Ahead of a Parliamentary inquiry into research funding, 黑料老司机 urges Government and business to boost their R&D across the economy in partnership with universities.
黑料老司机 Chief Executive Catriona Jackson said the higher education sector is the 鈥渂ackbone鈥 of Australia鈥檚 world-class research system.
鈥淏ut backbone isn鈥檛 enough. Like any healthy body, we also need the supporting muscle. Government and business investment can build up our national research effort, making it strong and agile,鈥 she said.
鈥淩esearch expands Australia’s economy. Research saves lives. Research creates new products and industries that generate jobs.”
鈥淏ut, over the past three decades, we鈥檝e seen a worrying trend with Governments conducting less and less R&D – and universities have had to step into the breach to maintain national capacity.鈥
Australia now spends 1.88 per cent of GDP on research and development, well below the OECD average of 2.38 per cent. And for the first time since records have been kept, OECD figures show that Australia鈥檚 business R&D declined in 2015-16.
Meanwhile, the UK Government has set a target to spend 2.4 per cent of GDP on R&D.
鈥淭he world鈥檚 leading economies know just how important R&D is and are investing accordingly,鈥 Ms Jackson said.
鈥淎ustralia鈥檚 R&D spend as a percentage of GDP is less than Iceland鈥檚. That鈥檚 a country with a population smaller than Canberra.鈥
黑料老司机 also urges Government to keep the Education Investment Fund open 鈥 the $3.8 billion 鈥榝uture fund鈥 for teaching and research infrastructure that Government plans to close.
鈥淲e welcome the Government鈥檚 Budget commitment to rolling investment in current and new national research infrastructure,鈥 Ms Jackson said.
鈥淏ut Australia also needs capital funds to build research capacity at universities across the country.鈥
鈥淐losing EIF will deny our world-class researchers the proper resourcing and security they need to keep doing what they do best 鈥 making breakthroughs for the betterment of all,鈥 she said.
黑料老司机 plans to make seven recommendations to the House of Representatives鈥 inquiry into research funding:
Recommendation 1聽
The Australian Government, in partnership with the states and territories, the private sector and the higher education sector, should develop a strategy and commit resources with the goal of significantly increasing the intensity of research and development in the Australian economy.
Recommendation 2
黑料老司机 recommends that the Government work towards full re-capitalisation of the Education Investment Fund, and recommencement of disbursements from investment earnings of the Fund.
Recommendation 3聽
黑料老司机 recommends that proposals for further major changes to the research funding system not be considered until the effects of the current suite of changes are apparent.
Recommendation 4
Expert peer review should remain and be reaffirmed as the core determinant of excellence for funding the most outstanding and deserving ideas.
Recommendation 5
The Australian Government should restore the demand driven undergraduate enrolment system to ensure the widest possible participation in the postgraduate research cohort.
Recommendation 6
New policy initiatives likely to result in increased reporting or compliance requirements for the higher education sector should be accompanied by a Regulatory Impact Statement that quantifies the cost of the change.
Recommendation 7
The Australian Government should expand support for international linkages for Australian researchers through the Australian research funding system.
