Academy of Social Sciences in Australia
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President's Report
Professor Sue Richardson
The Commonwealth budget was brought down in May, and contained no reference to the grant-inaid to the Learned Academies that is usually part of the DEST budget. At the time of writing, we still have no official indication of the size of the grant-inaid (if any) that we can expect for 2006-07. We have informal advice that it will be the same as the previous year, and formal advice that we will not receive the $115,000 supplement that we have had for the past three years and which we have used to fund a substantial expansion of our activities. The situation is still not clear, but we must prudently plan on a substantial reduction in our income, for the coming year at least. We are in the process of examining what this means for our programs, but it will inevitably reduce the level of activity of the International Program and the Policy and Advocacy Program. We will, if necessary, draw on some of our reserves to manage this difficult situation in the short term.
This very disappointing outcome aggravates our concerns about the report of the Review of the Learned Academies. This report recommended an approximate doubling of our grant-in-aid (to $660,000 and including a continuation of the $115,000). It also made a number of generally useful recommendations to which we are responding. These were set out in my last report. But the full report of the Review included a few critical sentences directed to our relation with CHASS and the opinion that we have been 'less energised in reinvigorating [our] organization', that, to our eye, appear gratuitous and ill-founded. We have vigorously contested this opinion, to DEST and to the Minister, believing it to be based on an inadequate appreciation of our extensive submission.
On the more optimistic side, the Review does say that:
Together the five institutions provide easy access to independent advice from some of the nation's best minds. This advice is not only important for guiding the nation in building and maintaining excellence in each of the disciplines represented by the Academies. It is also invaluable for collecting, validating, and disseminating critical knowledge that the public and the nation need for wise decision-making.
And
The Academies maintain fiercely their mandated independence, and the advice and assistance they provide to Government is therefore perceived to be free of political constraints. Advice from the Academies also carries the special prestige and credibility of the Academy members. Government decisionmaking, therefore, gains an enhanced credibility where it has been informed by the Academies' inputs.
The Fellows provide their expertise on a pro bono basis. Consequently, the cost of advice is very modest, compared with the alternative of employing external consultants. The dollars contributed by Government towards the necessary administrative cost of operating the Academies are greatly leveraged because the expertise of the Fellows is provided on a pro bono basis. Hence the Academies' advice represents excellent value for money to the Government and the community generally.
Optimising the value of this resource to the Government depends on having appropriate infrastructure to mobilise the volunteers. Harnessing the talents of the Fellows, whether fully employed, or retired, requires talented professional staff to identify, mobilise, coordinate, and support them in their pro bono work. This applies at the individual level - finding one or two Fellows to give advice on a specific issue - but it is especially critical when assistance is requested that requires a consolidation of information and judgments from a range of disciplines, such as preparing a submission on sustainability issues. The Secretariats of the Academies already provide leverage capacity, but the provision of modest additional resources could considerably increase the capacity of the Academies to assist Government and contribute to the national benefit.
We, of course, endorse these sentiments.
The ABS and the Academy
Many Fellows will be aware of an exciting new initiative with the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The Academy has agreed to manage, on behalf of the ABS, the generation of six or seven original papers, based on data from the 2006 Census. These papers will be about 30 pages long, written in an engaging style and telling an important story about some aspect of Australian life. The topics will be chosen by the Academy in collaboration with the ABS. We already have a number of excellent suggestions, provided by Fellows in response to a request for ideas. The topics will be selected at a meeting in August, and authors (not necessarily Fellows) will be then be commissioned. The ABS will provide for a modest payment to each author. It will also provide support for analysis of the Census. We anticipate that the papers will be published as Occasional Papers of the Academy, in our refereed series. They may also be presented at the Census Analysis Conference in early 2009, to be organised by the ABS. If the first set of papers is judged a success by the ABS, they are interested in commissioning a second set in 2009, also based on the 2006 Census. In the longer term, the cycle might be repeated for the 2011 Census.
This collaboration is an excellent fit between the needs and resources of the ABS, and the capacities and objectives of the Academy. The Academy will manage the project, advise on topics and select the authors, ensure that the work is carried out in a timely fashion and to a high standard, and publish the results. It exemplifies what the Review had in mind when it said that the Academies 'provide easy access to independent advice from some of the nation's best minds - [which is] invaluable for collecting, validating, and disseminating critical knowledge.'
