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Data Portal
Excellence in Research for Australia
ERA Transition Working Group
The Australian Research Council (ARC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ms Judi Zielke PSM, has convened an expert working group to support the ARC to develop a modern data driven approach for Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA).
ERA is Australia’s national research assessment, administered by the ARC. It identifies and promotes excellence in research in Australia’s higher education institutions through comparisons with international benchmarks.
The ARC will develop a plan to transition ERA to a modern data driven approach in line with the Statement of Expectations . An ERA evaluation round will not be conducted in 2023. This will reduce workload for universities and enable the ARC to prioritise this work.
The working group will comprise:
- Ms Judi Zielke PSM, CEO, ARC (Chair)
- Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington AO, DVCR, University of South Australia
- Professor Chris Moran FTSE, DVCR, Curtin University
- Professor Mary Spongberg, DVCR, Southern Cross University
- Professor Nick Fisk AM, DVCR, University of New South Wales
- Professor Kate McGrath, DVCR, University of Technology Sydney
- Professor Duncan Ivison FAHA, Previous DVCR, University of Sydney
- Mr Alistair Maclean, Chief Executive Officer, Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency
- Ms Vicki Thomson, CEO, Go8
- Mr Dom English, First Assistant Secretary, Department of Education
- Professor Steve Larkin, PVC-Indigenous Engagement, University of Adelaide
- Professor Cameron Neylon, Curtin University
- Mr Tony Sheil, Director, Office for Research, Griffith University
- Ms Michelle Duryea, Edith Cowan University and Convenor, Research Information and Reporting Special Interest Group, Australasian Research Management Society
Broad consultation will occur later this year. The transition plan will be delivered by December 2022 for implementation in 2024-25.
The ARC administers Australia’s national research assessment, Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA). ERA identifies and promotes excellence across the full range of research in Australia’s higher education institutions.
Through ERA the ARC identifies excellence in research. It does this by comparing Australia's university research against international benchmarks. This creates incentives to improve the quality of research.
The first round of ERA, and the first nationwide assessment of research disciplines in Australia, was conducted in 2010. The ARC published the results in early 2011. ERA assessments were conducted in 2012, 2015, and 2018.
You can read each of the ERA Reports and ratings for each field of research at each institution are available on the ARC Data Portal . Key documents for previous ERA rounds (2010, 2012, 2015 and 2018) are available at Archived Material.
In 2020-21, the ARC conducted a comprehensive review of ERA and the Engagement and Impact Assessment, a companion exercise, to ensure our national assessments address Australia's future needs. The ERA EI Review Final Report 2020-2021 is available PDF format – Word format .
ARC Data Portal
The ARC Data Portal contains:
- the ERA 2018 National Report
- the Gender and the Research Workforce Report
- Research Outputs —metadata for the research outputs submitted by universities for ERA 2018
- Outcomes — ERA ratings for each field of research at each institution for ERA 2018, ERA 2015, ERA 2012, and ERA 2010.
ERA Background
What are the objectives of era.
ERA aims to:
- Promote excellence: Rigorously assess research quality to promote pursuit of excellence across all fields and all types of research.
- Inform decisions : Provide a rich and robust source of information on university research excellence and activity to inform and support the needs of university, industry, government, and community stakeholders
- Demonstrate quality: Provide government and the public with evidence of the quality of research produced by Australia’s universities
- Enable comparisons: Allow for comparisons between Australian universities and against world standard for all discipline areas.
How are the disciplines defined?
For ERA, the ARC defines disciplines as two-digit and four-digit Field of Research (FoR) codes using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC). For more information about ANZSRC, contact the ABS National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070, or visit Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification .
What do the ERA outcomes tell us?
ERA evaluates performance within each discipline at each university. It provides a view of Australian research, from quantum physics to literature. It highlights our research strengths across all disciplines in areas of critical importance. ERA results also highlight the research strengths of individual universities. National Report data provides contextual information about research application, knowledge exchange and collaboration.
What are some of the benefits of ERA?
ERA provides reliable data about the quality of research in the higher education sector that:
- allows research managers and investors to identify and reward research excellence.
- assures Australian taxpayers that their investment in research is well spent
- allows research managers and investors to identify opportunities for further development or investment
- facilitates strategic planning to further strengthen Australia's research capabilities
- helps promote Australia's research strengths on the world stage.
Government, universities, and other stakeholders use ERA data and outcomes. For example, many universities include ERA results in their annual reports and strategic plans. And universities use ERA outcomes to promote their research strengths, here and abroad.
By taking part in ERA, universities have reported improvements in the quality of their own research data holdings.
How is ERA data used?
ERA data is of interest to government, universities, industry, and prospective students. Data from current and previous ERA rounds provides valuable information. For example, ERA data:
- informs a range of policy advice and initiatives across government
- assists institutions with their strategic planning, decision-making, and promotional activity
- provides students, industry and other stakeholders fine-grained, discipline-based information not available elsewhere.
ERA and HERDC Alignment
The ARC is developing ways to streamline the submission process for universities. This includes using existing data sets and new technological approaches.
It also includes aligning ERA data requirements with other higher education data collections such as the Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC), and Higher Education Staff Data Collection (HESDC) administered by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE).
Where can ERA presentations be found?
ARC presentations are made available on the website.
Due to major building activity, some collections are unavailable. Please check your requests before visiting. Learn more .
Australian politics and government
Key resource.
GovPubs : the Australian Government Publications Guide is a key resource for locating selected types of Australian government publications. These include:
- Acts/Ordinances/Statutes
- Budget Papers
- Explanatory Memoranda
- Government Directories
- Notice Papers
- Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
- Parliamentary Handbooks
- Parliamentary Papers
- Standing Orders
- Subordinate Legislation/Regulations
- Votes and Proceedings/Journals
GovPubs is no longer maintained, but contains useful explanations for each publication. Holdings information will help you to locate resources in the National Library, State libraries or online.
DICTIONARIES AND GLOSSARIES
A dictionary of Australian politics by Robert Corcoran and Jackie Dickenson (2010), defines a range of Australian political terms and expressions, and includes international terms which are essential to political discussion.
The Legislation.gov.au glossary identifies what some legal jargon is likely to mean in an Australian Government context.
KEY WEBSITES
Parliament of Australia : official website of Australian parliament, with information on parliamentary departments, links to committee reports, full text of bills, speeches, biographical information, parliamentary publications, and more. See also the Parliamentary Library
www.gov.au : access to the information and services of the Australian Federal, State, Territory and Local Governments
australia.gov.au : government information and services, including how to find Government publications
National Archives of Australia , including research guides on Parliamentary Papers and several Prime Ministers
Introduction
Government in Australia is three-tiered: Commonwealth (or Federal), State and Local. You can find information about how government works in Australia through a number of official websites, including
- Parliament of Australia , including The Australian system of government
- Parliamentary Education Office
What you can find in the Library
- Books: including biographies, histories and general works
- Parliamentary papers: documents presented to Parliament and ordered to be printed
- Manuscripts: including papers of ministers and documents relating to political parties
- Oral histories: including speeches and interviews
- Pictures: including portraits, photographs and political cartoons
- Ephemera: including election advertising
- Newspapers: including biographical cuttings files (articles from Australian newspapers from the early 20th century to 2000).
Government publications are deposited with the National Library of Australia under the Library Deposit Scheme (LDS). Previously, the National Library actively collected publications by way of various government administrative directives. You can find print publications and links to online sources through the Catalogue .
Using the Catalogue
Quick search.
Use the Catalogue standard search to find titles, authors or subjects.
- If you get too many results, use the Narrow search options (at the right of the results page) to display only the items of interest, e.g. manuscripts or oral histories
- If you need to widen your search, click on subject headings in an item’s Catalogue record to find other material related to that subject
You can’t browse the Library’s shelves in person, but you can use the Catalogue to browse by title, author, subject or Dewey number.
