Backing university research with record funding

Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham: Minister for Education and Training

Australia’s universities are set for a record $1.92 billion injection in research block grant funding from the Turnbull Government to support our world-class researchers and drive greater collaboration with industry.

Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said the announcement today of the 2018 research block grants demonstrated the Turnbull Government's strong support for improving the quality of research and the competitiveness of Australia's research universities.

“Australian universities are the engine room of our nation’s research output,” Minister Birmingham said.

“That’s why we’ve boosted funding by $30 million so researchers can contribute to make discoveries that deliver real economic and social benefits for Australians.

“Through the Research Training Program over $1 billion of this funding will directly support over 40,000 Masters and PhD students’ advance their research studies.

“Our strong investment in research and development will help to ensure Australian researchers can turn ideas into new knowledge that will support our economy and help create employment opportunities into the future.”

Today’s announcement of the 2018 research block grants coincides with the release of an action plan in response to the Review of Australia’s Research Training System by the Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA).

The action plan was developed by a working group chaired by University of Western Australia Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) Robyn Owens and included university, industry, government, Indigenous and postgraduate student representatives.

Minister Birmingham said the development of the action plan was a result of the university, industry and government sectors working closely together to deliver better outcomes for postgraduate research students.

“The action plan reflects the importance of combining all of our efforts to build a research training system that best serves our students and ultimately our nation as a whole,” Minister Birmingham said.

“This plan includes actions to boost the employment prospects of students through greater access to work placements and internships that will better prepare them for jobs in academia and industry.

“It also improves support for Indigenous students by increasing access to scholarships and identifies measures to ensure Australia’s research training system maintains its high international standing.”

The Department of Education and Training will monitor and report on progress every six months from mid-2018.

For more information on the 2018 research block grants visit www.education.gov.au/research-block-grants and to view the research training action plan go to www.education.gov.au/review-australia-s-research-training-system.

2018 research block grant allocations

Higher Education Provider	State or Territory	Research Support Program	Research Training Program	Total 2018 RBG Funding
Australian Catholic University	OTHER	$3,424,143	$3,770,609	$7,194,752
Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education	NT	$139,562	$148,106	$287,668
Bond University	QLD	$1,901,837	$1,892,978	$3,794,815
Central Queensland University	QLD	$2,377,461	$3,404,270	$5,781,731
Charles Darwin University	NT	$9,899,305	$7,267,032	$17,166,337
Charles Sturt University	NSW	$3,598,245	$6,378,749	$9,976,994
Curtin University of Technology	WA	$19,742,927	$25,858,688	$45,601,615
Deakin University	VIC	$11,699,697	$19,598,056	$31,297,753
Edith Cowan University	WA	$4,186,845	$7,105,163	$11,292,008
Federation University Australia	VIC	$1,579,509	$2,169,645	$3,749,154
Griffith University	QLD	$17,280,378	$23,169,164	$40,449,542
James Cook University	QLD	$12,447,926	$14,427,729	$26,875,655
La Trobe University	VIC	$15,060,569	$18,365,955	$33,426,524
Macquarie University	NSW	$16,014,635	$27,882,360	$43,896,995
MCD University of Divinity	VIC	$665,961	$909,432	$1,575,393
Monash University	VIC	$83,168,822	$87,171,392	$170,340,214
Murdoch University	WA	$7,970,591	$9,848,477	$17,819,068
Queensland University of Technology	QLD	$22,595,426	$30,990,269	$53,585,695
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology	VIC	$12,984,582	$21,299,546	$34,284,128
Southern Cross University	NSW	$3,161,627	$4,356,024	$7,517,651
Swinburne University of Technology	VIC	$6,578,598	$11,474,859	$18,053,457
The Australian National University	ACT	$63,099,405	$57,137,479	$120,236,884
The Flinders University of South Australia	SA	$12,237,961	$15,608,567	$27,846,528
The University of Adelaide	SA	$41,189,975	$46,863,361	$88,053,336
The University of Melbourne	VIC	$99,172,188	$98,125,800	$197,297,988
The University of Notre Dame Australia	WA	$721,208	$829,339	$1,550,547
The University of Queensland	QLD	$90,578,754	$96,434,509	$187,013,263
The University of Sydney	NSW	$88,041,396	$97,506,238	$185,547,634
The University of Western Australia	WA	$46,011,505	$48,455,951	$94,467,456
Torrens University Australia	SA	$65,097	$45,773	$110,870
University of Canberra	ACT	$4,007,502	$5,140,409	$9,147,911
University of New England	NSW	$7,271,527	$9,072,108	$16,343,635
University of New South Wales	NSW	$79,757,049	$89,660,032	$169,417,081
University of Newcastle	NSW	$22,158,778	$24,081,091	$46,239,869
University of South Australia	SA	$15,313,264	$19,755,882	$35,069,146
University of Southern Queensland	QLD	$3,281,984	$5,294,359	$8,576,343
University of Tasmania	TAS	$23,436,420	$24,642,196	$48,078,616
University of Technology, Sydney	NSW	$12,495,679	$17,080,827	$29,576,506
University of the Sunshine Coast	QLD	$3,222,645	$2,776,778	$5,999,423
University of Western Sydney	NSW	$7,485,336	$10,865,616	$18,350,952
University of Wollongong	NSW	$13,743,123	$22,740,490	$36,483,613
Victoria University	VIC	$4,245,952	$7,478,454	$11,724,406
Total		$894,015,394	$1,027,083,762	$1,921,099,156

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