AUSTRALIA

Research Sector 

The Australian Parliament passed the Australian Research Council Amendment (Review Response) Bill 2023, which is in response to the recent review. This included changes to establish an ARC board that will decide on funding the bulk of research projects and will help maintain the ARC’s political neutrality. This will strengthen Australia’s research capability, protect research integrity, and bring the ARC into alignment with best practice in research funding around the world. Importantly, quality research will be funded within the strategic imperatives set by Australian government, which will maximise the return to the public and increase public trust. 

Other research sector updates

• The President of Science and Technology Australia (STA) gave a national press club speech as part of the week of ‘Science Meets Parliament’. As part of this he stated that the Australian economy would be $100b bigger if R&D spending rose to 3% of GDP. 
• The Conversation posted an article by Dr Gibson and Beattie on how AI is affecting the research process. 
• The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), and others in the research ecosystem, welcomed the fundamental research exemption amendment to the Defence Trade Controls Amendment 2023.
• ATSE also released its next Impact magazine, it includes articles from the Australian Chief Scientist and Chairs of Australia’s recent Diversity in STEM review, as well as articles highlighting the concrete ways Australia is discovering solutions to our national priorities, from improving the construction of rail infrastructure to the next generation of solar panels, artificial intelligence opportunities, integrated health management and robotics.
• The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries issued information on expertise secondments to Indonesia to support foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and lumpy skin disease (LSD) control. 
• The Government announced a new research collaboration initiative that will be administered by ATSE and the Australian Academy of Science, Global Science and Technology Diplomacy Fund.  Indonesia is one of a number of eligible countries.

Climate Change 

• Nature commented on fostering climate-smart marine spatial planning globally.  
• The Great Barrier Reef has been hit by its fifth mass coral bleaching event in the past eight years.
• Research shows communities are more likely to adopt conservation measures if their neighbours have. 
• A new article in the Journal of Remote Sensing has explored changes in the composition changes of global forests between 2001 and 2020 and what it means for the planet.  
• The Australian Government has announced new appointments to Climate Change Authority and re-appointed its CEO. 
• The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) issued ‘Climate reporting and greenwashing: What small businesses need to know‘. 
• The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) published information from a project to improve coral reef management in southeast Asia, which involves researchers in Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. 

Technology 

• A recent research project provides evidence that waste-to-energy plants are a low health risk. 
• The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) has released information on fighting crime through digital technologies, commenting that better data and technology cooperation is needed in environmental (e.g. wildlife) crime responses. 
• Computer scientists have developed a model to enhance water resource monitoring and modelling through remote sensing satellites. 
• Nature released a feature article on the role of generative AI in science communication, noting that it could revolutionise translation if we can manage the various complexities, risks and pitfalls. 
• The Insurance Council issued a submission to Home Affairs on a cybersecurity strategy reform. 
• Australia’s eSafety Commissioner announced legal notices to Google, Meta, Twitter/X, WhatsApp, Telegram and Reddit requiring them to report on steps they are taking against terrorist and violent extremist material and activity. 
• The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) issued to useful policy papers, on ‘The need for responsible AI‘ and ‘Australia should grow its own fuel‘. 
• The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has released new cyber security resources for charities and not-for-profits. 
• The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced an inquiry and released an issues paper into search services, exploring the state of competition between search engines and the trends in search quality, as part of its five-year digital platform services inquiry. 

GEDSI 

• Universities Australia has released a new tool to help staff and students manage suicide risk in universities. 
• CSIRO released an article on the ‘digital divide’ and exploring if AI will make people’s quality of life better or worse 
• New Federal homelessness and financial well-being programs have been welcomed by the sector as a way to improve daily lives for those struggling: see a statement from St Vincent de Paul Society at this link. 
• The Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) released an editorial on co-design: ‘Yarning together: toward targeted, co-designed parenting programs for Aboriginal Australians‘. 
• The Australian Human Rights Commission has celebrated the official launch of the Wiyi Yani U Thangani Institute, a dedicated Institute to elevate the voices and solutions of First Nations women and girls. 
• The Department of Health and Aged Care (DHAC) released a summary report of a survey on Australian women’s experiences of barriers and bias in the health system: ‘#EndGenderBias survey results‘. 
• The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has released a report recommending legislative report on religious education and anti-discrimination to ensure Australia acts in accordance with international legal obligations. The was tabled in Parliament on 21 March 2024 by the Attorney-General. 