To search for general works about Australian politics, select the Browse alphabetically tab, then subjects . Some examples are:
- Australia Politics and Government
- Australia Parliament Senate
- Prime ministers -- Australia
To find information on Australian political parties, use Browse subjects options such as:
- Australian Labor Party
- Liberal Party of Australia Policies
- Political Parties Australia
Items related to special interest groups in Australian society are found using Browse subjects searches such as:
- Pressure Groups Australia
- Business and Politics Australia
- Labor Unions Australia
Selected print resources:
Parliamentary government in Australia by Alan J. Ward (2014), combines constitutional history and political science to compare all nine of Australia's political systems, federal, state and territory, from colonial times to the present.
Australian political institutions by Singleton, Aitkin, Jinks and Warhurst (2013), introduces students to the structure and organisation of the institutions and functions of government in Australia, with reference to contemporary issues and debates.
Australian journal of political science includes articles on a wide range of political topics. Also available online from 1997 to the present, through the link in the Catalogue record.
Student texts: Government and politics in Australia edited by Alan Fenna, Jane Robbins, John Summers (2014)
Politics in Australia by Martin Drum and John William Tate (2012); a source-based approach
Helicopter fly past, Queen in extreme bottom right, Canberra, 1988, Andrew Campbell, (Photographer).
nla.pic-an12926831-19
Part of Opening of new Parliament House, Capital Hill, Canberra, on the 9th of May, 1988 [picture].
EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT
Official website of the British Royal Family : includes information on the role of the Queen in Australia.
Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia : information on the role of the Governor-General, speeches, previous Governors-General, the Australian Honours Secretariat and links to the websites of the State Governors.
Prime Minister of Australia : official website of the Prime Minister. Includes speeches, media releases, links to the ministry, and general information on Australia
AUSTRALIA'S GOVERNMENT OVERSEAS
Australia's Diplomatic and Consular Missions includes a listing of all Australian Embassies and Consulates, arranged alphabetically by country.
The Commonwealth provides information on the association of 53 independent sovereign states known as “The Commonwealth”. The site includes historical detail, facts and figures on each of the member nations including Australia, current news, press releases, publications, events and initiatives.
Not sure where to start?
Ask a librarian
The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Cultural Notification
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website contains a range of material which may be considered culturally sensitive including the records of people who have passed away.
- Research and reports
Children learn more during the first five years than at any other time in life. The National Quality Framework (NQF) aims to improve the educational and developmental outcomes for children attending education and care services, and promote continuous improvement in service quality. On this page you will find research and reports relevant to the NQF.
- Resources & Research
On this page
Nqf evaluation framework, acecqa research and evaluation strategy, nqf annual performance report, nqf snapshots, occasional papers, quality improvement research project, quality support program (nsw department of education/acecqa), education and care sector research, regulatory burden reports, national partnership agreements, operational activity report, nqf foundation and review documents, explanatory materials for nqf legislation, child care in australia reports, australian early development census (aedc), national workforce census, australian institute for teaching and school leadership (aitsl) resources, australian education research organisation (aero) resources, australian skills quality authority (asqa) resources, starting strong reports (oecd), report on government services, acecqa submissions, families research, acecqa annual reports.
- Guidelines for participation and support for external research and evaluation
The NQF Evaluation Framework was developed so that governments and their regulatory agencies have an agreed way of understanding whether and how the NQF is meeting its objectives.
Universities, research institutions, governments and other stakeholders are encouraged to contribute to the NQF evidence base by commissioning, undertaking or supporting research that aligns with the framework.
ACECQA's research and evaluation strategy (2021-24) sets out our approach to research and evaluation under the NQF.
View current and previous NQF Snapshots , which provide an overview of the Australian children’s education and care sector, including the progress and results of quality assessment and rating against the National Quality Standard (NQS).
ACECQA’s sixth annual performance report focuses on a number of aspects of the NQF.
The report highlights continuous improvement across all seven quality areas of the National Quality Standard (NQS) and developments such as the release of the national children’s education and care workforce strategy and complementary implementation and evaluation plan.
See all Annual Performance Reports .
ACECQA publishes a series of occasional papers on different aspects of the NQF.
- Occasional Paper 1: Quality Area 1: Educational Program and Practice
- Occasional Paper 2: Quality Area 2: Children’s Health and Safety
- Occasional Paper 3: Promoting consistency and efficiency under the NQF
- Occasional Paper 4: Quality Area 3: Physical environments
- Occasional Paper 5: Quality Area 7: Leadership and management in education and care services
- Occasional Paper 6: Quality rating reassessments
- Occasional Paper 7: Quality ratings by socio-economic status of areas
- Occasional Paper 8: The first decade of the NQF
A report detailing findings from research commissioned by ACECQA on the drivers of quality improvement, conducted by Macquarie University, Queensland University of Technology and Edith Cowan University in 2019.
The research focused on long day care services that had improved their overall quality rating. It identified practices supporting of quality improvement in educational program and practice and governance and leadership.
Information sheets have been developed to support providers, service leaders, educational leaders and educators in all service types.
Quality improvement research project report
Information sheet - Practical ideas to support continuous quality improvement
Information sheet - Using your assessment and rating report to support quality improvement
Evaluations of Quality Support Program - NSW Department of Education
Early findings from the Quality Support Program
Stage 2 findings from the Quality Support Program
Stage 3 findings from the Quality Support Program
Stage 4 findings from the Quality Support Program
- The Early Advantage 2: Building Systems That Work for Young Children (2019) The Center on International Education Benchmarking have produced a book summarising the key elements of six high-performing early childhood systems. Detailed information about early childhood systems and case studies in Australia, England, Finland, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea are also available to download.
- A Smart Investment for a Smarter Australia: Economic analysis of universal early childhood education in the year before school in Australia (2019) The Front Project has commissioned a comprehensive analysis of the economic impact of early childhood education. The model looks at the impact of the current Australian system, which provides an early childhood education program for 15 hours a week, delivered by a Bachelor qualified teacher, in the year before school.
- Early Learning Matters (2018) The OECD’s International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study is designed to help countries to improve children’s early learning experiences, to better support their development and overall well-being. This brochure contains further information on the study and how to get involved.
- A review of the effects of early childhood education (2018) This literature review from the NSW Department of Education’s Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation presents Australian and international evidence on early childhood education and its impacts on children's learning and development.
- Report Card: The Wellbeing of Young Australians (2018) The latest report card from the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth presents data on Australia's performance against a range of health and wellbeing indicators as compared with other OECD countries.
- Lifting Our Game: Report to the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools Through Early Childhood Interventions (2017) This report was commissioned by the state and territory governments of Australia to complement the Australian Government’s Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools. The report provides recommendations on the most effective interventions in early childhood, with a focus on school readiness, improving achievement in schools and future success in employment or further education.
- Building the Future: Children and the Sustainable Development Goals in Rich Countries (2018) This report card offers an assessment of child wellbeing in a number of domains including access to quality education and care and lifelong learning across 41 countries in the European Union and the OECD.
- Quality is key in early childhood education in Australia (2017) This report from the Mitchell Institute explores process quality in Australian early childhood education and care.
- The relationship between teacher qualification and the quality of the early childhood education and care environment (2017) This meta-analysis provides evidence of a significant and positive correlation between teacher qualification and quality with respect to the learning environment for all young children in ECEC settings, including infants and toddlers.
- A critical review of the early childhood literature (2017) A critical review of the key and influential evidence on the value of preschool for three year olds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and those from disadvantaged backgrounds and the applicability of the international evidence to the Australian context conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Education and Training.
