Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]
1998 – 1999 - 2000
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
AUSTRALIAN
RESEARCH COUNCIL BILL 2000
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated
by authority of the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs the Hon
Dr David Kemp MP)
ISBN: 0642 452687
AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL BILL
2000
OUTLINE
The Australian Research Council Bill 2000 will implement a number of
initiatives announced in the Government’s 1999 policy statement
Knowledge and Innovation: A policy statement on research and research
training. These include the establishment of the Australian Research
Council (ARC) as an independent agency within the Education, Training and Youth
Affairs portfolio, with an enhanced governance and accountability framework.
The Bill also establishes a funding regime for competitive research grants for
the higher education system, to be administered by the ARC.
The role of
the ARC is to provide advice to the Minister for Education, Training and Youth
Affairs on matters relating to research in the higher education sector, to make
recommendations to the Minister on the funding of competitive grants on the
basis of excellence and to administer the new National Competitive Grants
Program.
Under the new framework, the ARC will consist of a Board
(including a Chief Executive Officer), Committees and staff. This reflects the
governance structure for the ARC outlined in Knowledge and Innovation.
The Board, will consist of a Chair, eight appointed members and five
ex-officio members. As stated in Knowledge and Innovation, the Bill
requires that the Chair of the ARC be a prominent member of the Australian
community, highly regarded in the research community. The composition of the
other members of the Board should also reflect the breadth of academic, industry
and community interests in the outcomes of research. Members of the Board will
be appointed on a part-time basis.
The position of Chief Executive
Officer of the ARC will be created by the Bill. The Chief Executive Officer
will be appointed by the Minister on the advice of the Board, and will be
responsible for the day to day operations of the ARC.
The Bill also
establishes the funding framework for the new competitive grants framework
outlined in Knowledge and Innovation. This will involve a streamlining
of the current competitive grants schemes into the National Competitive Grants
Program. This program will have two broad elements – Discovery
– which recognises the importance of Australia’s universities as
major sources of fundamental research – and Linkage – which
highlights the importance of collaboration across the innovation system. As
stated in Knowledge and Innovation, the Bill will give the Minister the
power to determine the balance of funding between both of these
elements.
An accountability framework is also established by this Bill,
requiring the ARC to formulate a Strategic Plan as well as providing an Annual
Report to the Minister.
A number of provisions pertaining to members of
the Board mirror provisions of the Employment, Education and Training Act
1988. Similarly, a number of provisions pertaining to the payment of grants
mirror provisions of the Higher Education Funding Act 1988.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
As the Bill transfers funding already notionally allocated to the
Australian Research Council in forward estimates, there is no financial
impact.
AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL BILL 2000
NOTES
ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 - Short Title
This clause provides for this Act to
be cited as the Australian Research Council Act 2000.
Clause 2
- Commencement
This clause provides for this Act to commence on the
day fixed by Proclamation. The intended proclamation date is 1 January 2001,
following the expiration of terms of the current Council. The clause further
provides that if the Act has not commenced by Proclamation within six months of
the date of Royal Assent, it will commence on the first day after the end of
that period.
Clause 3 – Objects of Act
This clause
sets out the objects of the Bill, namely:
• To establish the Australian
Research Council, which has functions to provide high quality advice and
recommendations on funding to the Minister, as well as administer the regimes of
financial assistance for research purposes; and
• To create a regime
for funding research programs.
This clause defines certain terms used in the Act.
This clause establishes the ARC as an entity consisting of the Board
(including the Chief Executive Officer), its committees and its staff.
This clause outlines the functions of the ARC. The main functions of the
ARC are to make recommendations to the Minister on providing funding for
research proposals, to administer the funding regimes to be established by the
Act and to provide advice to the Minister on matters relating to
research.
The Minister may request the ARC to provide advice about
matters related to research. These requests must be complied with by the ARC.
Particulars of the Minister’s requests must be included in the Annual
Report.
This clause provides for the Minister to have the ability to give written
directions to the Council on the performance of its functions. The Minister is
not entitled to direct the ARC (or the Board) in relation to recommendations for
funding a particular proposal.