INDONESIA

KONEKSI Programme

Monash University Indonesia collaborates with various local communities to strengthen several research centres and programmes initiated, including the Monash University, Indonesia Climate Change Communication Research Centre; Climateworks Centre; the Revitalisation of Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) programme; and the World Mosquito programme. Monash University Indonesia also receives research funding from KONEKSI to build Climate Resilience in Eastern Indonesia and cooperation with the Tanoto Foundation to analyse the impact of school management performance on the effectiveness of student learning.

Source:

• (Jawa Pos, 20 March 2024), Perjalanan 3 Tahun Monash University Indonesia, Dukung Visi Indonesia Emas 2024 Lewat Riset dan Kolaborasi Terkait Perubahan Iklim
• (Idn Times, 20 March 2024), Cerita Monash University Indonesia Adakan Kuliah Pertama saat Pandemik

Research and Technology

• BRIN is currently constructing data infrastructure focusing on food security issues by monitoring the growth of food crops across Indonesia using geoinformatics.
• BRIN is developing an electronic voting (e-voting) application to replace conventional electoral systems.
• BRIN has initiated a programme to develop a national constellation satellite to achieve data independence for Indonesia and effectively implement the field of Geoinformatics.

Research and Innovation

• Researchers from BRIN are developing a study on the Named Entity Recognition (NER) model development using a multi-source approach.
• BRIN is researching the development of Hydroxyapatite-Zirconium Nanoparticles (Zr-Dopped HAp) for Photodynamic Therapy to cure Lung Cancer.
• BRIN collaborated with industry partners to support the national weaponry system, particularly the application of smart magnetic materials used in Radar Detection Avoidance Paint (CADR).
• The Centre for Genetic Engineering Research at BRIN offers a new effective fermentation method in bioethanol production using genetically engineered thermophilic microorganisms.

Research Environment and Climate Change (ECC)

• The Education Research Centre (Pusrisdik) organised a sharing session discussing the importance of Eco-pedagogy in addressing environmental challenges.
• BRIN’s Limnology and Water Resources Research Centre stated that integrated watershed management provides solutions to reduce disaster risk, protect communities, and foster national resilience.
• The Centre for Geological Disaster Research (PRKG) of BRIN emphasises the need to delineate tsunami hazard zones and underscores the importance for communities to have tsunami hazard maps.
• The Centre for Language, Literature, and Community Research at BRIN discusses “green literature” as writers’ environmental advocacy, highlighting its emergence in response to deforestation.
• BRIN prepared a budget of IDR 25 billion for the endangered plant species conservation.
• BRIN invites students from all universities across Indonesia to engage in research concerning the sun.
• BRIN and other relevant parties conducted Weather Modification Technology (WMT) operations to mitigate wet hydrometeorological disasters in the northern part of Central Java.
• BRIN’s Centre for Climate and Atmospheric Research stated many tropical cyclones cause hydrometeorological disasters and indicate climate change has contributed to an increase in the intensity of extreme weather incidents in Indonesia.
• BRIN has released a study on the potential occurrence of extreme drought in most parts of Kalimantan by 2033 due to the National Capital of Nusantara (IKN) development.
• BRIN explains that land subsidence in many areas, especially in the Northern Coast of Java and the Bandung Basin, has resulted in physical and economic losses.
• BRIN’s Geoinformatics Research Centre is developing the BRIN Fire Hotspot system based on satellite remote sensing data.

Research and Funding

• Vice Chairman of the Regional Representative Council (DPD), Sultan B Najamudin, urges the LPDP to innovate in distributing scholarships and providing affordable education.
• The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology will reopen the Unggulan Scholarship programme for 1,000-2,000 undergraduate and doctoral students this year.

 Research and Women

• Prita Kemal Gani, Founder and CEO of the London School of Public Relations and representative of the Indonesian Women’s Congress (Kowani), advocates for quality education and innovative approaches to address inequalities and combat poverty.
• In a side event session of the 68^th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) held in New York, Deputy Minister for Gender Equality at the Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection, Lenny N. Rosalin, stated that gender-responsive budgeting is a strategy to achieve equality between women and men and focusing on how public resources are collected and spent.

 Research and Disability

• The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology has introduced the Inclusive Education Hierarchical Education programme by launching the Basic Inclusive Education Module. This initiative aims to enhance teachers’ abilities to provide inclusive and equitable education to all students, including those with disabilities.

Updates supported by Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA)