One particular target for such claims is the Australian Research Council (ARC) whose programs total approximately A$250m per annum ranging across all twelve fields of research, as classified by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In Australia, the tradition followed by the ARC (and established in the 1960s by the Australian Research Grants Committee) has been to allocate funds for research on the basis of judgments (by peers) on the quality of the proposed research and of the researcher(s). Whereas structural priorities have been addressed in a major way, in the balance of funding among programs, thematic priorities have been addressed only in a minor way at the margins of funding.
The second aspect of the ARC programs--the balance of funding across the broad discipline areas--is currently being addressed by the Council. This exercise, which involves wide consultation with government departments and agencies, industry and the research community, should be completed by July 1996--in time for decisions to take effect for the 1997 grant year.
This paper provides an outline of the approach being taken by the Council.