The Minister’s directions will be
included in the ARC’s Annual Report.
The Board is responsible for
ensuring compliance with Ministerial directions.
This clause creates the Board of the ARC. The Board will replace the
‘Council’ established under the Employment, Education and
Training Act 1988.
This clause outlines the main functions of the Board as being to decide
the ARC’s goals, priorities, policies and strategies and to ensure the
performance of the ARC’s functions, as outlined in clause 6. Other
clauses in the Bill confer functions on the Board, such as the preparation of
the Annual Report and the Strategic Plan.
This clause provides for the Minister, through the Chair of the ARC, to
provide directions to the Board about the performance of its functions. The
Board must comply with these directions.
These directions will be
included in the ARC’s annual report.
This clause allows the Minister to notify the Board of general policies
of the Commonwealth. These notifications are to be included in the ARC’s
annual report and the Board must comply with these policies.
This clause outlines the membership of the Board, consisting
of:
• The Chair
• Eight other members appointed as per
section 14
• the following ex-officio members
- the Chief Executive
Officer of the Australian Research Council
- the Chief Scientist
- the
Chairperson of the National Health and Medical Research Council
- the
Secretary of the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs
- the
Secretary of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources
The Chair
and the ‘8 other members’ are referred to in the Act as ‘the
appointed members’.
This clause will give effect to the new
governance arrangements outlined in Knowledge and Innovation. It will
provide for a larger membership of the Board than the current Australian
Research Council, and ensures that the Board will reflect the range of interests
in the outcomes of research.
This provision also allows for the
appointment of ex-officio members. Under the current framework, all members of
the ARC are appointed in personam.
Unlike the other ex-officio
members, the ‘Chief Scientist’ is not a statutory office holder.
This description should be interpreted as that person appointed by the
Government, to provide specialist advice to the Prime Minister and the Minister
for Industry, Science and Resources, on matters relating to science, engineering
and innovation. The current Chief Scientist is
Dr Robin Batterham.
Clause 13 – Appointment of
Chair
The Chair is to be appointed by the Governor-General for a
period of up to three years. This reflects current practice under the
Employment, Education and Training Act 1988 (current practice).
As
foreshadowed in Knowledge and Innovation, the Chair must, in the
Minister’s opinion, be a prominent member of the Australian community and
be held in high regard by the research community.
The Chair cannot be an
APS employee within the meaning of the Public Service Act
1999.
Clause 14 – Appointment of the 8 members referred to
in paragraph 12(c)
The ‘8 other members’ are to be
appointed by the Minister for periods of up to three years. This reflects
current practice.
In making appointments to the Board, the Minister must
try to ensure that the composition of the Board reflects academic, industry and
community interests in research. This reflects the Government’s intention
as announced in Knowledge and Innovation.
Under this clause,
employees of the Australian Public Service are unable to be appointed to the
Board of the ARC by the Minister. This represents a change from the current
arrangements, where the Minister may appoint an APS employee if ‘the
Minister is of the opinion that it will be to the advantage of the Council to
have such an officer or employee.’ Only one current member of the Council
would be affected by this provision. However, under the proposed framework,
that member will fill one of the ex-officio positions.
Clause 15
– Acting appointments
This clause provides for the Minister to
be able to appoint acting ‘appointed members’ in the instance of a
vacancy in the office of member, or while the member is unable to perform the
duties of the office.
This clause only applies to vacancies or inability
to perform the duties of the Chair and the ‘8 other
members’.
Clause 16 – Appointed members hold office on
part-time basis
This clause states that the Chair and ‘8 other
members’ will hold office on a part-time basis.
This is a change
of current practice with regard to the Chair, who currently holds office on a
full-time basis. This change was announced in Knowledge and Innovation,
and is largely due to the creation of the position of Chief Executive
Officer.
Clause 17 - Remuneration and allowances of appointed
members
This clause provides for the Remuneration Tribunal to
determine the remuneration of the Chair and the ‘8 other members’.
This reflects current practice.
