18th Mar 2024, 2:42 PM – Senate Australian Research Council Amendment (Review Response) Bill 2023 - in Committee - Board to reflect diversity of discipline areas

The majority voted against an amendment introduced by Victorian Senator Lidia Thorpe (Greens), which means it failed.

What does this amendment do?

Senator Thorpe explained that:

This amendment is very simple. It gives full effect to recommendation 6 of the review, which states that the board must comprise members with:

… a combination of skills, experience, and perspectives relevant to the functions of the ARC across the spectrum of ARC disciplines, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership, research administration and evaluation, and university industry partners.

Numerous submissions and stakeholders called for measures to ensure the board is comprised of individuals from a range of academic disciplines. While I endorse the existing provisions requiring a First Nations member and geographical diversity, the diversity of the general community remains open to interpretation and does not guarantee that the range of academic disciplines are represented on the board.

Amendment text

(1) Schedule 2, item 10, page 9 (line 15), at the end of subsection 12(4), add:

; and (e) ensure that the membership of the Board reflects a diversity of discipline areas to the extent that is reasonably practicable.