I have received the report of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Act independent review.
Last year, I tasked Professor Margaret Sheil AO, Vice Chancellor and President of Queensland University of Technology and former CEO of the ARC, to lead the review to ensure the ARC can meet the current and future needs of Australia’s research sector.
This is the first comprehensive review of the ARC in 22 years.
The review team also included:
- Professor Mark Hutchinson, the Director of the Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale BioPhotonics and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Adelaide, and
- Professor Susan Dodds, Senior Deputy-Vice Chancellor and Vice-President (Research & Industry Engagement) and Professor of Philosophy at La Trobe University.
The report recognises the long and important history of the ARC and makes recommendations to modernise legislation and strengthen governance arrangements.
Australian researchers are some of the best in the world and the ARC is a leader within the higher education sector.
ARC-linked research has supported the technology underpinning solar cells and quantum computing; helped to bring the internet to Australia; and provided scientific expertise about COVID-19 to the World Health Organisation.
The Government will consider the findings of the ARC report and respond in due course.
I thank Professor Sheil, as well as Professors Hutchinson and Dodds for all their hard work in preparing and delivering this report.
The report can be found here.