Clause 18 - Appointed members may be
granted leave of absence from meetings
This allows for the Minister
to grant the Chair leave of absence from a meeting or meetings, and for the
Chair to grant leave of absence to any of the ‘8 other members’
appointed under section 14. This reflects current practice.
Clause 19
– Other terms and conditions of appointed members.
This clause
provides for the Governor-General to determine, for the Chair, those terms and
conditions not covered by the Act, and for the Minister to determine, for the
‘8 other members’ appointed under section 14, those terms and
conditions not covered by the Act. This reflects current
practice.
Clause 20 – Resignation of appointed
member
This clause allows for the Chair to resign his or her
appointment through written notice to the Governor-General, and for the eight
other members to resign their appointment through written notice to the
Minister. This reflects current practice.
Clause 21 –
Termination of appointment of Chair
This clause provides for the
Governor-General to terminate the appointment of the Chair on the grounds of
misbehaviour, or physical or mental incapacity.
The clause requires
that the Governor-General terminate the appointment of the Chair if the Chair
becomes bankrupt, is absent without leave from 3 consecutive Board meetings,
engages in paid employment that conflicts or could conflict with the proper
performance of their duties, or fails to disclose direct or indirect pecuniary
interests in matters before the Board.
This clause reflects current
practice.
Clause 22 – Termination of appointment of other
appointed members
This clause provides for the termination, by the
Minister, of the appointments of any or all of the ‘8 other members’
on the grounds of misbehaviour or physical or mental incapacity.
The
clause requires that the Minister terminate the appointment of any of the
members if they become bankrupt, are absent without leave from 3 consecutive
Board meetings, engage in paid employment that conflicts or could conflict with
the proper performance of their duties or fail to disclose direct or indirect
pecuniary interests in matters before the Board.
This clause reflects
current practice.
Division 3 – Meetings
Clause 23
– Convening meetings
This clause provides for either the Chair
or the Minister to convene a meeting of the Board at any time.
The Bill
stipulates that the first meeting of the Board must be held within three months
of the commencement of the Act, that a minimum of four meetings must be held
each year and that no more than six months can elapse between meetings. This
arrangement provides the flexibility for the ARC to time meetings of the Board
to coincide, where possible, at various stages of the research grant funding
cycle.
Clause 24 – Presiding at meetings
The clause
provides for the Chair to preside at meetings of the Board. If the Chair is
absent, those members of the Board present may elect a member to preside at the
meeting. There is no restriction on which members are eligible to preside at
meetings in this instance.
This clause determines that a quorum for a meeting of the Board is a
majority of members then holding office.
The calculation of a quorum
takes into account both appointed members and ex-officio members.
This clause allows for a majority vote of those members present and
voting to determine any question arising at a meeting of the Board. The person
presiding at a meeting has a deliberative and, if necessary, a casting vote.
This reflects current practice.
All members, both appointed and
ex-officio, have the right to vote at Board meetings.
This clause requires any Board member who has a direct or indirect
pecuniary interest in a matter being considered by the Board, to disclose the
nature of the interest at a meeting of the Board. This disclosure must be made
as soon as possible after relevant facts have become known.
Disclosures
must be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.
Unless the Board
determines otherwise, affected members must not be present during any
deliberations by the Board on the matter, nor take part in any decision of the
Board on that matter.
The affected member must not be present during any
deliberation of the Board on whether to make a determination under subclause
(3), nor are they permitted to take part in making the
determination.
This clause has effect subject to subsection 38(5), which
completely prohibits the CEO from participating in deliberations and decisions
relating to the appointment of a person as the next CEO, or a proposal to
terminate the CEO’s appointment.
Aside from the matters pertaining
to the CEO, this provision largely reflects current practice. The only change
is that the Board is the sole entity with the power to determine whether
affected members may participate in decisions in which they have declared an
interest.
This clause gives the Board the power to regulate proceedings at its
meetings, provided that they are consistent with the Bill. The Board must also
keep minutes of its meetings.
The Board is able to invite a person to
attend a meeting to inform or advise the Board on any matter.
