- The ARC has introduced legislation to put an end to years of political meddling in the organization.
- The purpose of the bill is to strengthen the ARC’s autonomy and governance.
- Six of the ten recommendations from the August review are implemented by the bill.
The Australian Research Council (ARC), which has been under fire for its contentious grant decisions made by former Coalition ministers, has introduced legislation to put an end to years of political meddling in the organization.
The purpose of the bill is to strengthen the ARC’s autonomy and governance. The ARC has come under fire for making it more difficult for colleges to hire and retain faculty members and for harming its standing abroad.
Australian Research Council
The review, headed by Prof. Margaret Sheil, the former ARC chief executive, discovered that at least six projects—including those of Simon Birmingham, Brendon Nelson, Stuart Robert, and Dan Tehan—had been unjustly obstructed by former ministers.
Six of the ten recommendations from the August review are implemented by the bill. The biggest change is that an independent ARC board will now be in charge of approving grants under the national competition program, which was previously overseen by the education minister.
The minister would appoint the board members, who would need to have at least one member from the First Nations community and a regional representative, as well as appropriate credentials in one or more research areas. It would also be in charge of selecting the chief executive officer of the ARC and granting appointments to board committees.
Subject to parliamentary review, the minister would be in charge of approving the funding guidelines and would still have the authority to approve “nationally significant investments,” such as initiatives that support infrastructure, collaboration, training, research, and education.
Approximately 5,900 new and ongoing grants were supported by $895 million in research grants awarded by the ARC this fiscal year. According to Catriona Jackson, chief executive of Universities Australia, the reforms represent “game-changing” steps towards improving the environment for researchers.
The historical veto of research, which was dubbed “McCarthyism” by former Labor senator and research minister Kim Carr, caused a significant backlash in the education sector, which led to the reforms. In December 2021, the former Coalition faced accusations of politicizing research funding under the guise of Christmas after Robert, the acting education minister at the time, denied funding for six recommended projects, including studies on China and climate activism.
