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.

“The Consultation Paper picks up on many of the nuts-and-bolts issues that emerged in the course of the 2008 Inquiry that were obviously due for review. The paper offers an outline for capacity building in Australia’s research workforce to 2020, and clearly flags important areas for reform” CAPA President, Tammi Jonas said.

“It has already become clear in the course of the development of the Research Workforce Strategy that the current Research Training Scheme (RTS) has questionable fitness for purpose. There is a commonly held view that the RTS is definitely due for a reality check. The RTS currently provides a very poor fit for the reality of what it takes to complete a world-class research degree in 2010. It also provides a very poor fit for the diversity of Australia’s community of talented research students and early career teachers and researchers.

The Consultation Paper recognises:
• The importance of attracting and retaining talented candidates to research degrees, and the central importance of efforts to mitigate student attrition;
• The need to extend the APA to the full 4 years, to align with the duration of candidature under the RTS;
• The need for greater flexibility in research degree programs to reflect the diversity among research degree candidates- in particular for part-time students;
• The need to exempt part-time scholarships from taxation (as per the Henry Review);
• The importance of degree pathways leading to a PhD, including honours degrees and quality coursework masters degrees with a significant research component;
• The fact that researchers in Australia are a diverse group, including that the majority of research higher degree candidates are in the 30-39 year age bracket;
• The importance of participation of equity groups in research education;
• The need for a realistic assessment of the full costs of research training, including the costs associated with the minimum standards of resources necessary to support world class research;
• The value of research student publications in contributing to Australia’s overall research output;
• The value in the joint provision of research degrees for candidates, for institutions and for Australia’s contribution to world-class research;
• The negative impact of restrictive and inflexible migration policies on research; and
• The importance of supporting the development of international research collaboration among early and mid-career researchers (as per the Inquiry into Australia's international research collaboration).

“The Consultation paper represents a commendable effort on the part of Minister Carr and colleagues at the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR). It clearly recognises the limitations of a one-size-fits-all approach to attracting, retaining and supporting research students and early career researchers, and clearly highlights the need for action not only on the part of Government, but also on the part of Universities and other stakeholders. For universities in particular, the release of the Consultation Paper is a clear signal that the time to act on improving the prospects for early career and casually employed teachers and researchers is now” CAPA President Tammi Jonas concluded.