These
provisions reflect current practice.
This clause provides for the ex-officio members of the Board to allow for
a nominee to represent them at a meeting, if they are unable to attend. This
nomination must be made by notice to the Chair.
The representative of an
ex-officio member has all the rights of the member at that meeting. In
participating in the meeting, however, the representative must comply with any
instructions given to them by the ex-officio member.
A representative
that attends a meeting must comply with the provisions requiring the disclosure
of direct or indirect pecuniary interests relating to both themselves and the
ex-officio member they are representing.
This clause enables the Board to establish committees to assist in
carrying out the functions of both the ARC and the Board. It also enables the
Board to dissolve a committee.
Both the establishment and dissolution of
a Committee require the approval of the Minister.
This clause provides for the Board to determine the functions of a
committee, and requires the committee to comply with any directions of the
Board.
Clause 32 – Appointment of committee
members
This clause sets out the requirements for appointing
committee members.
Committee members are appointed by the Board, with the
Minister’s approval.
Committees must consist of at least 5 members
and could consist of a combination of either all members being Board members,
only some committee members being Board members or no Board members. The Chief
Executive Officer is precluded from being appointed to a committee, but other
members of staff may be appointed to a committee.
In making appointments
to committees, the Board must try to ensure that the composition reflects the
diversity of the interests in the matter(s) before the committee. This was
originally proposed in Knowledge and Innovation.
The Board, with
the approval of the Minister, is also able to designate a committee member as
the Chair of that committee. Members of the staff of the ARC are not able to be
appointed as Chair of a committee.
Clause 33 - Terms and conditions of
committee members
This clause enables the Board to determine the
period of office of committee members, and the terms and conditions on which
they hold office, as well as the ability to terminate the appointment of a
committee member. All these actions require the approval of the
Minister.
A committee member is also able to resign by giving written
notice to the Board.
Part 5 – Chief Executive Officer and
Staff
Division 1 – Chief Executive
Officer
Clause 34 – Appointment of CEO
This
clause creates the position of Chief Executive Officer of the ARC. The CEO will
perform some of the duties of the current position of Chair, as well as be
responsible for the day to day operations of the ARC.
The CEO is to be
appointed by the Minister for a period of up to five years. With the exception
of the inaugural CEO, the Minister must seek and consider advice from the Board
in relation to the proposed appointment. As foreshadowed in Knowledge and
Innovation, the Minister must have considered the proposed appointee’s
record in research and research management prior to their
appointment.
Clause 35 – Acting CEO
This clause
enables the Minister to appoint a person to act as CEO during a vacancy in the
office or while the CEO is unable to perform the duties of the
office.
Clause 36 – CEO holds office on full-time
basis
This clause provides for the CEO to hold office on a full-time
basis.
Clause 37 – Remuneration and allowances of
CEO
This clause provides for the remuneration of the CEO to be
determined by the Remuneration Tribunal.
Clause 38 – Other
terms and conditions of CEO
This clause outlines the other terms and
conditions of the CEO’s employment.
The CEO is prohibited from
engaging in paid employment outside the duties of the CEO’s office without
the Minister’s approval – this is consistent with the provisions in
the Employment, Education and Training Act 1988 that relate to the Chair
of the Council established under that Act.
The Minister determines all
other terms and conditions of the office of CEO not otherwise expressly provided
for in the Act or determined by the Remuneration Tribunal.
The CEO is
precluded from being present at, or taking part in, any deliberation or decision
of the Board in relation to the provision of advice to the Minister relating to
the appointment of a person as the next CEO.
The Minister may terminate
the appointment of the CEO at any time. Before this occurs, however, the
Minister must seek and consider advice from the Board. The CEO is prevented
from being a party to the deliberation or decision of what advice the Board will
give the Minister on this matter.
Clause 39 – Duties of
CEO
This clause enables the Board to determine the duties of the CEO,
other than those already required by this Bill or any Acts, such as the
Public Service Act 1999 and the Financial Management and
Accountability Act 1997. The Board’s determination is subject to the
qualifications that the duties must include a duty to manage the day to day
administration of the ARC and that the Minister must be consulted about any
determination.