Policy Roundtables
A second example of the Academy providing easy access to independent advice from some of the nation's best minds is our series of Policy Roundtables. These are managed by the Policy and Advocacy committee, led by Mike Keating. There will be three such roundtables in 2006. The first one, held in May, was based on research done under the Academy's Learned Academy Grant, on the wellbeing of children (Children, Work and Family). The results of this research were published in 2005 (No Time to Lose, published by MUP). The co-editors of the book (Margot Prior and I) were joined by several other contributors and 19 other scholars and policy makers in a half day discussion centred on some of the findings of the research. The format involves active discussion among all participants, stimulated by introductory remarks on each topic. On this occasion, a particular effort was made to involve state-level policy makers. It was a very successful event, and a summary of the discussion, skilfully penned by Anise Clarke, can be found elsewhere in this issue.
A second roundtable will be held in August, also based on the work of a Learned Academy Grant project. This one is on the meaning of 'wellbeing' and its implications for policy, and will be led by the Convenor of that project, Lenore Manderson. It is interesting to note that the Commonwealth Treasury is taking an interest in notions of wellbeing that go beyond the traditional reliance on economic output. Representatives of the Commonwealth Departments of Treasury, Finance, Health and Ageing, Family and Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the ABS and the Productivity Commission will all participate. Each topic will be introduced by a pair of speakers, one an academic and the other from the public sector.
The third roundtable is a response to a suggestion from the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. They would welcome an informed discussion on the notion of 'community' and how it may best be fostered. The Academy will draw on work done in a third Learned Academies Grant project, on the sustainability of rural communities, led by Graeme Davison, and will involve other scholars as well.
These roundtables are an excellent vehicle for the Academy to share the knowledge gained from research projects which it sponsors, and exchange ideas in an interactive environment with leading policy makers. They are by invitation, and restricted to about 25 people, so that genuine discussion is possible. Roundtables can also be convened on other topics of interest to Fellows and to an identifiable constituency.
The Academy ARC Linkage Project
Research on the ARC linkage project The Social Sciences and the Making of Postwar Australia (led by Stuart Macintyre and in collaboration with the National Library) is well advanced. The focus of the research is the institutional history of the Academy, research policy and how the Government viewed the importance of social science research. A key aim is to present a broad view of social sciences research. The project includes extended interviews with about twenty significant people in the life of the Academy, together with:
- a full list of Fellows, by discipline and region;
- the early history of the social sciences governing structure;
- the role of Government and the links forged during the Second World War;
- how the Commonwealth was drawn into funding and the way the Committee and Council became an Academy;
- a comprehensive list of office holders and locations of the Academy.
An important by-product of the self-reflection will be a systematic review of and improvement in our archiving policy. We are fortunate to be able to draw on advice from the National Library, which is reviewing our approach to archiving. I will finish this report by reminding Fellows of this year's Symposium and AGM. The program of events will begin on the evening of Monday 20 November, with the Colloquium. Ann McGrath, Director of the Australian Centre for Indigenous History, will initiate the discussion of 'Who stole Australian history? Current debates and future directions'. The Symposium, on the intriguing issue of the large scale internal migration in Australia, will draw on the research undertaken for the Learned Academies Project of 2005 (led by Peter McDonald, Graeme Hugo and Martin Bell).
In addition to illuminating geographical shifts, it will examine the relationships between internal migration and employment, housing, ageing, the environment, social change, the Indigenous population and impacts on young people. The Symposium will be followed by the Cunningham Lecture, to be given by distinguished student of International Law and Fellow, Hilary Charlesworth.
The AGM, and Panel discussions, will follow on the morning of Wednesday 22nd. There are important matters to be decided at this AGM, arising from the recommendations of the Review. These include the structure of the Panels, and strategies to improve the engagement of the Academy with the next generation of intellectual leaders in the social sciences. I hope that you will attend, and contribute to our decisions and collegiality.
Sue Richardson
2006
Last modified: 2 November 2009.