‘Off the Wire’ captures brief news items, from various sources, about Society members that were found just as the February issue of the Bulletin was being finalised.

Interim Australian Tertiary Education Commissioner

Speaking at the annual Universities Australia conference on 25 February 2025, the Minister of Education, the Hon. Jason Clare MP, announced the Government’s intention to establish the Australian Tertiary Education Commission from 1 July 2025, to be led by the Interim Chief Commissioner, Professor Mary O’Kane AC FRSN. 

The Minister said that ‘Professor O’Kane would lead the work to set up the agency with assistance from fellow Universities Accord panel members Professor Barney Glover AO FRSN, now the Jobs and Skills Australia Commissioner, and Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt AO of UTS’. To read more, please see the Minister’s speech on the Ministerial media site.

Consultation Paper: A New Plan for ARC-funded Research

Also at the Universities Australia conference yesterday, Professor Peter Shergold AC FRSN, Vice-President of the Royal Society of NSW and Chair of the ARC Board, launched a discussion paper titled ‘A New Plan for ARC-Funded Research’. The proposed model includes a complete re-design of the grants scheme structure, further streamlining of administrative processes, greater focus on the generation of new knowledge, and strengthened opportunities for early career researchers.

Professor Shergold emphasised that ‘the goal, quite simply, is to enhance the way the ARC encourages and supports the very best, most creative research.’ He went on to say that the annual spending of $1 billion on non-medical grants should be ‘bolder and tipped towards original and unproven ideas that take greater risks but offer larger rewards.’

To read more, please see the ‘Policy Review of the National Competitive Grants Program‘ page on the ARC website, and also an article titled ‘Australia should punt on bold, unproven ideas: Shergold‘ in the Australian Financial Review (25 February 2025).

Women and Leadership Australia’s 2025 National Award Winner

Distinguished Fellow and most recently Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Cathy Foley AO PSM DistFRSN, was announced as the 2025 National Winner of the Australian Awards for Excellence in Women’s Leadership. The award, announced on 25 February, recognises her contribution as a trailblazer for women and girls in STEM. Dr Foley concluded her term as Australia’s Chief Scientist at the end of 2024, after a long career in science, including at Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO.  To read more, see the Awards page on the Women and Leadership Australia website.