- Language in Little Ones study (2017-18 onwards) A five year National Health and Medical Research Council funded longitudinal study run by Telethon Kids Institute. The study will investigate language exposure in the home environment of South Australian children aged 6 months to 5 years and how the volume and quality of language impacts on children’s learning and development at school.
- The E4Kids study: Assessing the effectiveness of Australian early childhood education and care programs (Overview of findings at 2016) This longitudinal research was jointly funded by the Australian Research Council, Victoria and Queensland Departments of Education and Training, and led by University of Melbourne in collaboration with Queensland University of Technology.
- Quality Early Education for All: Fostering, entrepreneurial, resilient and capable leaders (2016) This report from the Mitchell Institute explores the challenges and opportunities facing the provision of early education in Australia.
- The impact of two years of preschool (2016) This report from the Mitchell Institute contains analysis of international test results (PISA, PIRLS and TIMSS) compares children with at least two years of preschool with those who attend no preschool or only one year.
- Preschool – Two Years are Better Than One Developing a universal preschool program for Australian 3 year olds – evidence, policy and implementation (2016) This report from the Mitchell Institute explores the evidence showing the impact of two years of preschool, especially for the children most likely to be developmentally vulnerable.
- Money, Love and Identity: Initial Findings from the National ECEC Workforce Study (2016) A three year national study funded by the Australian Research Council and undertaken by a multi-disciplinary research team from Queensland University of Technology and Charles Sturt University in collaboration with Crèche and Kindergarten (C&K), Goodstart Early Learning and the Queensland Department of Education and Training.
To monitor changes in perceptions and experiences of regulatory burden between 2013 and 2015, ACECQA undertook a three stage longitudinal study. ACECQA conducted a fourth regulatory burden study in 2017.
- Report on NQF and Regulatory Burden – Wave I
- Report on NQF and Regulatory Burden – Wave II
- Report on NQF and Regulatory Burden – Wave III
Results from the 2017 and 2018 surveys are available in the National Partnership Annual Performance Reports .
- Preschool Reform Agreement (2021-2026)
- Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration (2019)
- Universal Access to Early Childhood Education (2018-2021)
- Universal Access to Early Childhood Education (2020)
- Universal Access to Early Childhood Education (2018–2019)
- Universal Access to Early Childhood Education (2018)
- Universal Access to Early Childhood Education (2016–2017)
- Universal Access to Early Childhood Education (2015)
- Universal Access to Early Childhood Education (2013–2014)
- National Quality Agenda For Early Childhood Education and Care (2015–16 to 2017–18)
- National Quality Agenda For Early Childhood Education and Care (2009)
- Early Childhood Education (2009–2012)
- Closing the Gap on Indigenous Early Childhood Development (2009)
- Indigenous Health - Closing the Gap: Indigenous Early Childhood Development (2009)
- Indigenous Health - Closing the Gap: Indigenous Early Childhood Development (2009)(superseded version)
As part of our ongoing commitment to openness and transparency, we make information publicly available about our operational functions including the number of Excellent rating applications received and awarded, and how many second tier review , NQF qualification assessment and skilled migration assessment applications we have received.
View the most recent ACECQA operational activity data including applications by month, location and outcome. The information is updated quarterly.
National Quality Framework reviews
- 2019 NQF Review webpage (current)
- Explore the DRIS - Decision Regulation Impact Statement for changes to the National Quality Framework (DRIS) (2022)
- Consultation Regulation Impact Statement for proposed changes to the National Quality Framework (CRIS) (2021)
- Decision Regulation Impact Statement for changes to the National Quality Framework (DRIS) (2017)
- Summary of all decisions outlined in the DRIS (2017)
- Consultation Regulation Impact Statement for proposed options for changes to the National Quality Framework (CRIS) (2014)
- Decision Regulation Impact Statement for Early Childhood Education and Care Quality Reforms (DRIS) (2009)
- Consultation Regulation Impact Statement for Early Childhood Education and Care Quality Reforms (CRIS) (2009)
National Quality Framework foundation
- Putting a value on early childhood education and care in Australia (2014) PwC
- Evaluation of the Assessment and Rating Process under the National Quality Standard for Early Childhood Education and Care and School Age Care (2012)
- Early Childhood Development Workforce, Research Report (2011) Productivity Commission
- Information Paper on the Education and Care Services National Law and the proposed National Regulations (2010)
- An economic analysis of the proposed ECEC National Quality Agenda (2009)
- Investing in the Early Years (2009) COAG – A National Early Childhood Development Strategy
- Economic Effects of a 1:4 Staff-Child Ratio for Under Two Year Olds in Child Care (2009) NSW Government
Approved learning frameworks update
- 2021 Approved Learning Frameworks Update website (current)
- National Quality Framework Approved Learning Frameworks Update - Literature Review (2021) Macquarie University, Queensland University of Technology and Edith Cowan University on behalf of ACECQA
- National Quality Framework Approved Learning Frameworks Update - Discussion Paper (2021) Macquarie University, Queensland University of Technology and Edith Cowan University on behalf of ACECQA
Approved learning frameworks foundation
- A national quality framework for early childhood education and care – Discussion paper (2009) Commonwealth of Australia
- A research paper to inform the development of an Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (2008) Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Victoria
- Analysis of curriculum learning frameworks (2008) VCAA
- Analysis of curriculum learning frameworks for the early years – Appendices (2008) VCAA
- Baseline evaluation of the Early Years Learning Framework – Final report (2011) DEEWR and Monash University
- Baseline evaluation of the Early Years Learning Framework – Appendices (2012) DEEWR and Monash University
- Baseline evaluation of the Early Years Learning Framework – Quantitative report (2013) DEEWR and Monash University
- Early Years Learning Framework – Fact sheet (2009) Commonwealth of Australia
Disability Standards for Education reviews
- Inclusion of children with disability in early childhood and school age education and care - Consultation Summary Report (2021) Commonwealth of Australia
- Inclusion of children with disability in early childhood and school age education and care - Consultation Summary Report Appendices (2021) Commonwealth of Australia
- Children with disability in ECEC and school age education and care - Discussion paper (2020) ACECQA
- Final Report – 2020 Review of the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (2021) Commonwealth of Australia
- 2020 Review of the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (2020) Australian Government
- 2015 Review of the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (2015) Australian Government
- 2010 Review of the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (2010) Australian Government
Disability Standards for Education foundation
- Disability Standards for Education 2005 plus Guidance Notes (2005) Australian Government
- Education and Care Services National Law Amendment Bill 2017 - Explanatory Memorandum (2017) Victoria
- Education and Care Services National Law Bill 2010 - Explanatory Memorandum (2010) Victoria
- Child Care in Australia Australian Government
- AEDC data and reports Australian Government
- Early Childhood Education and Care National Workforce Census (2021)
- Early Childhood Education and Care National Workforce Census (2016)
- Early Childhood Education and Care National Workforce Census (2013)
- Early Childhood Education and Care National Workforce Census (2010)
- Australian Government Census of Child Care Services (pre-2010)
Spotlight reports – topics covered include early childhood teachers, inclusive education, initial teacher education, the value of the teaching profession, professional learning for rural, regional and remote teachers, and early career teacher induction and attrition rates.
Initial Teacher Education Data reports – annual data reports providing key insights into the future of teaching.
Australian Teacher Workforce Data reports – annual data reports examining the national initial teacher education pipeline and workforce characteristics.
AERO produces evidence-based resources and information for teachers and educators, including a dedicated Early childhood practices hub. Topics covered include family engagement for early learning , executive function and self-regulation , early literacy and early numeracy .
Strategic reviews - ASQA’s strategic review program examines serious systemic risks to Australia's vocational education and training (VET) sector. Topics covered include Training for early childhood education and care in Australia, 2015 .
