Australia's leading scientists have renewed their call for the Australian Government to establish a national body to manage and investigate research misconduct in Australia.
President of the Australian Academy of Science Professor Chennupati Jagadish AC said the current mechanism for reporting and managing research misconduct was clearly not working.
In 2023, the Academy released a position statement on research integrity outlining the enhancements needed to strengthen Australia's research integrity system.
"The Academy has been calling on the Australian Government to strengthen the governance of Australian research since 2023," Professor Jagadish said.
Responding to an evaluation of the performance of ARIC published in 2023, the Academy said:
"……the substance of the issues that we must deal with will be missed when the terms of reference of a review are so narrow that it cannot grapple with the threats to the scientific enterprise. This evaluation will, therefore, not advance Australia's capacity to manage allegations of research misconduct in any of our organisations, large or small."
The Australian Research Integrity Committee (ARIC) is a joint initiative of the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the NHMRC.
It is currently responsible for reviews of institutional processes used to manage and investigate potential breaches of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (the Code).
Professor Jagadish said the Academy would welcome further involvement on the review of research integrity referred to by Minister Ayres, since the current joint Code (Universities Australia, ARC and NHMRC) was last revised in 2018 and is clearly no longer fit for purpose.
"The Academy will continue to engage with the sector, funding agencies including the ARC and NHMRC, and government on meaningful changes to enhance the governance of research misconduct," Professor Jagadish said.
