A bid to stamp out political interference in the allocation of $800 million worth of annual government research funding has been widely welcomed by universities, but they warn the proposed reform legislation could open different avenues for meddling, and no new funding has been added to cover additional the extra responsibilities.
The Australian Research Council Amendment (Review Response) Bill 2023 introduced late last year will make wholesale changes at the ARC, including introducing a board as its accountable authority and removing ministerial approval for individual research grants.
Coalition ministers had wielded the approvals as effective grant vetoes, rejecting otherwise approved funding for several projects, seemingly for ideological reasons and in some instances national security fears.
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