The report focuses on the fundamental questions that influence our ability to learn and highlights the opportunity for Australia to transform its practices related to learning, with the aim of enhancing life-long learning outcomes for all Australians.

It also uses science to challenge a number of commonly held beliefs about how the brain functions, learns and ages. 

The central recommendation of the report is the establishment of a Science of Learning Program, to be delivered through a number of interdisciplinary and inter-professional Science of Learning Centres.

Further detail on the Science of Learning Program can be found in the short  impact statement.  Click here to download the statement.

In describing the Science of Learning Centres, Australia’s Chief Scientist, Professor Penny D Sackett said “the Centres would have a transformational impact on learning by advancing the scientific understanding of effective learning techniques; generating knowledge to inform education policy and practice; and by testing innovative approaches in real world environments to maximise learning outcomes.

“It is expected that the research findings from these Centres could lead to improvements in equity, educational practice and practitioner development.  All of which, should narrow the achievement gap and maximise Australia’s economic productivity.

“By adopting the recommendation from the report to establish Science of Learning Centres, we can deliver a society of effective life-long learners who have the ability to engage in the rapidly developing knowledge society that is the global future.”

The Centres, if established, would cover Australia geographically and socio-economically; and would build on the work already being conducted across Australia by Departments of Education, researchers and other educational groups. 

It is also expected that input into the Centres would be harnessed from parents, carers, learners, community leaders, formal and informal educators, and researchers from different disciplines.

Click here to download a copy of the full report.

Speaking at a recent meeting of the Prime Minister’s Science Engineering and Innovation Council, Professor Sackett used the opportunity to remind members of the significance of the foresight process.

“Though we may be bound by the finite nature of Earth, we must not be bound in our thinking about science and innovation,” Professor Sackett said.

Under the current model, experts are brought together as a foresight cluster to determine potential futures for Australia that lie 10 to 50 years ahead and the underlying causes for them.

From there, expert working groups are formed to prepare reports on what needs to be done to steer us towards (or avoid) those possibilities.

The Australian foresight model has garnered much international, national and local interest in its ability to help plan effectively for futures.

“Our model serves to provide resilience and readiness in the face of the uncertain and to inform policy,” Professor Sackett said.

One unique aspect of the PMSEIC model is the engagement of young Australians in the foresighting process.

In 2009, 11 delegates, ranging from 19 to 24 years old, were bought together to brainstorm potential futures and ways Australia might reach them.

The delegates represented a broad range of fields including economics, sustainability, health, productivity, rural interests and the indigenous community.

“Active engagement of youth is an important part of our foresighting model, since in most cases, it is the youth of today that will be affected most by our decisions now,” Professor Sackett said.

Download the speech here

Download the slides here

Download the outcomes of the youth brainstorming here

The Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) was established under the former Government in 1997 as the Government’s principal source of independent advice on issues in science, engineering and innovation and relevant aspects of education and training.  The precursor to PMSEIC was the Prime Minister’s Science Council established by the Hawke Labor Government in 1989.  This was then followed in 1992 by the Prime Minister’s Science and Engineering Council.

The Council meets in full session, twice a year, to discuss major national issues in science, engineering and technology and their contribution to the economic and social development of Australia.

The recent Australian Government’s policy paper Powering Ideas: an Innovation Agenda for the 21st Century gave PMSEIC the mandate of looking over the horizon to support long term, whole-of-Government policy development.  As a result, PMSEIC has adopted a broader definition of science to include the social sciences, and a new model of operation was introduced incorporating a foresighting approach.

The new model provides PMSEIC with a unique opportunity to provide long range advice on issues of national importance, highlighting areas of research where an early and timely response can really make a difference.  Foresighting teams will identify a set of plausible futures that lie 10 to 50 years ahead of us, draw a line between where we are now and each of those futures, and then ask: What are the problems and opportunities for Australia that intersect that line that involve science, and how can we overcome or embrace them?

Four themes for exploration have been agreed:

• Climate Change, Energy, Water and Environment;
• Science as an Engine for Innovation in Commerce, Industry and the Arts;
• National Health, Well-being and Security; and
• Knowledge Generation, Skills and Perception in a Global World.

These themes lie at the intersection of Government portfolios and across traditional disciplines of research, and in many cases involve social challenges resistant to conventional approaches to solving them.

Please visit the PMSEIC website to find further information including reports and presentations that have been produced by the Council.

