Editorial 28 December 2001
The
Australian Academy of Science's |
D
uring 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.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, "
"
"[And then there is]
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... n
The Twelve Recommendations of the Australian Academy of Science
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.
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
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.
The next Australian Government should reassess the possibility of introducing a research assessment exercise to influence the allocation of research-related funding to universities.
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.
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.
The next Australian Government should consider implementing a formal offset program when giving assistance to major industrial developments.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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