The Australian Academy of the Humanities
Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Initiative
A new means of assessing the research quality of Australia’s higher education institutions is currently being developed by the Australia Research Council. ERA employs a combination of research indicators and other proxies to evaluate research excellence. The Academy’s submission to the ERA Consultation Paper encourages the ARC to undertake rigorous testing of the indicators before they are adopted, and if necessary employ limited sampling peer review, to ensure that ERA is an effective and accurate measure of Australian research activity across all disciplines.
Australian Academy of the Humanities ERA Submission (.pdf, 272KB)
Research Training and Research Workforce Issues
In May 2008, the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research convened a House of Representatives Committee to undertake an inquiry into research training and research workforce issues in Australian universities. The Academy’s submission to the inquiry argues that the current research training and research funding system produces an inadvertent discipline-specific effect that severely handicaps the humanities to the extent that Australia is experiencing the decline, to the point of extinction, of key elements of our humanities research capability.
Australian Academy of the Humanities Research Training and Research Workforce Inquiry Submission (.pdf, 324KB)
Cultural Institutions Funding
The Academy welcomed the opportunity to make a submission to the Inquiry of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit into the impact of the efficiency dividend on small agencies. Our submission referred primarily to the major national cultural agencies, which are the repositories and enablers of the nation’s memory, identity, artistic and literary expression, and democratic spirit. It argues that not only should such agencies be exempt from the efficiency dividend, they must urgently be provided with a restorative funding stream if they are to survive, let alone respond to the requirements of the new digital era.
Australian Academy of the Humanities Cultural Institutions Inquiry Submission (.pdf, 144KB)
Future Fellowships Scheme
The Future Fellowships scheme was announced by the Australian government as a means to reward, attract and retain outstanding mid-careers researchers. The Academy’s response to the Future Fellowships Consultation Paper strongly endorsed the ARC’s support of the full range of research orientations across the disciplines, though argued for significant changes to the proposed selection criteria to ensure that humanities researchers are not excluded from the scheme.
Australian Academy of the Humanities response to the Future Fellowships Scheme (.pdf, 448KB )
NCRIS Roadmap Review
The Academy has regarded the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) Roadmap as seriously lacking since it was adopted in 2005. We welcomed the opportunity to make a submission to this timely review. The Academy’s submission argues that exclusion of entire areas of lively, relevant and internationally valued research activity from consideration in collaborative infrastructure terms was based on a deeply flawed apprehension of the range and nature of humanistic, artistic and social scientific (HASS) research. The current NCRIS capabilities have seen legitimate infrastructure needs of humanities researchers ignored and alienated many HASS researchers from collaborative research infrastructure practices and facilities.
Australian Academy of the Humanities NCRIS Roadmap Review Submission (.pdf, 160KB)
Review of the National Innovation System
The Federal Government has established a wide-ranging review of Australia’s national innovation system in recognition of the vital role innovation plays in boosting productivity and international competitiveness. The Academy’s submission argues that while there is now broad acceptance of the role of non-technical factors, including social and cultural factors, in positive innovation outcomes, that acceptance is not reflected adequately in the operations and procedures of the institutions and mechanisms through which Australia supports innovation (.PDF, 288KB).
Academy Comment on the Draft Program Guidelines for Higher Education Endowment Fund 2009 Funding Round
The Commonwealth Government established the Higher Education Endowment Fund (HEEF) in 2007 as a perpetual fund to support capital works and research facilities in the higher education sector. Approximately $300m is expected to be committed in 2008 for expenditure over a 3-5 year period. Similar amounts are expected to be available in future years, subject to the investment returns on the Fund. The HEEF Advisory Board, which is to recommend HEEF investments to the Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, sought comment on draft guidelines it had prepared setting out the process by which investments would be selected. The Academy's comment on these guidelines is here (.PDF, 484KB).
Australia 2020 Summit
The President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, Professor Ian Donaldson FAHA, FBA, FRSE, was invited by the co-chair of the Australia 2020 Summit, Professor Glyn Davis, to identify what he saw as the key issues for the 2020 Summit. Assisted by members of the Council of the Academy, and by the Academy's secretariat, this is his response (.PDF, 284KB).
Communiqué of the Languages in Crisis: National Languages Summit
'Languages in Crisis' was an extremely diverse gathering of academics, educationalists, teachers, government representatives, and community members. The Summit was called to discuss simple, effective measures to utilise and develop our national language capacity. Featuring Prof. Michael Worton (Vice-Provost, Academic and International and Professor of French, University College London) and Major Michael Stone (ADF) and a range of other prominent speakers, the Summit presented both a wide-ranging roundtable and a group discussion. A Group of Eight research paper was also launched on the day.