This clause allows for the CEO to resign his or her position by giving
written notice to the Minister.
This clause provides for the staff employed by the ARC to be engaged
under the Public Service Act 1999. This reflects current
practice.
This clause also provides for the CEO and staff to constitute a
Statutory Agency for the purposes of the Public Service Act 1999
and that the CEO is the Head of that Statutory Agency.
This clause requires the Board to prepare a written strategic plan for
the Minister’s approval at least once a year. The plan must cover a
period of at least three years.
The plan must set out the goals,
priorities, policies and strategies to be adopted by the ARC in performing its
functions, as well as indicators for assessing its performance.
This clause enables the Minister to either approve the ARC’s
Strategic Plan or to request the ARC to revise the plan to take account of any
specified concerns. This request must be in writing.
If the Minister has
requested that the Board revise the strategic plan, the Board must do so as soon
as reasonably practicable.
When the Minister approves the Strategic Plan,
it must be tabled in both Houses of Parliament within 15 sitting days of
approval.
The Strategic Plan has no effect unless it has been approved by
the Minister.
This clause allows the Board, with the approval of the Minister, to vary
the Strategic Plan.
As with the Strategic Plan, any variation must be
tabled in both Houses of Parliament within 15 sitting days of its approval and
the variation has no effect until it has been approved by the
Minister.
Clause 45 – Annual report to include assessment of
ARC’s performance using performance indicators in strategic
plan
This clause requires the ARC to include an assessment of its
performance during the year in its Annual report. The performance indicators
that are included in the Strategic Plan must be used in making this
assessment.
This clause compels the Board to prepare for the Minister a report on the
operations of the ARC for each year ending 30 June. The Board is required to
also include in the Report any matters required by other provisions of the Bill
– namely particulars of advice requested by the Minister, any Ministerial
directions to the ARC or to the Board, notification of general policies of the
government and an assessment of performance against the specified performance
indicators.
The report is to be prepared in accordance with the
guidelines referred to in the Public Service Act 1999.
The
completed Annual Report will be tabled in both Houses of Parliament by the
Minister within 15 sitting days of its receipt. This is consistent with current
practice.
Division 1 – Financial assistance for approved research
programs
This clause defines certain terms used in Part 7 (Funding of
Research).
This clause sets out the years in which funding is made available. It is
anticipated that future years will be added by amendments to the Act.
This clause sets out the total funding limits for each of the years to
which this Division applies. It is anticipated that future years will be added
by amendments of the Act.
Clause 50 – Minister must divide
funding caps between different categories of research programs
This
clause requires that the Minister determine the proportion of total funding that
will be allocated between such programs of research that the Minister specifies.
In practice, this will mean that the Minister will determine the amount
of funding to be allocated under the Discovery and Linkage
elements of the new national competitive grants program. This will ensure that
due attention is given to the balance of funding targeted at basic and applied
research, addressing the concerns of the research community. The Government
made a commitment in Knowledge and Innovation that the proportion of
funding to be allocated between these types of research would be initially
maintained.
The determination for each year must be made before the start
of the year, and it may cover two or more years. The clause also enables the
Minister to vary the determination.
Sub-division C – Provision
of Financial Assistance
Clause 51 – Approval of expenditure
on research programs
This clause enables the Minister to approve a
proposal for expenditure on a research program. The approval can extend beyond
one year. This will allow for grants that are typically of two or three years
duration to be approved only once by the Minister, rather than, as is current
practice, once by the Minister (year 1) and then years 2-3 by the
Minister’s delegate.
The Minister must determine in writing the
amount of both estimated and approved total expenditure on the proposal for each
year. This determination must be laid before each House of Parliament within 15
sitting days. This replaces a requirement in the Higher Education Funding
Act 1988 for the tabling of an annual report of expenditure under that
Act.
Approvals must contain the name of the approved organisation, a
description of the approved research program, the name and qualifications of the
person leading the approved research program and the approved amount of
funding.