Focus on compliance - Spotlight On series - topics covered include trainers and assessors, assessment and assessment validation.
Starting Strong VI (2021) – Supporting Meaningful Interactions in Early Childhood Education and Care Starting Strong: Mapping quality in Early Childhood Education and Care (2021) Interactive platform supporting the study and measurement of factors shaping quality in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings Quality Beyond Regulations in ECEC Country Background Report – Australia (2021) Providing Quality Early Childhood Education and Care (2019) Results from the Starting Strong Survey 2018 Engaging Young Children (2018) – Lessons from Research about Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care Starting Strong 2017 (2017) – Key OECD Indicators on Early Childhood Education and Care Starting Strong V (2017) – Transitions from Early Childhood Education and Care to Primary Education Starting Strong IV (2015) – Monitoring quality in early childhood education and care Starting Strong III (2011) – A quality toolbox for early childhood education and care Starting Strong II (2006) – Early Childhood Education and Care Starting Strong I (2001)
ACECQA collaborates with state and territory governments and other agencies on the early childhood education and care chapter of the annual Report on Government Services (RoGS) produced by the Productivity Commission.
- Updating the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (2022) ACECQA Submission 1 ; ACECQA submission 2
- Quality Initial Teacher Education Review (2021) Australian Government ACECQA submission
- Vocational Education and Training Skills Reform (2021) Australian Government ACECQA submission
- Consultation on automatic mutual recognition (2020) Australian Government ACECQA submission
- Inquiry into education in remote and complex environments (2020) Australian House of Representatives ACECQA submission
- Mental Health (2020) Productivity Commission ACECQA submission
- Review of the modern award (2019) Fair Work Commission ACECQA submission
- Australian Qualifications Framework Review (2019) Australian Government ACECQA submission
- Review of the Melbourne Declaration (2019) Council of Australian Governments Education Council ACECQA submission
- Vocational Education and Training Review (2019) Australian Government ACECQA submission
- United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (2018) Australian Human Rights Commission ACECQA submission
- Inquiry on status of the teaching profession (2018) Australian House of Representatives ACECQA submission
- National Review of Teacher Registration (2018) Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership ACECQA submission
- Consultation on unduly short courses and training product reform (2018) Australian Government ACECQA submission
- Review of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (2018) Australian Government ACECQA submission
- The effect of red tape on childcare (2018) Australian Senate ACECQA submission
- Independent Review into Regional, Rural and Remote Education (2018) Australian Government ACECQA submission
- Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Jobs for Families Child Care Package) Bill 2015 (2016) Australian Senate ACECQA submission
- Education Evidence Base Inquiry (2016) Productivity Commission ACECQA initial submission ACECQA post-draft submission
- Childcare and Early Childhood Learning (2014) Productivity Commission ACECQA initial submission ACECQA post-draft submission
- The immediate future of the childcare sector in Australia (2014) Australian Senate ACECQA submission
- The delivery of quality and affordable early childhood education and care services (2014) Australian Senate ACECQA submission
Families Qualitative Research Project 2018 (Hall & Partners Research)
Results of qualitative research, undertaken in the first half of 2018, exploring themes including influences on parents and carers’ decision‑making processes for selecting a service and feedback on Starting Blocks .
Families Research Project Pilot Study 2014 (Hall & Partners Research)
Results from ACECQA’s families research (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021) are available in the NQF Annual Performance Reports .
Annual Report 2021-22 Annual Report 2020-21 Annual Report 2019-20 Annual Report 2018-19 Annual Report 2017-18 Annual Report 2016-17 Annual Report 2015-16 Annual Report 2014-15 Annual Report 2013-14 Annual Report 2012-13 Annual Report 2011-12
Guidelines for participation and support for external research and evaluation
ACECQA welcomes and encourages high quality research that contributes to the NQF evidence base. Please read these guidelines and complete the application request form if you are seeking our support for, or participation in, external research and evaluation activities.
ACECQA’s monthly newsletters highlight the latest news and information on the NQF.
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Announcements
National research infrastructure.
Australia is an established global leader in world-class research. The Australian Government helps maintain this reputation by ensuring researchers have access to cutting edge research infrastructure.
National research infrastructure (NRI) refers to the:
- Facilities, equipment and resources that are needed to perform research
- Experts needed to run the infrastructure
Infrastructure can be physical, like a supercomputer or microscope, or intangible, like a data collection or software platform.
The Australian Government has invested $4 billion over 12 years (from 2018 to 2029) to support important pieces of national research infrastructure and make sure Australian researchers can access them.
NRI is a critical platform for the research sector. It supports Australians through:
- Countless more jobs, including in small business, across almost every sector of the economy
- Research that supports improved health and wellbeing of Australians
- The capacity to address critical national issues such as food security and support for a healthy environment
- Policies relating to research and science and development
The NRI Strategic Framework explains the process used to identify and support important pieces of NRI. It includes:
- A $2.2 billion investment to address NRI priorities
- Plans for future investment
Australian Government investments in NRI, guided by Roadmaps, funded by Research Infrastructure Investment Plans and enacted through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) program, have resulted in a mature and networked suite of projects supporting Australian research
The Government develops roadmaps to guide investment in research infrastructure. They are prepared by an expert working group in consultation with the research community.
Roadmaps identify researcher needs and set priorities for Australia's national research infrastructure.
A new Roadmap is created every 5 years.
The 2021 NRI Roadmap is now available. To find the 2021 Roadmap and information on its development, visit the 2021 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap page.
The 2016 Roadmap and information on its development is also available on the departments website
Investment Plans
A Research Infrastructure Investment Plan (RIIP) provides specific funding for a set of projects that will meet Australia’s research infrastructure needs.
Research infrastructure needs are identified in the most recent Roadmap. Sometimes, new needs arise in between Roadmaps, and these can also receive funding in a RIIP.
A new Research Infrastructure Investment Plan comes out every 2 years.
The RIIP helps:
- Support Australian researchers to remain internationally competitive
- Maximise the potential for economic benefits from scientific discoveries.
National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS)
The National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) is the program that manages Australia’s national research infrastructure.
The NCRIS program is based on a set of guidelines, most recently the 2021 and 2022 Guidelines .
NCRIS currently supports 24 funded projects and an international membership – see for a list of currently funded projects .
The projects are led by organisations including universities, publicly funded research organisations and private companies.
The projects form a network involving over 200 delivery partnerships, and employing over 1900 highly skilled technical experts, researchers and facility managers.
You can read NCRIS case studies on the real life outcomes of research conducted at NCRIS facilities. These demonstrate the social and economic return from the investment in national research infrastructure.
National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy Census
The Census collects data to help evaluate how the projects in the NCRIS program are performing. The findings of the 2017-18 Census identified:
- Key industries
- Research outcomes
- Use of facilities
- Employment benefits
The census also found that for every $1 of investment the government put into NCRIS, there was total of $1.29 of co-investment from other sources.
Previous NRI Funding Programs
Funding support and initiatives for NRI prior to NCRIS include:
- Collaborative Research Infrastructure Scheme (CRIS)
- Super Science Initiative
- Education Investment Fund (EIF)
For direct inquiries, email [email protected]
- Media and Speeches
- Completed Research
Australia's Prison Dilemma
This research paper was released on 29 October 2021.
Australia is putting more people in prison despite a fall in the number of criminal offenders. This paper looks at what is driving these trends, the costs on society and whether there are alternatives to prison that still keep the community safe but at a lower cost.
Download the paper
- Australia's Prison Dilemma (PDF - 1700 Kb)
- Australia's Prison Dilemma (Word - 2108 Kb)
- Media release
Australia's Prison Dilemma webinar
On 12 November 2021, the Commission hosted an online event with expert panel and Q&A, discussing:
- Why are imprisonment rates rising?
