Labor announces terms of reference for Chubb review

The Labor Party’s planned review is intended to explore all aspects of research.

Labor says its review would examine, among other things, Australia’s existing research profile, international best practice in public programs and policy settings, protection of public benefit research and Australia’s capacity to attract global talent.

Federal Labor has released terms of reference for its promised review of research in Australia, to be led by former chief scientist Ian Chubb. Labor says it will assess the overall support framework for research as part of its pledge to lift national research spending to 3 per cent of GDP.

Among the issues to be examined are: Australia’s existing research profile, international best practice in public programs and policy settings, protection of public benefit research, interdisciplinary research, Australia’s capacity to attract global talent, research infrastructure funding, the research workforce, and balancing support between experienced researchers and those in early to mid career.

The Chubb review will also be asked to look at “the responsiveness of the funding system to needs and national priorities as they emerge, and the balance between strategic priorities identified by government and investigator-led research”.

Another area will be “the overall coherence of different channels of public funding, including research grants, research funding in departmental budgets, and research funding provided by the states and territories”.

Labor says similar reviews have been recently carried in Britain and Canada in an effort to ensure that research spending gives maximum benefit.