Productivity Commission to Review Public Support for Science and Innovation. (March 10, 2006)

    The Treasurer, Peter Costello, and the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop, today announced that the Productivity Commission will undertake a research study into the economic, social and environmental returns on public support for science and innovation in Australia.

Ms Bishop said that the study will provide a rigorous evaluation of science and innovation support in Australia and would complement ongoing and planned reviews of the Backing Australia Ability programmes.

The joint media release by Mr Costello and Ms Bishop claim

The Commission's study will consider all key elements of the innovation system, including research and development, and especially:

• the economic impact of public support for science and innovation, including impacts on Australia's recent productivity performance;

• impediments to the effective functioning of Australia's innovation system; and

• the broader social and environmental impacts.

A key to the utility or futility of this exercise is just how narrowly or broadly the Commission chooses to interpret its brief. For example, will it examine the effect of the state of the enabling sciences at Australia's universities, the quality and competence of our pre-tertiary teachers to teach science and mathematics and the pressure on our public research organisations to do contracted applied research and development at the expense of strategic research and research for the public good?

And will the Commission look into the question of excessive and increasing governmental bureaucracy being inflicted on the universities?