Editorial 28 December 2001

The Australian Academy of Science's
12 Recommendations for an

Election & Christmas Past

During the federal election campaign, the Australian Academy of Science sent a booklet, Priorities in Research and Innovation for the Next Australian Government, to all federal members and senators as well as news organisations. It contained 12 recommendations to improve Australia’s performance in science, technology and education.
    The President of the Academy, Professor Brian Anderson, said simply, "Australia needs to invest in something it can be confident will build a better nation. Education means jobs for young people in knowledge-based industries. Science means innovation for those industries," and went on to point out in what can only be described as a Socratic understatement that there are disturbing signs that the supply of science and mathematics teachers will not meet future demand. He concluded, "Enthusiastic, well-trained science and maths teachers are the essential link between bright young people and science-related careers. They encourage students to take up the enabling sciences at school and continue at university."

Below, are the Academy's recommendations reprinted in full. So far as we can tell, the media impact of the Academy's effort was roughly that of dropping a pebble into Bass Strait during a 6 meter sea.
    And what response has come from the ministers and shadow ministers responsible for science, Dr. Nelson, Mr.
McGauran, Ms Macklin and Senator Carr? Certainly nothing has yet made its way into the public consciousness. Has the Chief Scientist, Dr. Batterham, taken the matter up with Dr. Nelson or the Prime Minister? Has any member of the House or Senate dropped into the Academy Offices to talk about the recommendations? Has the Group of Eight V-Cs, the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS) and the executive of the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee got together with the Academy to formulate an overall strategy to actually accomplish constructive and worthwhile policy changes rather than sending uncoordinated bits of paper and streams of electrons around Canberra. While it would be flying in the face of tradition, they just might form a formidable lobby if the got stuck into it.

Harry Robinson asked half-a-year ago, "Will the science community have a fighter in the scrum? A lobbyist prepared to push and shove for funds and projects? Not a rep for learned societies or a part-time host for occasional goodwill meetings but a day-to-day scrapper armed with data and persistent aggression.
    "
Looking at sport can help. [For example] ACTSPORTS in Canberra represents A.C.T. or national sports organisations, including 60 peak bodies and will soon be covering clubs and associations. At the top is a board of management directing three executives: a CEO, a business manager and a senior administrator.
    "[And then there is]
Sport Industry Australia (SIA) [which] now represents all the peak bodies of sporting organisations... At the top, a board of seven, four elected by members, two appointed by the board and one CEO. Member contributions provide most finance. SIA believes direct contact work with politicians is effective because, says General Manager Ron Burns, 'otherwise the advice the minister receives comes from officers in the department and the Australian Institute of Sport--advice which they might believe the minister wants to hear. We come in without strings.' "

So far concerted and continuing lobbying by science and higher education has been lacking and in its place has been a lackluster effort at best. The initiative instituted by FASTS, Science Meets Parliament, while a worthy programme is a two day a year affair, one for prepping, one to beard approachable lawmakers in their dens. The other organisations are involved only in passing.
    The fact of the matter is that professional help is required urgently -- a soft-spoken, determined, qualified "scrapper... not a rep for learned societies or a part-time host for occasional goodwill meetings?"
 

The Twelve Recommendations of the Australian Academy of Science

  1. Policy initiatives in Backing Australia’s Ability need to be implemented at a much faster rate than under the current arrangements that see most of the funding becoming available after the federal election in 2004.

  2. The next Australian Government must encourage a shared vision for Australian higher education, in which government, universities and the private sector work for the common good of Australia. This may be effectively achieved through the establishment of a Higher Education Funding Council

  3. The next Australian Government should restore the balance between private and public contributions to higher education, for example by restoring the ‘missing 7 per cent’ in funding to universities and put in place indexation arrangements that adequately maintain an agreed level of government funding.

  4. The next Australian Government should reassess the possibility of introducing a research assessment exercise to influence the allocation of research-related funding to universities.

  5. HECS-exempt scholarships should be provided for students commencing science teacher education and a percentage of the HECS debt of science and mathematics teachers forgiven for each year of teaching service.

  6. Any indicative trends of unwelcome outcomes in business investment in R&D must be spotted quickly and responded to promptly. The next Australian Government must state its preparedness to fine-tune taxation incentives in the light of experience.

  7. The next Australian Government should consider implementing a formal offset program when giving assistance to major industrial developments.

  8. The ad hoc nature of the Major National Research Facilities program must end by inclusion of a one-line budget item in the Science and Technology Budget each year, even if there are competitive rounds on a less frequent basis than annual.

  9. There is an opportunity for the next Australian Government to review in 2002 the quantum of funding allocated to CSIRO for the next triennium, to capitalise on the multidisciplinary capacity of CSIRO to engage as a coherent partner with the rest of Australia’s innovation system.

  10. The next Australian Government should work to maintain bipartisan support not only for the Cooperative Research Centre Program, but also for education, research and innovation more broadly.

  11. The next Australian Government should retain the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) and the position of Chief Scientist. It should also upgrade the Commonwealth, States and Territories Advisory Council on Innovation.

  12. The next Australian Government should set broad directions for government research agencies and funding agencies. It should urge that there be put in place robust internal priority-setting mechanisms that include broad consultation with potential users of research.

Alex Reisner
The Funneled Web