Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Australian Research Council Amendment Bill 2006 amends the Australian Research Council Act to implement changes to the governance arrangements of the Australian Research Council (ARC). These changes form part of the government’s response to the recommendations of the Review of the Corporate Governance of Statutory Authorities and Office Holders conducted by Mr John Uhrig.

The assessment of the ARC against the recommendations of the Uhrig review found that the functions of the ARC are best suited to the executive management template. The bill will enhance the ARC’s governance arrangements to make it fully consistent with this template. This includes retiring the ARC board and transferring the majority of the board’s functions and responsibilities to the chief executive officer of the ARC.

The retirement of the ARC board will remove the potential for confusion between the responsibilities of the ARC board and those of the CEO. It will allow the ARC to act quickly in identifying and funding high quality research. It will ensure that the chief executive has both full power to act and full responsibility for the activities and operations of the ARC.

The ARC will remain a prescribed agency under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997. In keeping with the government’s knowledge and innovation policy announcement of 2001, the ARC will remain a statutory agency separate from my department.

The ARC will retain the peer review arrangements of its college of experts. The 75 members of the college of experts, and the thousands of Australian and international readers who commit their time to peer review, perform a vital function. Their contribution to the national innovation system will continue.

These enhancements to the ARC’s governance arrangements will be complemented by other changes. I will issue a statement of expectations to the ARC’s chief executive officer to outline the government’s current objectives relevant to the authority, as well as any broad expectations that I have for the ARC. This will include the time frame for announcing the outcomes of the grant processes for the ARC’s two major programs (Discovery and Linkage). The ARC CEO will reply with a statement of intent outlining how the ARC proposes to meet my expectations.

The ARC’s statement of intent will not replace its strategic planning processes, which will continue to cover a rolling triennium. Rather, the statement of intent will allow the ARC to give me an indication of how it proposes to respond to my specific concerns. These documents will be made public.

The CEO will receive input on research matters directly from an advisory committee which I will create under the new provisions of the act. The committee will have a broad membership and will focus on providing strategic advice about the ARC’s operations. The committee will not look at individual grant applications.

This will be the responsibility of the college of experts, which will make recommendations directly to the ARC CEO, who will in turn provide me with advice. This will expedite the ARC’s funding processes, provide greater certainty to researchers about the future of their ARC funding and allow the ARC to respond quickly and flexibly to emerging priorities.

I commend the bill to the House and present the explanatory memorandum.

Debate (on motion by Mr Gavan O’Connor) adjourned.