Senate inquiry says veto should stay but recommends independent review of Australian Research Council
A Senate inquiry has rejected a proposal to remove the government’s right to veto Australian Research Council grant recommendations.
But the inquiry recommended an independent review of the ARC, saying that the act governing the council “may no longer be fit for purpose and may need to be amended to help the ARC manage the opportunities and challenges arising from today’s research ecosystem”.
Throughout March, the education and employment committees have taken submissions and evidence on a bill from the Australian Greens that would remove the minister for education’s right to refuse grant recommendations from the council. Its report, published on 21 March, highlights some concerns raised about “the bill’s potential weakening of parliamentary oversight”.
“The committee agrees with the view that requiring the minister to ‘rubber-stamp’ projects recommended by the ARC chief executive would essentially override the basic principle of responsible government,” the report says.
“Removing ministerial discretion would raise serious questions about whether the minister was fulfilling their obligations under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. It would also prevent the minister from preventing projects being funded where there are due diligence or national security concerns.”
The report noted concerns about the ARC possibly losing assessors because of the risk of ministerial intervention, the impact on researchers’ careers and “a loss of faith in the rigorous peer review process”.
“Many stakeholders raised concerns that the existing power of the minister to reject funding proposals recommended by the ARC was out of step with international best practice and could potentially impact Australia’s ability to attract and retain the best researchers,” the report says.
The Institute of Public Affairs, a conservative think tank, had told the inquiry that “the amendment implicitly assumes that the ARC [and] its panellists and reviewers are more in tune with the public’s notion of the most pressing national research funding priorities than an elected government”.
Independent review
The report noted that many submissions said that if the veto right were to be retained, it should be made more transparent, with more reasons given. A number of stakeholders had also called for a much broader review and reformation of the ARC and its processes.
“The committee accepts the argument that a broad review of the ARC is necessary and recommends that the government commission an independent review of the ARC, including its governance and research funding processes, with a view to maximising the impact of public investment in university research and driving a strong national system of R&D. The review should also have regard to the directions issued to the ARC by the minister for education and youth in his letter of expectations dated 6 December 2021,” the report says.
The committee was chaired by Nationals senator Matt Canavan and had a majority of government members. Labor senators made additional comments saying that they did not support the bill but wanted the law amended to make ministerial intervention more accountable, with reasons given to parliament.
A dissenting report from the Australian Greens rejected the report, saying it was “blatantly biased towards the view of a very small minority of submitters to the inquiry” and claiming that there had been no time for discussing amendments when the report was being written. Both Labor and Greens senators supported a broader inquiry in some form.