Clause 52 – Recommendations by ARC in relation to
approval of proposals
This clause requires the ARC to make
recommendations to the Minister in relation to what proposals should and should
not be approved for funding. These recommendations must be approved by the
Board.
The process by which the ARC arrives at its recommendations will
be set out in the Rules required by clause 54. This will involve a competitive
process utilising peer review.
The clause also sets out what must be
included in the recommendations to the Minister. This will include the name of
the organisation being funded, the research being funded, the name and title of
the person leading the research program and a statement of reasons why the
proposal is or is not being recommended. This will ensure that the Minister has
all relevant information available to him or her when making a
decision.
As the Minister will have such information before him or her,
and this recommendation will have been arrived at through a process of peer
review, the Minister may rely solely on the ARC’s recommendation without
having to make independent enquiries. This will permit a lawful decision to be
made, without limiting the Minister’s power to seek further information on
any recommendation.
Clause 53 – Requirements for approval or
recommendation of proposals
This clause prevents the ARC from
recommending, and the Minister from approving, any proposal for funding unless
it is consistent with the funding limit for the year(s) that apply, the Minister
has determined the funding for each of the categories, an approved set of
funding rules are in force and the proposal satisfies the eligibility criteria
set out in those rules.
The clause also prevents any proposal that has
been approved by the Minister or recommended by the ARC, being rendered invalid
or ineffective due to subsequent variations of the funding split determination
(as per section 50), or changes to the governing funding rules.
Clause
54 – Variation of funding approvals
This clause enables the
Minister to vary a funding approval, provided that it is consistent with the
funding cap for the year and the split determination (section 50). The approval
also is not able to be less than the amount of funding that has already been
paid.
This provision will enable the Minister to continue funding for
research grants that may breach section 55, due to administrative changes over
the course of the lifetime of a research project. For example, changes arising
from the leading researcher transferring to a different university, or another
researcher taking over control of the project, due to the death or resignation
of the named leading researcher. This will allow payment for the research grant
to continue over that time frame.
The Minister will be able to delegate
this power to the CEO or staff of the ARC to allow for efficient payment of
grants to researchers.
Clause 55 – Payment of financial
assistance for approved research programs
This clause enables
organisations (such as universities) which have had proposals for research
programs approved by the Minister, to be paid financial assistance. This
assistance is to be paid in such amounts, and at such times as the Minister
determines. This power can be delegated to the CEO and staff of the
ARC.
Financial assistance for the research program will end if the
organisation or the leading researcher is no longer involved with the research
program, or if the nature of the research program is no longer consistent with
that originally approved by the Minister. However, section 54 of the Act will
enable the Minister to vary the original approval of the program should any of
these circumstances arise.
Clause 56 – Advances
This
clause enables the Minister to make an advance payment to an organisation that
will be in receipt of financial assistance for an approved program of
research.
This payment will be subject to the terms and conditions set
out in section 58 of the Act and any other terms and conditions imposed in
writing by the Minister.
The Minister’s powers under this clause
will be able to be delegated to the CEO and staff of the ARC.
Clause
57 – Source of payments
This clause appropriates funds from the
Consolidated Revenue Fund for the purpose of paying financial assistance to
approved research programs (section 55) and advances (section
56).
Clause 58 – Conditions of payment of financial
assistance
This clause sets out legislative conditions that must be
met by organisations in receipt of financial assistance for research programs
under this Act. These conditions are largely modelled on those contained in
sections 23 and 108 of the Higher Education Funding Act 1988.
The
first condition is that the amount expended by the organisation in connection
with the proposal in respect of a year must not be less than the amount of
financial assistance paid to the organisation in relation to that proposal for
that particular year.
The second condition requires the organisation to
provide a statement by a qualified auditor on that expenditure. The provision
defines qualified auditor and provides the Minister with the authority to
approve someone as a ‘qualified auditor’ for the purposes of the
Act.
The clause also provides for the organisation to repay any amount of
financial assistance to the Commonwealth if the Minister is satisfied that they
have failed to fulfil these conditions or if the amount of financial assistance
paid to the organisation exceeds the amount of financial assistance due to the
organisation.