Humanities Technologies - Research methods and infrastructure
The Australian Academy of the Humanities has been awarded a grant by the Australian Research Council, under the Linkage – Learned Academies Special Projects program, to undertake a scoping study to determine the nature of research methodologies and infrastructure requirements in the humanities.
Creative Arts
The Australian Academy of the Humanities, in conjunction with the Australian Coalition for the Creative Arts, received funding under the Australian Research Council Special Projects scheme in 2001 for a project on research in the Creative Arts.
Towards a Research Strategy for the Creative Arts in Australia: Creative Practice, Publication and Research Training resulted in three conferences that year, and culminated in a final report that articulated a strategic vision for the future of research in the arts in Australia.
National Heritage
One of the aims of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, as prescribed in its royal charter, is to act as a consultant and an advisory body in matters concerning the Humanities. As the preservation and conservation of Australia’s natural and cultural heritage is a major matter concerning the Humanities, the Academy has established a heritage policy.
The purpose of the policy is to state the Academy's position on heritage; encourage the preservation and/or conservation of Australia's natural and cultural heritage; and promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to Australia's natural and cultural heritage.The Cultural Heritage Policy Statement is available for download (.RTF, 26KB).
National Research Priorities
During 2003 the Academy played a major role in assisting the Federal Government refine the National Research Priorities framework so it better reflected the human, social and cultural research conducted in Australia.
On 28 November 2003 - following close collaborative work between the Government, the Academies, and the broad research comunity - the Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon. Dr Brendan Nelson, launched the enhanced National Research Priorities.Each of the four original priorities now feature an additional goal that recognises the importance of 'the human element' in research and knowledge creation. They ensure that the Humanities and Social Sciences are central to the national research effort, and that social, cultural, economic and ethical perspectives are incorporated into scientific and technological research and innovation. The four new goals are listed below.
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Responding to climate change and variability [An environmentally sustainable Australia]
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Strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric [Promoting and maintaining good health]
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Promoting an innovation culture and economy [Frontier technologies for building and transforming Australian industries]
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Understanding our region and the world [Safeguarding Australia]
The Academy prepared a report for the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training, The Humanities and Australia's National Research Priorities (Canberra, 2003). It is available for download in Portable Document Format (.PDF, 144KB), and in hard copy (available by contacting the Academy offices).
Opinion
In addition to formal contributions to policy development and reform, via government submissions and participation on committees, the AAH has an impact on debate through media channels. The President, Executive Director, Council members and Fellows regularly engage with the print and electronic media, by way of press releases, comment to journalists, radio interviews, public lectures, and editorial/opinon columns in Campus Review, The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and other major metropolitan dailies. Below are recent opinion pieces drawn from articles, interviews and lectures.
Challenges and Opportunities
The Humanities and the higher education sector face many challenges in the 21st century. Transformations on a global scale, as well as domestic political, economic and cultural shifts, have left their mark on the Humanities in Australia, and demand innovative solutions and vision on the part of our political and sector leaders.
Along with these challenges, the changing climate also brings opportunities. The Academy has a role to play in seizing these opportunities, by:
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Influencing policy directions.
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Encouraging excellence in the Humanities.
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Promoting the worth of the Humanities in all areas of Australia's cultural and economic life.
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Seeking new ways of making our disciplines matter.
Reviews of the Academy
The role of the Australian Academy of the Humanities has developed and expanded over the decades, in response to the changing political and higher education context. An important and ongoing task for the council is to review the Academy – its role, activities, immediate aims and long-term purposes – in collaboration with Fellows, external organisations, government and sister academies.
Union Académique Internationale
The Australian Academy of the Humanities is a member of the Union Académique Internationale (UAI) (International Union of Academies), an international federation of learned academies from countries all over the world. The UAI is committed to the success of collective research work and to this end supports numerous projects of a collaborative nature in a wide range of academic disciplines. This support is provided not only through collaboration with member academies but also with CIPSH and UNESCO.
The AAH's membership of the UAI dates from 1961. The current Academy delegate is Professor Sam Lieu.
Submissions
One of the major objectives of the AAH, as set out in the royal charter, is to "act as a consultant and an advisory body in matters concerning the Humanities".
In that capacity, the AAH contributes to the development of Humanities policy in Australia through a wide spectrum of activities and projects. One of the most direct ways in which the Academy seeks to influence Humanities and higher education policy is through formal submissions to government.
