Australian Research Council

The majority voted in favour of a motion, which means it succeeded. Motions like these don't make any legal changes on their own but do represent the will of the Senate and so can be politically influential.

Motion text

That the Senate:

(a) notes that:

(i) the new National Interest Test for the Australian Research Council research grants will allow the Government of the day to influence an independent research approval process,

(ii) narrow political agendas should not be allowed to determine long-term research priorities, and

(iii) the Australian Research Council already has a rigorous peer review process for assessing grant applications and applicants are required to demonstrate the benefits and impact of their research; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to remove the National Interest Test from research grants administered by the Australian Research Council.