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POLICY & REFORM
And so, that’ s a really important project to have a good sense as to what are the research priorities of the country and, in turn, ensuring that there is the infrastructure that’ s needed to underpin those priorities. And the report wasn’ t asked to do this but, of course, the next question is, where do the resources come from to fund this piece of work?
This was an issue that was raised in the Roadmap itself where the task force has recognised the need to establish an advisory group, which would be an independent group providing advice to government on the future planning and investment for a wholeof-government response to national research infrastructure. And presumably it would be the role of that group to advise government on the specific priority projects.
So, while the Roadmap identified nine key areas of focus, it didn’ t go to that next step of identifying specific projects. They’ ve acknowledged that that is the next step in implementation, and that would be something that would be done by the infrastructure advisory group. But they also need to have an investment plan, and Recommendation 3 in the report goes to that, that there needs to be engagement with all levels of government and the state and territory governments as well as a number of other stakeholders on an investment plan. How do we fund? What are the sources of capital to support the plan? Where do the funds come from? And how do we ensure that we’ re able to maintain these facilities and review them and build new ones over time?
In the recent Budget, it was announced that the government proposes to make cuts to university teacher funding. Could this also affect the implementation of the Roadmap? It shouldn’ t. The announcement by the government is to … introduce an efficiency dividend which would be to reduce the level of Commonwealth funding that they provide to universities on a perstudent basis by 2.5 per cent in 2017, 2018 and 2.5 per cent in 2018, 2019. So that would be a total of 5 per cent. And what that does is set a new threshold or a new benchmark of funding. So that means that, forever on, indexation would be taken from that new lower base. That would be a substantial reduction in public investment in universities from here on in till that legislation gets through.
Now, that funding – we call it base funding – is primarily for teaching and learning, but it’ s also base funding that is provided to universities not just for teaching and learning. It’ s also to provide some assistance for baseline research, for community engagement, for all the things that universities do. And so, where it might have an impact is on the amount of funding that universities are in turn then able to put into research because some of that base funding does go into research, and so, if a level of that funding comes down, clearly there’ s going to be less available for the basic research that universities do.
The government’ s recent changes to the 457 visa scheme have universities concerned, especially in some of the areas the Roadmap intends to focus on. Do your members believe these reforms will influence the realisation of the Roadmap? If the announcement goes through as stated, it will have a profound effect, not just on Australia’ s research capability but on the quality of Australia’ s research system and university system. And that’ s because Australia is always looking for the best and the brightest from around the world to not only contribute to their own research endeavour but also to come to Australia and build research capability in their areas of expertise and specialisation.
If it’ s made harder – and these announcements would make it actually almost impossible to attract the best and brightest to Australia – then clearly that means Australia will begin to isolate itself as a global player, as a global contributor to the international research effort, and it also means that the quality of Australia’ s research system will begin to erode and we’ ll be set on a path to becoming a research and intellectual backwater. No one wants that. We don’ t believe that was the intention of government. The government has said that is not their intention. The intention is not to, I guess put in place impediments to Australia attracting the best and the brightest from around the world. We’ ve had some very good discussions with government on this, and we’ re in the process of looking at how we might resolve these issues as a matter of priority. But it is very, very urgent. There are a number of recruitment processes that are going on as we speak, including for a top researcher for the SKA for example, who is on hold pending the resolution of this issue.
We’ ve complained in this country for decades about the brain drain, about the best and the brightest from Australia going overseas. The political changes that have taken in place in the US and in the UK mean there is now a window of opportunity for us to attract the very best in the world to Australia to build our research capabilities, our research capacity and our national research endeavour. If these proposals are to go ahead, we will have absolutely squandered that opportunity, and that’ s something that we can’ t afford and it’ s certainly not something in our nation’ s best interest.
Is there anything else that you’ d like to add in relation to the
Roadmap? The Roadmap is a bit puzzling for people, I guess, because it’ s talking about facilities that people don’ t really understand. They’ ve got very sexy titles like, Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Research Facility. But these facilities we’ re talking about are the basis of Australia’ s research endeavour. That one I just mentioned is a facility that is helping make steel thinner and stronger, and is in the process of being commercialised, which is fantastic for Australian manufacturing. We’ ve seen a significant decline in traditional manufacturing, but investing in research and facilities like this means we can continue to innovate and develop new products that are going to keep manufacturing alive in a different way to how it has been in the past.
Another example is the Population Health Research Network – a network of facilities doing amazing things in collecting and networking data. [ For example, it is ] enabling us to start to deliver on the Close the Gap Indigenous health targets, which, without these sorts of facilities, we just wouldn’ t be able to do.
So, the sorts of things that people experience in their day-to-day life, we take those things for granted, but many of those things have come out of these magnificent, nationally significant research facilities. In the report, Alan Finkel describes these as blue chip investments – and he’ s absolutely right, because these are the sorts of facilities and services that offered a cure for sufferers of chronic fatigue, and they supply data on which farmers and fishers and miners rely, and they drive progress and technologies in all sorts of areas.
And so, having this Roadmap, having a plan, having a sense as to the priorities – the research priorities that we should be investing in for the long-term future wellbeing of the nation – is critically important, and it’ s a very fine piece of work. ■
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