Independent pandemic science adviser to government becomes permanent
An independent panel of top scientists advising cabinet ministers will become a permanent feature of the nation's scientific infrastructure, despite at times issuing public advice that sharply conflicts with government policy.
The Rapid Research Information Forum, set up during the pandemic by the Australian Academy of Science and chaired by Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel, will become permanent thanks to a $400,000 donation.
The academy believes there is a major gap between science and government policy in Australia, which they hope the new venture can start to bridge.
Australian Academy of Science chief executive Anna-Maria Arabia (left) and research chair of Minderoo Foundation Fiona David.Credit:Australian Academy of Science
“Australia has not had those sort of mechanisms in place," said Australian Academy of Science chief executive Anna-Maria Arabia. "There is not an independent, permanent advisory role in the Australian context.”
Britain has a chief scientific adviser embedded in nearly every government department, while in the US the National Academies of Sciences have formal mechanisms to advise the government, Ms Arabia said.
Australia has the National Science and Technology Council, chaired by the prime minister. But its advice is not publicly released.
The Rapid Research Information Forum, on the other hand, put out official public advice after the federal government purchased $18.9 million of COVID-19 antibody tests, warning they were likely to be unusable.
The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald understand there were serious concerns within the academy that advice risked imperilling the whole forum. But since then ministers including Stuart Robert, Karen Andrews and Greg Hunt have asked it for advice.
The advice, which is public, has often informed government policy.
Ms Arabia said Australia’s embrace of waste water testing for COVID-19 can be traced back to advice strongly advocating for it in April.
Public advice that Australia’s research workforce faced disaster after COVID-19 hit universities' revenue led the Minderoo Foundation to commit $3 million over two years to fund a series of fellowships for young scientists.
Keen to continue building links with policymakers, the Australian Academy of Science has secured $400,000 from Andrew Forrest’s $2 billion Minderoo Foundation to expand the forum and allow it to run for another two years.
“Although we would have preferred a pandemic did not trigger this, it has been the trigger for, I think, a very mature relationship between ministers and the science sector, and an acknowledgment of the importance of science-based policy-making,” said Ms Arabia.
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A spokesman for Science Minister Karen Andrews said she was pleased the forum would continue to operate.
In October, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: “This forum harnesses expertise of our leading scientific institutions and provides factual science-based answers on the pandemic for our ministers. Without advice from the best minds in our science community, we could not have acted as swiftly, or as confidently or as effectively as we have.”
Professor Robin Batterham, who was Australia’s chief scientist between 1999 and 2005, said he despaired over some politicians being more interested in political point-scoring than evidence.
"The rule of evidence seems to be the least thing that matters. It seems to be point-scoring and what matters to win votes," he said. "I’ve sat in ministerial meetings, in recent times, where one of the advisers has said, 'You know you’re up to 4000 followers today.'
At a meeting with a cabinet minister with a new proposal, “his first reaction was, ‘Ahh, I can use this against so and so tomorrow.’”
Liam is The Age and Sydney Morning Herald's science reporter