The Expensive Exercise in Futility of Carr's Folly Continues. (February 4, 2010) 

The fifth point made by the Ministers of Education, Julia Gillard, and Research, Kim Carr, in their list of accomplishments under the heading Higher Education Revolution on track is "The establishment of Excellence in Research Australia, which will tell us exactly how well we are doing compared to the world's best. ERA was trialled successfully in 2009 and comes into operation this year."

The resources, monetary and human, spent, and to be spent, on this exercise would be far better used on revamping and improving Australia's peer review system for the ARC and NHMRC, and moving increased funds into peer reviewed research grants while reducing the block funding being placed in the hands of university administrators. The point made by Dame Julia Higgins of Imperial College London, who chaired the chemistry panel for the 2008 RAE that: “The vice-chancellors want to use it [the RAE] as a management tool; that’s the problem” is as valid for Australia as it is for Britain.

Putting it simply, the better the nation's system of peer review the better will be its research. The ERA is an expensive look in a rear view mirror.