- What is imprisonment costing the Australian community?
- Are there alternatives to prison which can reduce costs without compromising community safety?
Moderated by Michael Brennan - Chair, Productivity Commission
Panellists include:
- Stephen King - Commissioner, Productivity Commission (at 3:37)
- Don Weatherburn PSM - Professor at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (15:37)
- Helen Coventry - Jesuit Social Services (27:44)
- Nicholas Cowdery AO QC FAAL - Adjunct Professor at the Sydney Institute of Criminology (41:56)
Q&A starts at 54:40
Transcript of webinar
A transcript of the webinar will be available here shortly.
- Webinar transcript - Australia's Prison Dilemma (PDF - 216 Kb)
- Webinar transcript - Australia's Prison Dilemma (Word - 58 Kb)
Australia's Prison Dilemma online panel discussion
- Stephen King - Commissioner, Productivity Commission
- Helen Coventry - Jesuit Social Services
- Don Weatherburn PSM - Professor at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre
- Nicholas Cowdery AO QC FAAL - Adjunct Professor at the Sydney Institute of Criminology
A video of the event will be available here shortly.
Live online discussion with expert panel and Q&A.
Join our panellists as we discuss these questions and more on 12 November.
Australia's Prison Dilemma: Live online event - Register now
Australia's Prison Dilemma short video
Transcript of video
Over the last 20 years our imprisonment rates have increased by more than 35 per cent and our imprisonment numbers are growing faster than almost every other developed country.
[Image] Australia is 3rd in OECD Imprisonment rate growth between 2003-2018.
So, is Australia experiencing some kind of crime wave?
No. In fact the incidence of many types of crime has been falling.
Keeping people in jail is expensive, around $330 per prisoner per day.
[Image] $10,000 per prisoner per month.
So why do we have less crime but more people in prison?
A big factor is 'tough on crime' policies such as making bail harder to access and mandatory minimum prison sentences.
Prisons play an important role in keeping the community safe from violent offenders but many people in prison are considered low risk to the community.
[Image] Violent offences 58% offenders in prison 2020. Non-violent offences 42%. 15% Low risk.
Given the very high cost of imprisonment it is sensible to look at alternatives that can keep the community safe at a lower cost.
Our report looks at a range of options that have been trialled both in Australia and overseas.
[Image] Diversion. Home detention/early parole. Rehabilitation. Case management. System targets. Knowledge base.
Find out more by reading our latest research paper.
pc.gov.au/prisons
Media Release
Australia’s prison dilemma.
Despite falling crime rates, imprisonment in Australia is at a historic high.
A report released today by the Productivity Commission says this is happening across all states and territories.
The report looks at these trends and the underlying drivers. It also investigates the benefits and costs of imprisonment and, what, if any, are the alternatives.
“It’s a complex story. There is no single reason why imprisonment has been increasing, but what we know is that ‘tough on crime’ policies have been a contributing factor.”
“This costs the taxpayer a lot but is not necessarily creating a safer society,” Commissioner Stephen King said.
While imprisonment plays an important role in Australian society, the report finds that prisons are expensive. They cost Australian taxpayers more than $5 billion per year, or more than $330 per prisoner per day.
“Despite this expense, the system isn’t working as well as it could be”, Commissioner King said. “Sixty percent of prisoners have been there before – one of the highest rates in the world.”
“For low risk prisoners this doesn’t keep society safer. We must look at alternatives,” Commissioner Richard Spencer said.
The report highlights the range of alternatives like community corrections orders, however recognises that while potentially lowering the costs, justice for victims is also an important consideration.
“Prisons are essential for violent and high-risk offenders. But there is a revolving door for people convicted of low-to-medium risk crime. We can achieve better outcomes for them and society by carefully using alternatives to prison,” Commissioner King said.
These alternatives include home detention, electronic monitoring and intensive rehabilitation programs. Our report includes several case studies where alternatives have been used both in Australia and overseas.
However a critical first step is building a stronger evidence base to guide policy decisions.
“By making better use of these alternatives there is an opportunity for the prison system to be more effective at maintaining community safety and significantly lowering the cost,” Commissioner Spencer said.
The full report on Australia’s prison dilemma can be found at: www.pc.gov.au.
Media requests
Leonora Nicol, Media Director – 0417 665 443 / 02 6240 3239 / [email protected]
Report Contents
- Preliminaries: Cover, Copyright and publication detail, Contents and Acknowledgments
- Executive summary
- 1.1 Australia’s criminal justice system
- 1.2 Trade-offs in the criminal justice system
- 1.3 Scope of the paper
- 2.1 The prison population
- 2.2 Imprisonment rates
- 2.3 Offences and sentences
- 2.5 Recidivism
- 2.6 Putting it all together
- 3.1 The role of prison
- 3.2 Fiscal costs of prison
- 3.3 The indirect costs of imprisonment
- 4.1 Taking opportunities for diversion
- 4.2 Home detention, electronic monitoring and early parole
- 4.3 Treatment in prison
- 4.4 Effective case management for rehabilitation and release
- 4.5 Clear system objectives and administrative guidance
- 4.6 Greater use of benefit–cost assessments
- 4.7 Drawing the threads together
- 5.1 Building the evidence base
- 5.2 More systematic research into the criminal justice system
- 5.3 More trials and evaluation of improvements and alternatives to prison
- 5.4 A whole of system approach
- A. Consultations
- B. Drivers of imprisonment
- C. Case Studies: data sources and methodology
- Abbreviations
Printed copies
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Australia Research Paper
View sample Australia research paper. Browse other research paper examples and check the list of history research paper topics for more inspiration. If you need a history research paper written according to all the academic standards, you can always turn to our experienced writers for help. This is how your paper can get an A! Feel free to contact our custom writing service for professional assistance. We offer high-quality assignments for reasonable rates.
Aboriginal peoples from Southeast Asia came to Australia at least forty thousand years ago. They (and the continent) remained isolated from the rest of the world until trade developed, first with islanders to the north, then, in the seventeenth century, with Europeans extending their empires. Today Australia is a culturally diversity nation-state with strong ties to the West and ever-more challenging relationships with Asia.
Australia is a sovereign nation in the Southwest Pacific, occupying a continent of nearly 7.7 million square kilometers; it is the only continent coterminous with a single nation state, and has for the majority of world history been the most isolated continent save for Antarctica. Its flora (predominantly sclerophyll [eucalyptus] forest and acacia and mallee scrubland), and its fauna (predominantly marsupials that carry and suckle their young in pouches but including monotremes, or egg-laying mammals) are distinctive. Apart from Antarctica, it is the world’s most arid continent, with large areas of semi-desert. It is profoundly influenced by the climate cycle known as El Nino / La Nina, with long droughts punctuated by seasons of heavier rainfall in the south and monsoon conditions in the north.
Originally part of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwanaland that encompassed South America and Antarctica, the land mass of Australia existed for many millions of years in total isolation until the arrival of aboriginal people from Southeast Asia at least forty (and perhaps as long as sixty) thousand years ago. Aboriginal Australians evolved a close relationship with their physical environment, but transformed it aided by the introduction of the dingo (a semi-domesticated canine species), about 3,500 to 5,000 years ago. Aboriginal people were overwhelmingly hunter-gathers who altered the composition of the forests through selective burning of vegetation. This “fire stick farming” made large sections of forest more open and suitable for the hunting of marsupials. Before human settlement, megafauna in the form of giant thylacine (Tasmanian tiger), kangaroo, and wombat-like species roamed, but were rendered extinct by a combination of aboriginal impacts and climate change. Aboriginal people gradually occupied the entire continent over thousands of years.
