Australia’s draft National Science and Research Priorities

ADM+S Submission in response to
Australia’s National Science and Research
Priorities Conversation Starter

Prof Julian Thomas and Dr Amanda Lawrence
ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society
29 September 2023

About ADM+S
The ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S) is a cross- disciplinary, national research centre which commenced operations in mid 2020. ADM+S has been established and supported by the Australian Research Council to create the knowledge and strategies necessary for responsible, ethical, and inclusive automated decision-making.
Focus areas for ADM+S research are news and media, social services, health and transport.
ADM+S brings together nine of Australia’s leading universities, and more than 80 researchers across the humanities, social and technological sciences, together with an international network of partners and collaborators across industry, research institutions and civil society.
More information about the ADM+S, our researchers and research projects can be found on our website: www.admscentre.org.au.

Response to the consultation questions

1. The draft priorities intend to identify specific challenges facing the country that will
require multidisciplinary and multisector efforts to address. Do they achieve this
objective? How can we improve them?
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft priorities which are a major shift in structure and approach from the previous priorities. We welcome the move to a broader set of priorities focusing on environment, health, economy and society which will provide greater flexibility for designing and funding both basic and applied research while ensuring that the key challenges facing the nation are addressed. Overall, we support the priorities, aims and objectives laid out in the draft however we raise a few concerns with Priority 3.
Priority 3. Enabling a productive and innovative economy is mainly focused on technological innovation however social innovation in processes, practices and systems can also provide enormous gains in productivity for existing industries as well as developing new ones. Given the importance of education and services to the national economy, social innovations can have a wide ranging benefits and also reduce harms. Covid 19 demonstrated how critical it is for industry and organisations to be flexible and adaptive in developing new practices such as working from home and quickly adapting to online teaching and learning. Research for a productive economy and society should also aim to prepares the way for the massive social and economic changes facing the nation with the technological transformations occurring in digital technologies and content generation, health, transport and employment.

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There is also the potential that priority 3 research, in the narrow way that it is framed, will undermine the other priorities identified, for example mining for critical minerals may cause significant environmental harm, or commercial relationships may threaten national security. It is therefore essential that we support research on the social and environmental impacts of new technologies and business models, whether that is for big tech or for local industries, to ensure that we can reduce the harm from new technologies and industries and protect the public interest and the national interest.

2. Feedback stressed the need to work in partnership with First Nations people to embed
First Nations knowledge and knowledge systems in the way we address national
challenges. How might governments and the science and research sector best work
with First Nations people to achieve this objective?
Improving digital inclusion outcomes and access to services in remote Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander communities is critically important for informed decision making, agency and the capacity to participate and contribute to research. The 2023 Outcomes report from the
ADM+S Mapping the Digital Gap research project found that remote First Nations people have very high levels of digital exclusion compared with other Australians. People in remote communities often have extremely limited access to digital infrastructure and services and encounter very high costs for internet access, especially in relation to their income.
This research shows both the importance of research on the social impacts and access to technologies and the need to understand and address the complex ways in which participation in research may be limited for particular groups depending on their context. Non-Indigenous
Australians in regional and remote communities also struggle with access to affordable and reliable internet services with significant impacts on their opportunities for education, employment, health and democratic participation.
Ensuring access to information and communications technologies is critical for achieving the national research priorities and also needs to be identified as part of the priorities. From identifying the social, economic and technical issues to improving the policies and the infrastructure, new research will be essential to address this challenge which has particular impacts on Indigenous communities.

3. The draft priorities provide a range of critical research paths. How could we refine
these research paths, for example, to address immediate challenges?
While there were many extremely important areas of research identified in the critical research paths there are also many critical research paths that are missing. Overall, the critical research paths present a mixed level of both broad and highly specific research areas which made their purpose somewhat confusing. Having very specific research topics tends to cause concern that other research areas will be overlooked or not be supported in future funding rounds.
Given the broad nature of the priorities there are many critical areas of research that will be required. ADM+S has an extensive research program across multiple disciplines including health, environment, law, AI and communications. We would be happy to provide suggestions for key research topics however this would just make the current list even longer. The aims and objectives provide more detailed guidance on the priorities, and if the aim is to encourage innovation and multidisciplinary collaboration, we recommend that the critical research paths, if required, be framed more as suggested research areas or examples of priority fields. This will ensure the research paths are generative of new ideas rather than a defined list of topics that potentially exclude new directions.

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4. The National Science Statement will explain the role our science systems will play in
delivering the priorities and maximising the benefits from science for Australia. How
can the following best support the priorities: Science agencies, Science infrastructure,
Australian government science programs, Domestic and international science
relationships.

New data sources including real-time data, such as mobile and social media allow researchers to model and understand the circulation of information in ways that were not possible just a decade ago. To seize the opportunities and mitigate the risks of new forms of data and technology, we will require new ways of capturing, storing, annotating and analysing data, and new investments in research programs, training and infrastructure. There are also important opportunities for international collaboration, data sharing and comparison if we have the skills, expertise and infrastructure to engage in these areas. It is essential that the next phase of the
National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy is implemented as soon as possible to ensure Australia is not seriously disadvantaged in terms of national research infrastructure development.
ADM+S has put forward a proposal for an Australian Social Data Observatory (ASDO.org.au), which was highlighted in the 2021 NRI Roadmap. The need for a facility such as ASDO has only increased with the rapid developments in generative AI and recent changes to digital platforms such as Twitter/X which have further reduced access to social data for researchers. ASDO will support research across all the national research priorities identified in the draft and increase digital research skills for researchers across many sectors including industry, government and civil society.
The development and utilisation of a data-enabled and AI driven research landscape will require a skilled, engaged and capable workforce across all disciplines and the ability to collaborate, apply and share research ethically and safely. The gaps in Australia’s data and technical skills are significant across many disciplines including humanities, social sciences, health and medicine and the natural sciences (see the ACOLA reports 2022). To address this will require investing in training programs that grow and retain a workforce with the necessary data and technical skills across diverse disciplines and industries.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss the National Science and Research Priorities further with you.

Prof Julian Thomas, Director, ADM+S, RMIT University
Email: julian.thomas@rmit.edu.au
Dr Amanda Lawrence, Research Fellow, ADM+S, RMIT University
Email: amanda.lawrence@rmit.edu.au
Web: https://www.admscentre.org.au

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