ARC audit finds ‘no issues’ in handling of foreign interference

Australia’s non-medical research funding council has vowed to develop a “countering foreign interference framework”, even though an internal audit found “no issues” in the agency’s handling of overseas meddling.

The Australian Research Council (ARC) said the framework, which it has pledged to publish by December, would provide a “holistic view” of its role in managing national security risks associated with its grants.

The document will explain the ARC’s controls and procedures “at each stage of the grants lifecycle”, along with the responsibilities of external stakeholders, including researchers, universities and the departments of education and home affairs.

The framework will also outline the “escalation process” to address “any breaches or issues”, including “clear consequences” for people or universities that fail to comply with ARC disclosure requirements.

The new framework was recommended by the audit, which had been commissioned in response to last year’s Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security report on Australian higher education and research. 

The report, released on the eve of the 2022 federal election, called for more investigations and tougher penalties against grant fraud or incomplete disclosure. It also recommended a review of the ARC’s performance in assessing foreign interference and an audit of a decade of grants for exposure to foreign academic recruitment schemes.

The government agreed to review active grants that had been awarded since the launch of the University Foreign Interference Taskforce guidelines in late 2019. The audit identified “three matters relating to foreign interference” during that period and found “no issues” in how the ARC had addressed them.

The agency has also been accused of going too far in addressing national security concerns by “keeping files” on academics. But the audit endorsed its approach, including its record-keeping and establishment of a “due diligence committee”.

The audit found that the ARC had also given universities opportunities to respond to national security concerns and clarified the ground rules for foreign interference checks on grant applications and contract variations.

The agency has agreed to implement several other audit recommendations. They include enhanced “open source” risk checking of grant applications and an annual questionnaire about universities’ risk assessments.

The Group of Eight applauded the ARC’s decision to develop a framework, describing it as the “missing piece” in efforts to fight foreign interference in the university research system.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com