Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move Greens' amendments (1) and (2) on sheet 2468 revised together.

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This amendment requires ARC grant recipient organisations to report to the ARC on the nature of the employment of researchers who are employed under the grant at the end of the grant period. This amendment also requires the ARC to annually report on the nature of the employment of researchers who are employed by the organisations who are conducting research with ARC grants.

Job insecurity and casualisation are, as we know, rampant in universities—and the research sector is not immune. We know that one-third of researchers have been on rolling fixed term contracts for over six years. We can only address job insecurity if there is transparency about the nature of the employment of researchers so that we know the full extent of the problem.

It should not be a big ask for ARC grant recipient organisations to report information about their employed researchers, such as whether their contracts are fixed term or ongoing, the duration of contracts, the gender and seniority of employees, whether employees are casually employed or whether they are part-time or full-time. They should already have this information, so it's not going to put an extra burden on them.

As one of the biggest funders of research, the ARC must play a role in increasing transparency regarding the job security of researchers. This amendment will ensure that this happens in ARC funded research.

I want to thank the National Tertiary Education Union as well as the networks of casualised employees at universities for the work that they have done towards achieving job security, getting rid of casualisation and improving transparency in university employment. I also want to thank the government for their engagement on this amendment and for supporting it.