Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Stephens for her question. I know she has had a long-standing interest in the question of women researchers. I indicate to the chamber that the Labor government is determined to ensure that all Australians have the opportunity to realise their full potential. And in the research sector we want to ensure that we can answer the needs of the country and the aspirations of individuals. As far as research is concerned, the government demands no less than excellence. In particular, we acknowledge that we cannot afford to squander the talents of our best researchers, and women have been underrepresented in the research workforce for far too long. The record shows that women compete very successfully at an elite level when they apply. That is why the Prime Minister announced last night two prestigious new awards for elite women researchers. They are named after two distinguished and inspiring Australian women researchers, Kathleen Fitzpatrick and Georgina Sweet. These fellowships will help remedy the significant discrepancy in the number of male and female applicants for our competitive fellowship schemes, especially at that elite level. They will include additional funding to allow fellows to act as ambassadors and as mentors for women in the research community. We are supporting our most talented women and we are encouraging the next generation to follow in their footsteps. Our approach, as outlined in the 10-year Powering Ideas white paper, was to ensure that we have a strong research workforce that drives productivity growth across the economy; provides the knowledge to help our established industries work cleaner, smarter and cheaper; and allows Australia to absorb the best ideas—(Time expired)