Jason Clare puts an end to political meddling in the Australian Research Council
Ministers will no longer be able to overrule Australian Research Council funding decisions unless national security is at stake.
Universities and science groups have welcomed a federal government decision to appoint a board to run the Australian Research Council and keep its decision-making at arms-length from the minister.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said on Tuesday that he accepted the recommendation made in a review of the ARC that a board should oversee the body and be responsible for approving its research grants.
The new system, which will be legislated into the ARC Act, will prevent a minister intervening to block research grants recommended by the ARC, which distributes over $800m a year to university researchers in a competitive process.
Ministers in Coalition governments have blocked at least six grant recommendations from the ARC, although some were later restored.
Under the new legislation the Education Minister will only be able to block a grant if there are security concerns and the action must be reported to parliament.
Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said the establishment of an ARC board was “a key step to improving the governance of the ARC and strengthening the integrity of decision-making processes, which we strongly welcome”.
“We are also pleased to see changes that limit ministerial veto power for use only when national security is concerned. Previous interference and delay have not served us well in this regard,” Ms Jackson said.
Australian Academy of Science president Chennupati Jagadish said the changes would lead to a more robust and research-oriented system.
“Limiting the unrestricted use of ministerial discretion to veto properly assessed and reviewed research proposals is a particularly significant reform and something that will bring great relief to our nation’s research community,” he said.
Science and Technology Australia, which represents over 100,000 professionals who work in these fields, said the changes would put guard rails in place to prevent political interference in awarding research grants.
“Curbing the temptation for ministers to meddle in complex research is a powerful positive reform,” said STA chief executive Misha Schubert.
The ARC board will also have the power to appoint the chief executive of the organisation. Currently this position is appointed by the minister.
Under the new arrangements the minister will appoint the ARC board, set key performance measures, set grant guidelines, nominate areas of national priority for research, and approve significant investments such as for centres of excellence.
Mr Clare said the government was accepting all ten recommendations of the ARC review which he set up last year.
“The legislation that underpins the ARC is old and needs updating, and we need to strengthen its governance arrangements,” Mr Clare said.
The changes will also ensure that funding for the ARC is increased each year according to an indexation formula. At the moment it requires new legislation each year to increase the ARC’s budget appropriation.
Mr Clare said in a speech to the AFR Higher Education Summit on Tuesday that ARC played a unique role in Australia.
“It supports basic and applied research across the disciplines. No other agency does this. And that work helps make and change the world we live in,” he said.
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