Review of the Australian Research Council Act: Response to the Consultation Paper

This submission responds to the consultation paper issued by the Expert Panel conducting the independent review of the Australian Research Council Act announced by the Minister for Education in August 2022. Lodged through an electronic survey, it answers selected questions relevant to health and medical research, noting that the Australian Research Council (ARC) funds much of the basic research underpinning the sector. Research Australia maintains that Commonwealth research funding is fragmented across portfolios and programs such as the NHMRC, Medical Research Future Fund, Cooperative Research Centres and Defence, and recommends that the Act require the ARC Chief Executive Officer develop a funding strategy that takes other funding sources into account, with consultation. Repeating its earlier position on the Haldane Principle, it supports removing the Minister’s power under section 53(4) to decide individual grants, and suggests opening peer review to observers and explaining it to the public. To strengthen the social licence for public research funding, it recommends amending the Act to commit the ARC to open access to research findings and outputs, to support dissemination and promotion of publicly funded research, and to engage the community in research, including through citizen science and reform of research assessment beyond journal metrics. It also suggests the ARC strategy identify gaps with initiatives such as the National Reconstruction Fund and Australia’s Economic Accelerator, and that the ARC explore using artificial intelligence in application and assessment processes.