National Research Priorities

Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People

Within Australia, there are approximately 1,500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identifying students, constituting less than 0.5% of total postgraduate enrolment. This lies substantially below the 2.2% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation within the wider community. These students are broadly distributed across Australia’s 39 Universities and Batchelor Institute for Indigenous Tertiary Education.

Federal Government’s Reality Check on RTS

The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) has welcomed the release of the Consultation Paper for informing the development of the Federal Government’s Research Workforce Strategy. The Consultation Paper follows directly from Building Australia's Research Capacity, the Final report from the 2008 House of Reps Inquiry into Research Training and Research Workforce Issues.

Inquiry into Research Training and Research Workforce Issues in Australian Universities




The House of Representatives Industry, Science and Innovation Committee
has announced an inquiry into the contribution that Australian
universities make to Australian research training, and the challenges
those universities face in recruiting, training and retaining quality
research staff. 

    


        

          

    
        

          

      


  




  

    
        
CAPA concerned by Minister's ARC decision

    
    
    
    

      
The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations is wary of the decision of the Minister for Education to abolish the Australian Research Council Board.


"Minister Nelson already has shown his willingness to use his powers under the Australian Research Council Act 2001 and reject peer approved research funding applications.


"Now, the peer review approval process for research funding is in greater jeopardy, because an important element of independent scrutiny has been removed," stated CAPA President Stephen Horton.

    


        

          

    
        

          

      


  




  

    
        
Evaluation of the Knowledge and Innovation Reforms

    
    
    
    

      
The Introduction of the Knowledge and Innovation reforms has had a substantial impact on postgraduate students studying at Australian universities. Whilst it is to soon to see this impact reflected in the broad demographic data gathered each year by DEST, our constituent organisations--postgraduate associations and committees based at universities--have provided us with strong anecdotal evidence of these changes. We have also made substantial reference here to evidence gathered from institutions' Research and Research Training Management Plans.

    


        

          

    
        

          

      


  




  

    
        
Review of Knowledge and Innovation: A guide for constituent's intending to make a submission

    
    
    
    

      
In August, the Department of Education, Science and Training announced its long-awaited review of the policy package Knowledge and Innovation, which incorporates the Research Training Scheme (RTS). This Briefing Paper is intended to assist CAPA constituents who wish to make a submission to the review, but may not be familiar with the background and details of the RTS. The inquiry's terms of reference are included at the back of this document, followed by a brief list of web resources.


Background

    


        

          

    
        

          

      


  




  

    
        
National Research Priorities Consultative Panel

    
    
    
    

      
The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Government's proposed framework for establishing national research priorities.  We applaud Minister McGauran's decision to incorporate public consultation into the priority setting process.  We submit the following response to the Minister's issues paper, Developing National Research Priorities, on behalf of all students enrolled in Australian postgraduate degrees.

    


        

          

    
        

          

      


  


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