European Occupation
The isolation of this continent and its peoples was further breached in the centuries before European occupation. From at least 1720 and perhaps as much as three hundred years earlier, trade developed between aboriginal Australians and the islanders of present day Indonesia and New Guinea to the north; from these sources may have come rat and cat populations before Europeans arrived. The first European arrivals were the Spanish and then Dutch sailors of the early- to mid-seventeenth century in quest of trade and empire on behalf of their respective monarchs. The Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman “discovered” (in European terms) New Zealand and present day Tasmania (he called the latter Van Diemen’s Land), while the English sailor William Dampier explored the northwest coast of Western Australia in the 1688 and 1699; but it was not until 1770 that Captain James Cook discovered and claimed the eastern half of the Australian continent for Britain while on a trip of naval exploration in the Pacific.
Faced with the ever-growing numbers of prisoners produced by a draconian criminal code, the British government decided in 1786 to establish, on Cook’s recommendation of the suitability of the site, a penal colony near present day Sydney. On 26 January 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip and over one thousand prisoners (whose hefty jail terms were often commuted from death sentences) established the first European settlement in New South Wales. The fledgling colony existed initially on a mixture of subsistence crops, but quickly developed coastal sealing and timber getting. The area was visited by the whalers of several European countries and of the newly formed United States. French explorers engaged in scientific research during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic era indicated that the political hold of the British was at first tenuous. But the defeat of the French in the Napoleonic Wars removed that threat by 1815. Thereafter the expansion of Australia was underwritten by British naval supremacy until World War II.
Initially hemmed in by its difficult terrain and dense coastal forest, Europeans expanded settlement into the formidable barrier of the Blue Mountains in 1813. Thereafter the rich grazing and farming lands to the west of the Great Dividing Range were opened up. In 1802 and 1803, additional colonies were established in Van Diemen’s Land, where recalcitrant prisoners were sent, and in 1836, free settlers from that island pioneered a colony on the continent’s southern shores that became Victoria. In 1829, another colony on the Swan River began the white settlement of Western Australia; and in 1836 a free colony in South Australia joined the list.
Entering the World Economy
Australian history was always tied up with foreign markets for primary products, and with the vicissitudes of the evolving world economy of capitalism. By the 1820s New South Wales had developed what was to be the future nation’s first great economic staple, the merino wool industry, using sheep brought from Spain. Merino sheep were well adapted to the arid Australian environment, and their wool withstood the long ocean journey to European woolen goods factories. On the basis of wool, Australia became extremely wealthy on a per capita basis by the mid-nineteenth century. White settlers seized the land for the sheep industry from aboriginal people under the doctrine of terra nullius, or “empty land,” a doctrine that recognized no legal authority on the part of the indigenous. The British government simply claimed sovereignty, but settlers had to establish their tenure against resistant aboriginal people. Disease and the guns of whites, however, gradually reduced this obstacle to European exertion of control.
Though profitable, wool required large landholdings and relatively few laborers as shepherds. Increasingly, pastoralists controlled vast estates. Until the transportation of British prisoners to the eastern Australian colonies ceased in 1850, these large pastoralist landowners, called “squatters,” used convict labor. By the 1840s, bitter battles had broken out between the governors and the pastoralists over the acquisition of and payment for land. Already an agitation on behalf of the growing numbers of free settlers sought the end to convictism, but the social landscape was even further transformed by the discovery of gold in Victoria in 1851. Many tens of thousands of European and American prospectors, and Chinese laborers rushed to the gold fields; Melbourne soon became Australia’s largest city, servicing the fields, and other gold rushes developed in Queensland and Western Australia later in the century. Gold brought intensified calls for democracy and moves toward self-government status, achieved in the middle of the 1850s for New South Wales and Victoria. The other colonies quickly followed suit.
Cities such as Melbourne, Brisbane (in the new colony of Queensland in Northeastern Australia, achieving self-government in 1859), and Sydney became entrepots (intermediate centers of trade) for the export of the land’s products, which now included not only wool but also wheat and minerals. Australia quickly developed by the late nineteenth century as one of the most urbanized societies in the world; yet much of the wealth still derived from the land; painters, poets, and novelists exhibited a fascination for “the bush” as shaping a distinctive, egalitarian, and masculinist national identity.
Australia remained throughout the nineteenth century subject to the demand pressures coming from European industrialization. The improvement of transport with faster sail ships and steamships tied the colonies ever more closely to the world economy and to Europe. Meat exports grew in the 1880s with the development of refrigeration; by 1900, the cattle industry spread across northern Australia, the nation’s last frontier. Cattle, wool, and wheat brought prosperity in the 1860s to 1890; wages were relatively high; free immigrants mainly from Britain (including Ireland) continued to enter, and society developed a racially “white” population that was said, with only a little exaggeration, to be 98 percent British. A strong middle class emerged in the cities committed to social and moral reform, but Australia was badly affected by the severe depression in the European world in the 1890s.
Class and Race, Politics and Governance
Partly as a result of that economic downturn, Australia entered a period of harsh class conflict between capital and labor; bitter strikes ensued, but the nation was not affected to any degree by Europe’s revolutionary socialism. After the labor movement’s defeat in these industrial wars, attention turned to the formation of a social democratic style of political party tied to trade unions, the Labor Party, that produced the first (but short-lived) Labor government in the world—in 1899 in Queensland. The nation was also affected by fears of racial takeover; the Chinese who had come with the gold rushes as laborers and miners posed one threat that colonists had railed against; Asian people became subject to restrictive immigration laws in the major colonies in the 1880s. The rise of Japanese power, particularly after the defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904 was another development raising a threat of a “yellow peril.” This fear of external threats and the desire to overcome tensions within the class-divided society brought impetus to the movement for federation and a rising nationalism.
The political landscape was changed by the federation of the different colonies in 1901 as the Commonwealth of Australia, comprised of six states with a written constitution partly based on the American, but without a Bill of Rights and retaining the Westminster system of parliamentary government and allegiance to the Crown. The federal union was cemented by the incorporation of labor into a social settlement via a system of industrial arbitration to maintain high wages. As part of the implicit compromise non-white labor was to be excluded to placate white workers (South Sea islanders working contract labor under near-slave conditions on northern sugar plantations were sent home as a result); and women were granted federally the right to vote, one of the earliest achievements of this reform in the world. Along with New Zealand, Australia became known as a site of significant social democratic reform. The Labor Party exerted a strong influence and provided several of the early governments of the Commonwealth and states.
These social achievements and economic progress were shattered by external events of world history again—this time in the form of World War I from 1914 to 1918. Though Australia was self-governing in regard to internal affairs, it was part of the British Empire and its leaders took the nation into war against Germany alongside the mother country. Nearly sixty thousand Australian soldiers died in the conflict that followed. The war exacerbated class, religious, and other social tensions as many Australians of Irish-Catholic descent opposed the attempted introduction of military conscription. The ruling Labor Party split over the issue, and the nation entered a period of conservative rule that lasted almost unbroken until 1941.
Meanwhile, the 1920s and 1930s saw Australia in increasingly difficult economic circumstances due to the further impact of external forces of the world economy. Agricultural prices dropped worldwide in the 1920s, and the Great Depression of the 1930s hit Australia as hard as it did Germany and the United States. Australia sought and received imperial preference tariffs that tied the nation even closer to the British. The growing threat of the Japanese did likewise. Australia relied on the British navy to repel this threat. But the fall of Singapore to the Japanese in World War II forced Australia to look to the United States after a call from the new Labor government. Hundreds of thousands of American troops passed through Australia, and the two nations fought to repel the Japanese. After the Allied victory in World War II, Australia formed a close political and strategic alliance with the United States, and sided with the Americans in the emerging Cold War. It also fought alongside the United States in the hot war that erupted in Korea (1950–1953), the Vietnam War of the 1960s, and in subsequent conflicts in Iraq (1991 and 2003–2009), and Afghanistan (beginning in 2001 and still involved as of 2010).