At the twentieth meeting of the Prime Minister’s Science Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) held on June 5 2009, an Expert Working Group presented a report titled Epidemics in a Changing World.  This report considered the factors that prompt the emergence of infectious diseases, and that alter the frequency, location and spread of disease in a changing global environment.  It was noted that humans are the key contributor to this change, through population growth, climate change and associated environmental impacts.

The report also identified that the infectious agents that cause such diseases constantly evolve. This makes the prediction of future threats very difficult — so we must expect to be surprised. The report identified several key ways for Australia to strengthen its capabilities to prevent and manage epidemics.

The Expert Working Group members came from a wide range of scientific disciplines and organisations.  Many of the members had been previously or were currently actively engaged in operations or research associated with animal or human epidemics in Australia and overseas.  They drew heavily on their extensive scientific knowledge and expertise in considering the topic, in fields including virology, entomology, epidemiology, medical science and veterinary science.

The recommendations

Science and innovation will provide the key to safeguarding Australia’s future. The report focused on ensuring that Australia is well placed to deal with the effect of global changes on the occurrence and spread of human and animal epidemic diseases.

The Expert Working Group noted that Australia’s current operational response to disease control is effective — and has been in recent times for disease events which have not resulted in major global epidemics.  The recommendations presented were seen as providing Australia with the preparedness and agility to cope with the unknown challenges of a future world that may provide a substantively different environment for epidemic disease.

In order to underpin Australia’s preparedness to deal with emerging epidemic diseases the Group recommended that:

1. Australia possesses the human capacity to combat potential epidemics

The nation must be prepared and sufficiently agile to deal with unexpected epidemics. This requires that we develop, maintain and retain skilled people through:

• conducting ongoing national workforce planning for expertise in human and animal epidemic diseases; and
• boosting higher education and research training in areas of need.

In order to provide early warning of the emergence of epidemic diseases the Group recommended that:

2. Australia possesses a long term biosecurity information collection, analysis and interpretation capability

Capability must be developed and maintained to collect, analyse and interpret disease surveillance information.   This must be secured by:

• creating an ongoing, effective national human and animal disease information system; and
• integrating this system with similar systems operating overseas.

In order to enhance Australia’s wider ability to deal with emerging epidemic diseases the Group recommended that:

3. Australia develops forward regional engagement to mitigate potential epidemic.

Australia needs to commit human and other resources to engage our region on disease surveillance, preparedness and mitigation, through capacity building and collaboration.  This requires that we develop political, scientific and technical relationships with our neighbours, at multiple levels, to reduce human and animal disease risk to Australia and the region by:

• establishing an active ongoing cross portfolio mechanism involving PM&C, DFAT, DoHA, DAFF, DIISR, DEEWR and other relevant agencies dedicated to managing and supporting effective regional engagement; and
• assisting regional countries to meet their obligations under the WHO International Health Regulations and the World Organisation for Animal Health requirements through:
  • supporting development of collaborative regional surveillance and early warning systems; and
  • developing regional expertise through professional training and higher education in Australia and in the region.

In order to secure the front-line defences needed to deal with emerging epidemic diseases the Group recommended that:

4. Australia has a self-sufficient vaccine development and production capacity

Australia needs to retain and enhance its onshore development and production capacity for vaccines. This is essential for domestic preparedness and, as importantly, to enable access to the latest overseas expertise and technology in this field.  The focus should be on the onshore development and production capacity for:

• contemporary influenza vaccines; and
• niche vaccines, particularly in the context of future Australian needs.

In order to better coordinate our ability to deal with emerging epidemic diseases the Group recommended that:

5. The Government establishes the cross-portfolio arrangements essential for effective implementation of Recommendations 1, 2 and 3 as a matter of immediate priority.

Please visit the PMSEIC website to view the full report.

Professor Sackett was appointed in November 2008 to be Australia’s full time Chief Scientist, with an expanded role centred on the provision of independent science advice to the Government.

“I am encouraged by this announcement as it is a strong signal that the EU acknowledges the vital role science should play in informing policy,” Professor Sackett said.

“Australia is not alone in facing complex or so called ‘wicked’ problems, such as sustainable development in the face of climate change or the health and well being of its citizens with a growing, but ageing population.  Such problems require a comprehensive and integrated effort to address.

“Science will play an essential role in providing the evidence necessary to inform robust policy decisions in addressing these problems.

“The global nature of these challenges means that we need to coordinate our actions with other countries, and the establishment of an EU Chief Scientist will facilitate this process.  I look forward to engaging with the new EU Chief Scientist upon her or his appointment,” Professor Sackett said.