Despite the requirement to repay, if the institution
fails to spend all of that financial assistance, the Minister may determine that
the amount may be taken to be paid to the organisation in respect of the next
following year. The Minister also has power to determine any further conditions
relating to this amount.
The clause also requires institutions to comply
with any applicable additional accountability requirements specified in the
governing funding rules. This could include the provision of annual or progress
reports on the outcomes of the research, as is required by the current
guidelines.
The clause also allows for the Minister to impose conditions
by notice in writing to the organisations in receipt of funding.
The
powers under this clause will be able to be delegated to the CEO and staff of
the ARC.
Sub-division D – Funding rules
Clause 59
- Board to make rules
This clause requires the Board to make a set of
rules that will determine the criteria and process for recommending grants for
financial assistance under these programs. These rules must be presented to the
Minister for approval. The ‘rules’ replace the current system of
ARC guidelines.
The clause outlines a number of matters that must be
dealt with in the rules; including eligibility criteria pertaining to both
organisations and research programs, how to apply for financial assistance, an
outline of the approval process, ways and circumstances in which funding
approvals may be varied, and any additional accountability requirements
considered appropriate by the Board. It also requires the rules to be in
writing. All of these criteria are currently outlined in the ministerially
approved guidelines relating to programs administered under s 23 of the
Higher Education Funding Act 1988. It should be noted that grants are
selected on merit, based on an assessment of the research proposal and the
researcher that has been conducted through a process of peer review.
As
with current practice relating to the funding guidelines, it is intended that
the rules be published on the Internet and distributed through the university
sector.
Clause 60 – Ministerial approval of
rules
This clause enables the Minister to either approve the rules
provided by the Board, or to request that the Board revise that set of rules to
take account of specified concerns. If the Minister has requested a revised set
of rules, the Board must provide those rules as soon as reasonably
practicable.
As a set of rules is of no effect unless it has been
approved by the Minister, this clause ensures that there will be agreement
between both the ARC and the Minister in the rules governing the process of
receiving financial assistance for research programs.
Clause 61
– Variation of rules
This clause enables the Board to vary the
approved funding rules. This variation will require the approval of the
Minister.
The circumstances that may give rise to a variation of the
rules could include a change in the amount of funding available for the year, or
if there has been a variation to the funding split determination for the year.
Both of these may occur as a result of budgetary changes. Other circumstances
that could result in variations to the rules could be due to changes in the
organisation of the university sector, such as name changes, establishing new
universities or amalgamations – which could effect the eligibility
criteria for funding. The list of circumstances is not exhaustive.
As
with the rules themselves, a variation to the rules will not be of effect unless
the variation has been approved by the Minister.
Division 2- The ARC
Research Endowment Account
Clause 62 – Establishment of ARC
Research Endowment Account
This clause establishes a special account
(for the purposes of the Financial Management and Accountability Act
1997), which will be called the ARC Research Endowment Account.
This
will allow the ARC to receive donations and bequests from the
community.
Clause 63 – Credits to Account
This clause
allows for amounts that are donated, bequeathed or appropriated for this purpose
by the Parliament, to be deposited in the account.
Clause 64 –
Purposes of Account
This clause enables the ARC to expend the funds
of the Research Endowment Account on research programs that meet the eligibility
criteria set out in the approved funding rules. The expenditure must be
approved by the Minister.
This clause enables the ARC to determine the terms and conditions of
financial assistance for recipients of funding from the Account. The Minister
must approve these terms and conditions.
This clause allows for the Minister to delegate any of his or her powers
relating to financial assistance for research programs to the Chief Executive
Officer of the ARC, or to the staff of the ARC. This reflects the arrangements
in the Higher Education Funding Act 1988, which ensures that the
administration of programs will be handled efficiently and effectively by the
Australian Research Council.
This clause enables the Governor-General to make regulations. This
reflects provisions relating to both the current Employment, Education and
Training Act 1988 and the Higher Education Funding Act 1988.