matter of urgency in order for CRDC to meet its legal and regulatory obligations); important (actions that are expected to deliver significant benefits to the organisation and industry) or better practice (expected to deliver incremental performance improvements).

The Independent Performance Review was completed in September 2023 and made eight recommendations in total: no critical recommendations; two important recommendations; and six best practice recommendations.