Internally, postwar Australia prospered once more as a result of the Cold War that raised the demand for Australian primary products, particularly wool. The nation’s terms of trade were very favorable and the high standard of living underpinned twenty- three years of continuous conservative political rule under the Liberal Party after 1949. The social composition of the nation was changed dramatically. Postwar refugees were welcomed in Australia from Europe, and to supply the labor needed for the nation’s expanding factories and mines, workers from Italy, Greece, and other European countries entered in large numbers. As a result the nation became ethnically mixed. Gone was the country largely Anglo- Celtic and composed of the earlier British and Irish immigrants and native-born stock. The ties to the motherland were further undermined by Britain’s entry to the European Common Market in 1964, a move that destroyed the old Imperial and Commonwealth trade preference system. Australia now had to find new markets, particularly in Asia, and the old enemy Japan in the 1960s and 1970s became the nation’s greatest trading partner. Later in the 1990s and after, China loomed larger as an importer of Australia’s mineral wealth. The drift towards Asia continued after 2000 and was reinforced by growing Asian migration.
Not until the 1960s had the White Australia policy, in operation since 1901, been challenged. At first came the admission of Asian students, then a cultural and social revolution from 1970 to 2000, as wave after wave of Asian immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and other places entered; refugees from Vietnam in the 1970s, Lebanon in the 1980s, and from Africa and the Middle East after 2000 added to the interracial mixture. By 2001, 22 percent of Australians were foreign born. As a result of changing immigration patterns, Islam and Buddhism joined Catholic and Protestant Christian denominations as part of the multicultural mix. Though multiculturalism was widely accepted in the 1980s, the stream of non-white and Muslim immigrants began to produce an anti-multicultural backlash that conservative politicians exploited. A different though complementary problem arose from the nation’s dependence on China for energy exports vital to the economy. This complicated fractious debates over climate change. Through its massive supply of coal and gas to Asian industrial powerhouses, Australia’s history since 2000 has become increasingly tied to global concerns about carbon dioxide emissions. A third divisive issue was Aboriginal Reconciliation. Aboriginal people received limited but significant legal victories in the early 1990s over lost land rights, and a formal apology for past wrongs committed by earlier generations came from the new Labor government in 2008. Yet the demand for further “reconciliation” and financial compensation for two centuries of discrimination continued to be controversial.
In the year 2010, with a population of about 22 million, Australia stood poised between its European heritage and American alliance on the one hand, and links to Asia on the other. As at every other point, the destiny of Australia was profoundly shaped by the patterns of trade, economic development, migration, and war that comprised world history.
Bibliography:
- Atkinson, A. (1997, 2004). The Europeans in Australia (2 vols.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
- Blainey, G. (2001). The tyranny of distance: how distance shaped Australia’s history. (Rev. ed.). Sydney: Macmillan.
- Bowen, J. (2008). Van Dieman’s Land. Melbourne: Black Inc. Clark, C. M. H. (1962-87). A history of Australia. (6 vols.). Carlton, Victoria, Australia: Melbourne University Press.
- Flannery, T. (1994). The future eaters: an ecological history of the Australasian lands and people. Chatswood, New South Wales: Reed Books.
- Hancock, W. K. (1930). Australia. London: Ernest Benn.
- Hirst, J. (1983). Convict society and its enemies: a history of early New South Wales. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
- Kingston, B. (1993). The Oxford history of Australia. Vol. 3, 1860- 1900: glad, confident morning. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
- McIntyre, S. (1999). A concise history of Australia. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
- Reynolds, H. (1981). The other side of the frontier: Aboriginal resistance to the European invasion of Australia. Kensington: University of New South Wales Press.
- Robin, L. (2007). How a continent created a nation. Kensington: University of New South Wales Press.
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Research Paper Sample on Australia: The System of Government
As Australia prospers as a nation the debate to change from its current status of a constitutional monarchy to a Republic increasingly gains momentum. However, the 1993 referendum showed the majority of Australians don’t support this change and as John Howard an avowed monarchist colloquially argues “If it it’s not broken, don’t fix it”. Australia should stop arguing this issue and move forward as we have done so well in the past.
In 1901 Australia’s separate colonies united under a constitutional monarchy embracing our independence while still respecting the cultural ties with Britain. The evolution of Australia from British colony to independent nation has seen many amendments to the constitution including The Australian Act 1986, Statute of Westminster and oath of citizenship. The Australian Republic Movement (ARM) established in 1993 by Labour Prime Minister Paul Keating argues Australia should accelerate towards a Republic despite the process is with far reaching ramifications and without substantial gains. Since the early 1900’s the pro- republic stance after 102 years advocates Australians to adopt an unclarified alternative and as Kerry Jones states, “accept an unstable system that is complex and deeply flawed”. (Article) Therefore, it can be seen that Australia’s constitutional monarchy that has matured to be a unique and effectively Australia’s system of government be continued to serve us in the future as it has in the past.
In 1998 a $35 million constitutional Convention comprising of 152 delegates agreed on a sole preposition (Appendix 1) being of minimal constitutional change in order for Australia to proclaim Republic. As a consequence of John Howard’s ultimatum various Republican models were not explored. In I999 a constitutional referendum costing $55 million, 54.87% of Australians voted against replacing the Queen and Governor General with a President who would be appointed by a two third majority of the members of the Commonwealth and, 60.60% of Australian voted against an insertion of a preamble into the constitution. (Appendix 2) The defeated referendum result contradicted the opinion shown in polls earlier (Appendix 1) that the majority of Australians supported a Republic. It seems in theory Australians want a Republic, albeit in practise active republicans have always been a minority.
The path to a Republic debate now has little chance of being successful without John Howard’s support and when only 8 referendums out of 42 to change the constitution have succeeded. Australian’s are sceptical. Les Murray a Republican, has said Australians won’t vote for a republic unless they trust it and ‘they sure can’t trust the one they are being offered at the moment (Australian 20 September 1993) Not only has the Republic debate divided Australia, it has divided republican’s themselves. (Appendix 5) “ Put any two Republicans together and they will disagree on what a republic entails” (The Defender Issue 1 May 1999 page 2) Considering, a clarified and vague republican model has been the sole proposition it is better to protect what Australia knows has already worked. To introduce an undefined Republican model Australians may possibly condemn future generations to live under an inferior system of government. A republican model must be analysed before being implemented and not after. Considering, this republican model is a blueprint it in Australia’s best interests to stay a constitutional monarchy.
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The ARM aimed to make minimum constitutional changes necessary to achieve a viable Federal Republic of Australia. Therefore, it’s as if Australia need sacrifice nothing in terms of the integrity of our present political institutions and the idea that a Republic is just a change in tittle. At the same time the Republicans argue, ‘Australia needs to become a republic to demonstrate its independence, identity, and maturity.’(Mark Mc Kenna http://www.republic.org.au) Australia has by far demonstrated to have cut the umbilical cord from the motherland and formed a mature independent identity while still respecting out traditional means. “Under our system of government Australia long ago achieved complete independence symbolised by the Queen’s title being changed, by her own consent and by Act of the Australian Parliament, to Queen of Australia.” (http://www.norepublic.com.au/) Appropriate amendments to the constitution have reflected the shift in Australian society and kept up to date with the times. In 1994 the oath of allegiance was amended to remove reference to the Crown (Appendix 3) to reflect core values in Australia. The Australian Act 1986, condensed the Queens power in Australia and proclaimed that “the United Kingdom parliament now has no legislative authority whatsoever in respect of Australia” (www.alphalink.com.au) Furthermore, the role of the Governor General a rather ceremonial position has changed from being formally a Queens’s representative appointed by the British government, into an Australian appointed by the PM who takes advice from Australian Ministers. Australia’s governor general, Guy Green from Tasmania was only recently nominated by the Prime Minister. By becoming a Republic would not be an affirmation of our nationhood as we already play an independent role. The fact Australia held the Olympic games, raises their own army and diplomatic corps, engages in their own foreign affairs, treaties, determines alone their future and makes decisions eg going to Vietnam War without Britain, proves Australian’s independence from Britain. The Commonwealth is part of our history and constitutional development that serves proudly as out own. The Republicans major argument that Australia is not independence does not exist.