Click here to download media release

Media Contact: Rebecca Richter, Office of the Chief Scientist
Mobile: 0410 029 407

Established in 1989 as the Prime Minister’s Science Council, PMSEIC brings together Australia’s top scientific and business leaders to examine and make recommendations on science, engineering and innovation issues of national importance.

As Executive Officer of PMSEIC, Professor Penny Sackett, Chief Scientist for Australia, unveiled a new model for PMSEIC.

“The new model establishes more formal structures to provide long-term, over-the-horizon vision on all matters associated with science, engineering and innovation.

“This will ensure that the policy choices made today lead towards a sustainable, prosperous, healthy and educated Australian society in the future.

“Essentially the idea is to identify a set of plausible futures that lie 10 to 50 years ahead of us, draw a line between where we are now and each of those futures, and then ask: What are the problems and opportunities for Australia that intersect that line that involve science?

“If there are gaps in our current knowledge that prevent us from formulating good policy for those possible challenges and opportunities, we need to know what they are, and fill them,” Professor Sackett said.

As the primary advisory body to the Prime Minister on matters of Science, Engineering and Innovation, it is vital that PMSEIC takes a long term view and engage in foresighting (over the horizon) activities.

“In order to stay competitive in a global world, Australia needs to take a long term, cross portfolio approach, as many of our international counterparts have been doing,” Professor Sackett said.

Speaking on the new PMSEIC model, Professor Graeme Turner, Director, Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland and a PMSEIC member said that it was pleasing to note that the Council will be drawing on the nation’s full range of expertise, including those of the humanities and social sciences.

“The explicit nomination of a foresighting process provides PMSEIC with a unique opportunity to provide long range advice on issues of national importance, highlighting areas of research where an early and timely response can really make a difference,” Professor Turner said.

Working under the new model, Standing Committee members of PMSEIC have been focusing on four foresighting clusters or themes:

• Climate Change, Energy, Water and Environment;
• Science as an Engine for Innovation in Commerce, Industry and the Arts;
• National Health, Well-being and Security;
• Knowledge Generation, Skills and Perception in a Global World;

“These themes lie at the intersection of Government portfolios and across traditional disciplines of research, Professor Sackett said.

“It will require a broad vision and cross-portfolio co-operation to arrive at the best choices.  Even the themes themselves may change in the future as we adapt and respond to a changing global environment.

“Through an active exchange of views today, we anticipate that the Prime Minister and the Council will agree on priorities for further work, so that specialised teams of experts can be formed to research these priorities further and present their detailed findings at future PMSEIC meetings,” Professor Sackett said.

At today’s meeting, one such specialised Expert Working Group, comprised of key health researchers from Australia’s leading universities and research centres, presented a timely report to the Council on the challenges faced by Australia in the event of a global epidemic affecting humans or animals.

The report, Epidemics in a Changing World, highlights some potential ways Australia could enhance its capacity to combat epidemics.

“The Expert Working Group produced a comprehensive report in a very short time frame, especially considering they had the additional pressure of being called upon in a professional capacity to respond to the spread of the virus H1N1 Influenza 09 (Human Swine Influenza),” Professor Sackett said.

Please refer to the PMSEIC website for further information on the Council and the Expert Working Group reports, including the Epidemics in a Changing World.

For more information on the Chief Scientist for Australia, Professor Penny Sackett, please visit www.chiefscientist.gov.au.

Click here to download media release

Media Contact: Rebecca Richter, Office of the Chief Scientist
Mobile: 0410 029 407

“Engaging with international counterparts on topical science issues is essential in order for us to find global solutions to global problems such as climate change and emerging health issues,” Professor Sackett said.

While in the United States, Professor Sackett met with key officials including:

• Dr Harold Varmus, co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST);
• Dr John Holdren, Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President; and co-chair of PCAST;
• Dr Nina Federoff, Special Advisor (Science and Technology), US Department of State;
• Dr Arden Bement, Director, National Science Foundation; and
• Dr Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere; and Administrator for National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“We discussed issues common to our two countries, and the rest of the global community, including climate change, clean energy research and best practice approaches for providing expert advice to Government.

“It is only through engagement across geographical and societal boundaries and across scientific disciplines that we will be able to find solutions to these issues and implement them,” Professor Sackett said.

Professor Sackett will be talking further about the importance of collaboration to find global solutions to global problems at the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Pathfinders Conference on Wednesday 27 May at the Canberra Convention Centre.

For more information on Professor Penny Sackett’s speaking engagements refer to www.chiefscientist.gov.au.

Click here to download media release

Media Contact: Rebecca Richter, Office of the Chief Scientist
Mobile: 0410 029 407

Engaging in a changing climate