Science funding should be arm’s length from government, minister says
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Federal Health Minister Mark Butler says government research funding should be distributed using an independent peer-review process, as he mulls changes to the beleaguered $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund.
This masthead revealed last week that the fund spent more than $500 million on “ad hoc” and non-competitive grants under the Coalition government, some of which went into projects in or near marginal seats. The fund’s own bureaucrats admit it is perceived as a government slush fund.
The Medical Research Future Fund is worth $20 billion.Credit: Illustration: Richard Giliberto
The government launched a review of the fund last month, with one option considered being to move it out from under government control. Consultation closed earlier this month.
On Tuesday, Butler said he had long held concerns about the level of involvement of government ministers in the huge fund.
“I have had a view that there was a question over the level of involvement by, essentially, ministers and ministerial officers, as well as the department,” he said.
“We do have to make sure that it has the confidence of the scientific community and taxpayers, who after all put about 1½ billion dollars in the medical research funding from a commonwealth level.”
Health Minister Mark Butler ordered a review of the fund’s governance and administration.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Under federal legislation, the health minister of the day retains the ability to directly hand Medical Research Future Fund money to a single group or charity.
Butler declined to say if that arrangement was appropriate but said he had not used it.
“I’ve got an open mind at the moment, but I initiated the review around [the fund’s] governance and administration because I’ve always been a very strong supporter of the arm’s length peer-review process, a scientific process, assessing applications from researchers,” he said.
“Our focus is on putting in place the most robust governance and administration arrangements to the MRFF for the future.”
The Medical Research Future Fund review is one of several examining key pieces of scientific infrastructure.
In April a government-ordered review into the much-maligned Australian Research Council, which distributes about $800 million in research funding a year, recommended government ministers be stripped of the power to meddle in grants.
“The minister is considering the findings of the report and will respond in due course,” a spokesman for Education Minister Jason Clare said.
A review of Australian universities, released last week, has prompted discussion on a levy on the money universities earn from international students, which could go towards paying for research.
And Science Minister Ed Husic launched a review of Australia’s science priorities late last year.
Professor Mark Dawson, associate director of research translation at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and a former Australian scientist of the year, said the sector was reaching a formative moment.
“The Albanese government understands we haven’t got the system right. Mark Butler understands the MRFF can be better utilised for maximum impact,” he said.
“There is really an opportunity now for us to consider what are the needs across the entire spectrum and how to distribute these funds appropriately.”
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