GROUNDBREAKING SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH, LEARNING, HERITAGE AND THE ARTS - THE AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF THE HUMANITIES>

gabriela.cabral@humanities.org.au

"The Academy of the Humanities welcomes the Rudd Government's very
significant investment in Australia's future prosperity and social
fabric," said the President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities,
Professor Ian Donaldson.

"Additional funding in this week's Federal Budget for research,
innovation, higher education, student support, heritage and the arts
will enable humanities and creative arts scholars and practitioners to
play a stronger role in building an aware, mature and resilient society.

"Within Minister Kim Carr's area of Innovation, Industry, Science and
Research, a very impressive funding boost for science, research and
research infrastructure will assist the sector to deliver more
effectively on its potential. Many of these programmes are accessible
across the board, enabling humanities and arts scholars to collaborate
with colleagues in other disciplines and in industry and the public
sector to deliver national benefit.

"In light of Minister Carr's declared position that 'science' is to be
understood in the European sense, to denote advanced expert knowledge in
all fields, we look forward to receiving further broad support from the
Government for advanced research across the disciplines.

"In Deputy Prime Minister Gillard's portfolio area of Education,
Employment and Workplace Relations, we particularly welcome further
student support measures at the postgraduate level that will produce
real and immediate benefit to teaching and learning, in addition to
other measures boosting quality, equity and diversity in the higher
education sector.

"The structural reforms underpinning the new money are crucial: the move
towards supporting research at full cost, for instance, will benefit the
humanities by being based upon real costs rather than arbitrary ratios,
and by relieving the pressure that currently sees science research
significantly cross-subsidised at the institutional level by humanities
and social science coursework enrolments. The very welcome indexation
reform will help in similar ways.

"We are delighted to see specific support across the portfolios for
indigenous educational attainment and artistic practice.

"We are also pleased to see within Minister Garrett's Arts portfolio
additional support for early-career artists to relieve the onerous
effect of immediate financial need when they are attempting to establish
a style, a repertoire and an audience.

"The Academy understands that these funding outcomes don't just happen
by themselves," continued Professor Donaldson.

"We are grateful to Ministers Carr, Gillard and Garrett, to their staff
and to the officials within their Departments and agencies for ensuring
that these important initiatives made it through the perilous Budget
process.

"That this was achieved under the present very difficult economic
circumstances is a testament to their effectiveness and determination,
and also to the merits of their arguments," he concluded.