Australian Research Council Linkage Projects Funding Rules for funding commencing in 2012 Variation (No. 1)

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Funding Rules made under section 60 of the Australian Research Council Act 2001

Variation to Linkage Projects Funding Rules for funding commencing in 2012

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research

Subject: Australian Research Council Act 2001

Variation to the Linkage Projects Funding Rules for funding commencing in 2012

Authority

Section 60 of the Australian Research Council Act 2001 (the Act) provides that the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research must approve ARC funding rules. 

Purpose and effect

Linkage Projects for funding commencing in 2012 were approved under section 60 of the Act by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon Kim Carr, on 03 March 2011.

Linkage Projects is a scheme funded under the Australian Research Council’s National Competitive Grants Program. The scheme supports research and development projects which are collaborative between higher education researchers and other parts of the national innovation system, which are undertaken to acquire new knowledge, and which involve risk or innovation.

A variation to these rules was approved under section 61 of the Act by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon Kim Carr, 19 April 2011. This amendment of funding rules will replace Linkage Projects Funding Rules for funding commencing in 2012. Details of the approved variation is as follows:

Replace

“14.3 Confidentiality

14.3.1 The ARC gives no undertaking to keep confidential any information provided in the Proposal except where required by law.  The ARC may restrict access to the Proposal from parties not directly related to the Proposal.

14.3.2 The ARC will publicise and report offers or awards of funding, including information about the proposed research; the CIs, APDIs and PIs; the name of the Administering Organisation and any other parties involved in or associated with the Project; the title and summary descriptions of the Project and its intended outcomes (including the national/community benefits that are expected to arise from the research); and the level and nature of funding from the ARC. In making public information about a Proposal which has been approved for funding, the ARC may use a Project description, including title and summary, which may differ from that provided in the Proposal.”

with

“14.3 Confidentiality

14.3.1 The ARC will treat information contained in a Proposal as confidential. However, the ARC may disclose information contained in a Proposal, or otherwise provided to the ARC, to the extent that the information is:

1. disclosed by the ARC to its advisers (including external assessors), officers, employees or other third parties in order to assess, evaluate or verify the accuracy or completeness of a Proposal;
2. disclosed to the ARC’s personnel to enable effective management or auditing of the ARC Linkage Projects scheme or any Funding Agreement;
3. disclosed by the ARC to the Minister;
4. shared by the ARC within the ARC’s organisation, or with another Commonwealth Department or agency, where this serves the Commonwealth’s legitimate interests;
5. authorised or required by law to be disclosed;
6. disclosed in accordance with any other provision of these Funding Rules or the Funding Agreement; or
7. in the public domain.

14.3.2 Where information contained in a Proposal is made available to third parties for evaluation or assessment purposes the ARC will require the third parties to maintain the confidentiality of the material.

14.3.3 Notwithstanding the above, and in addition to the exemptions listed at 14.3.1, the ARC may publicise and report offers or awards of funding, including information about the proposed research; the name of the APDI Fellows and their organisations; the name of the Administering Organisation and any other parties involved in or associated with the project; the title and summary descriptions of the project and its intended outcomes (including the national/community benefits that are expected to arise from the research); and the level and nature of financial assistance from the ARC. Administering Organisations should ensure that information contained in the project title and summaries would not, if released, compromise their own requirements for confidentiality (such as future protection of intellectual property).

14.3.4 In making public information about a Proposal which has been approved for funding, the ARC may use a project description, including title and summary, which may differ from that provided in the Proposal.”

Commencement

Linkage Projects Funding Rules for funding commencing in 2012 Variation (No.1) shall take effect upon registration on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.