The Republicans have failed to consider the intricate ramifications of an Australian Republic and even what shape the new constitution should take. At the constitutional convention in 1999 no assessment of such developments were proposed and central answers are overlooked. While Republicans want to replace the Queen the enormous implication of doing so are not manufactured and new institutional foundations and restrictions of the new office established. By removing the Queen new offices must be devised and complicated mechanisms implemented. Becoming a Republic raises issues that are still not answered such as; what will become of Crown land, a resolution to the position of the states, who will be the new president, method of appointment, length of tenure, power restrictions and importantly how will be president be appointed. “ A president selected by the Prime Minister would lack democratic legitimacy; a president elected by the people would have more authority than a Prime minister elected by MP’s”. (Quote) This de position power inturn can cause struggles for power, feasible political deadlock and mean enormous alterations to the constitution. Additionally, the Australian states individually have their own monarchist constitution and in the event of become a Republic it is unclear if monarchies remain and, if not what is required to bring them into conformity with a republican Commonwealth. It can be seen that the Republican movement is far from an improvement from a constitutional monarchy. A major flaw is that the model ignores to even recognise reconciliation, an essential component of any future republic. “To declare a republic that failed to embrace reconciliation as one of it’s founding principles would not be a republic at all- nor would it be a Republic would having” (Mark Mc Kenna) Australia should vote No to Republic that does not answer Australia’s needs and will be extremely costly financially, and emotionally. If we became a Republic the Republican advisory Committee estimated in 1994 the election for a president would cost $45 million minimum each time. The constitutional monarchy should be accepted to incur no further financial costs to taxpayers on the Republican issue. The Federal Parliament’s time without doubt could be better spent debating more relevant and crucial issues.
In practise Australia is a Republic in every sense worth worrying about, the constitution derives from the people, the government is democratically elected and the PM answers to parliament. In an Advisory Committee’s report stated Australia is a ‘crowned’ Republic.
The Queen, Elizabeth II is a leading figurehead as her political responsibilities and power is very limited. In Australian she is evident on Australia’s money and far from foreign as she’s in the papers and television. There is a generation of Australian’s that take great pride in the constitution and respectably admire the Queen. (Appendix _) The Queens is an educated faithful monarch who republican admit is more appropriate for the job. “quote”. Economically a Governor General would cost far more than a Queens who only has her security paid for when in Australia. The Queens still has a place in our democratic society and to replace the Queens would create enormous upheaval with no advantage.
It is the Governor- General, and not the Queen, who exercise the powers of the Head of State, so that becoming a republic means money, time lost on a constitutional re-write that will give us what we already have. “If the republicans are right and nothing will really change, why bother? If, on the other hand, they’re playing down the extent of flow-on changes, why take the risk’? (Quote) Republican base their argument on the need to being independent and have an Australian as head of state but when we already have both there is no reason to risk changing.
The republican movement may be an inevitable event in Australia’s with a welcoming future generation. It is important to maintain an open mind to different Republican models. It is not out of the question undertake radical amendments to their constitutions it must be remembered in the 1890’s the dramatically changes turned out to be a successful constitution. It seems in theory Australians want a republic but not in practise, until terms offered are clarified and understood. There is a low level of public understanding on the matter and a number of hurdles to jump before Australia can even comp template implementing a Republican model. It’s only when political division is ironed out and society gains the real Republican agenda a referendum would be of no success.
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Research Papers 2021-22 - Parliament of Australia Home About Parliament Parliamentary departments Parliamentary Library Research Publications Research Papers Index Page Research Papers 2021-22 Research Papers 2021-22 In this section This page includes recently published Research Papers.
New research publications This page includes recently published Research Papers. You may also like to browse Research Papers by year or to search Library publications in Parlinfo. The Parliamentary Library also publishes Bills Digests. Show publications Search in titles for 2022-23: Showing 1 to 10 of 43 publications Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next
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The research findings are based on: (1) analysis of quantitative data collected through the first ever global survey of students enrolled in Australian VET courses overseas; and (2) analysis of qualitative data collected through a series of focus groups with students located in two Chinese provinces. Key Findings ACER Full Report
The ARC administers Australia's national research assessment, Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA). ERA identifies and promotes excellence across the full range of research in Australia's higher education institutions. Through ERA the ARC identifies excellence in research.
Australian political institutions by Singleton, Aitkin, Jinks and Warhurst (2013), introduces students to the structure and organisation of the institutions and functions of government in Australia, with reference to contemporary issues and debates. Australian journal of political science includes articles on a wide range of political topics.
A national quality framework for early childhood education and care - Discussion paper (2009) Commonwealth of Australia; A research paper to inform the development of an Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (2008) Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Victoria; Analysis of curriculum learning frameworks (2008) VCAA
The paper considers how decisions about location of work will be made as firms and workers continue to learn how to organise their work, and what an increase in working from home might mean for workplace regulation, urban centres and wellbeing more generally. This research paper was released on 16 September 2021.
National research infrastructure (NRI) refers to the: Facilities, equipment and resources that are needed to perform research. Experts needed to run the infrastructure. Infrastructure can be physical, like a supercomputer or microscope, or intangible, like a data collection or software platform. The Australian Government has invested $4 billion ...
This research paper was released on 29 October 2021. Australia is putting more people in prison despite a fall in the number of criminal offenders. This paper looks at what is driving these trends, the costs on society and whether there are alternatives to prison that still keep the community safe but at a lower cost. Download the paper
View sample Australia research paper. Browse other research paper examples and check the list of history research paper topics for more inspiration. If you ne ... Brisbane (in the new colony of Queensland in Northeastern Australia, achieving self-government in 1859), and Sydney became entrepots (intermediate centers of trade) for the export of ...
Data on expenditure and human resources devoted to research and development (R&D) carried out by government and private non-profit organisations ... In 2020-21, Australian government organisations devoted a total of 15,047 person years of effort (PYE) to R&D. This was an increase of 526 PYE (4%) in comparison to 2018-19. ...
Reference list: Goodrum, D, Hackling, M & Rennie, L 2000, The status and quality of teaching and learning of science in Australian schools, report, Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Canberra. *insert report, research report, discussion paper, working paper, occasional paper, fact sheet , white/green paper, media release as necessary (e.g. if not in title)
Economic Papers features a balance of quality research in applied economics and economic policy analysis.The intended audience is the broad range of economists working in business, government and academic communities within Australia and internationally who are interested in economic and social issues related to Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.
Research Paper Sample on Australia: The System of Government. As Australia prospers as a nation the debate to change from its current status of a constitutional monarchy to a Republic increasingly gains momentum. However, the 1993 referendum showed the majority of Australians don't support this change and as John Howard an avowed monarchist ...
The Government has established a set of Science and Research Priorities, and corresponding Practical Research Challenges, designed to increase investment in areas of immediate and critical importance to Australia and its place in the world. Australia depends on science and research to increase productivity, achieve sustainable
As part of the development of the 2020 Cyber Security Strategy, we travelled across the country to seek views on the steps we should take to improve the cyber security of Australian citizens, community groups and businesses. Consultation included the release of Australia's 2020 Cyber Security Strategy discussion paper.
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