Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and Universities Australia -- Federal Election Comment and Recommendations. (August 12, 2010)

One July 22 the Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS) published four principal issues of concern to its members while a fortnight ago Universities Australia listed the matters of it considered of consequence.

To date, none of our political parties has acknowledged these listings let alone addressed them in any manner of consequence -- which is indicative of their lack of political importance. In contrast the arrival of an inconsequential number of asylum seekers by sea is inflated into a national crisis. Not until information is raised to a level where it can dominate over disinformation will the situation change, and it really is up to those who are the "infrastructure" of the commonweal to rise up and make it so.

Nota bene:  FASTS' Challenge to the Contestants of the 2010 Federal Election: declare your commitment to science and innovation as core drivers of the national economy so far has brought forth deafening silence.

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"The CHASS "members want the work of rebuilding and reform in research, innovation and education to continue, so that Australia benefits from the considerable work of review and consultation of the past three years, [and it] seeks a commitment to a national cultural policy with programs for new Australian work in the arts. The incoming Government needs to invest in making the data and collections of Australian collecting institutions - museums, galleries and libraries - available for researchers and the broader community through new digital technologies."

The outline of the "four principal issues":

1. Further investment in research funding so that success rates for grants can increase in the next phase of developing the national innovation system for productivity growth:

   • Maintain flow of funds allocated for research infrastructure and indexation of grants announced in Powering Ideas Agenda and the response to the Bradley Review

   • Investigate new funding for ARC Discovery and Linkage programs and the research workforce strategy

   • Include innovation based on humanities, arts and social sciences knowledge and methodologies in the research and development tax incentive.
      

2. Knowledge Exchange programs to build research dissemination and research communication into the innovation system. The flow of new knowledge is essential in building the new business models and social policy programs for future Australian prosperity. Programs for investigation should include:

   • Extending and funding research dissemination of Australian Research Council projects

   • Extension of the national science communications strategy, Inspiring Australia for multidisciplinary and HASS research

   • Appointment by Government of a chief social researcher to aid in building the links between policy makers and academic and research institutions

   • Include design as part of research and development to encourage creative and innovative project and businesses.
      

3. Commitment to a national cultural policy to encourage new Australian work and support development of Australia's creative talent, including new models of investment in participation in the arts.
    

4. On-line access to the major resources and databases of Australia's collecting institutions so they become part of the network of research and knowledge for industry and the community.

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   In the statement released by Universities Australia it noted eight matters of prime importance:

Specifically, Universities Australia:

• Recommends that the government commit to the improvement of student income support. A HELP living expense loan should be provided to distinguish the student need from the unemployed need. Universities Australia would also recommend a review of the student amenities legislation.
   

• Recommends improved funding for research students to further increase both the number of PhD places funded and the funding per place for universities; resources to enable enhanced international collaboration including to improve the attractiveness of Australia as a career destination; and the inclusion of university academics on the Government's Skilled Occupations List for independent migration to facilitate suitably qualified individuals settling in Australia.
   

• Calls for an immediate supplementation of $100 million to the Australian Research Council budget to keep success rates for the flagship Discovery program above 20 per cent. This will alleviate the current situation where many internationally outstanding research projects are unable to obtain funding, constraining Australia's research competitiveness and undermining morale in the research community.
   

• Recommends that government should consider the extended role universities in regional locations play, making the important distinction between the operational needs and the student needs at regional campuses. Regional loading should be applied on a non-competitive basis through direct negotiation with each regional university (potentially through the Compact agreements) incorporating the net additional costs unavoidable in the provision of regional higher education.
   

• Recommends that a new $500 million per annum appropriation for basic university infrastructure be included in university grants. This annual appropriation should be evenly distributed among university campuses to support their general infrastructure needs.
   

• Recommends that governments make periodic reviews of base and relative funding for higher education to ensure that funding levels remain internationally competitive and appropriate for the sector. This is consistent with the Bradley Review recommendations to maintain the future value of funding for teaching and for research in the higher education sector, and should commence with the 10 percent increase in per student teaching and learning support recommended by the Bradley Review.
   

• Supports the development of a more deregulated and flexible higher education system along the lines recommended by the Bradley Review. In moving to this new environment government must ensure that institutions have the capacity to deliver what is promised.
   

• Supports the development of a single national tertiary regulator based on clear, consistent and credible standards. The regulator must be able to identify and deal with significant areas of risk, protect students and establish and assure the quality and reputation of Australian tertiary education. The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) should phase in its approaches to academic standards to ensure their credibility, and align its work with related reforms, including the regulation of overseas student education and the revision of the Australian Qualifications Framework. The aim and effect should be to support the highest international standards without imposing a rules-based straitjacket.