Higher Education Research Promotion (HERP) Fact Sheet 

Key Points

• The Higher Education Research Promotion (HERP) provides grants under the Higher Education Support Act (the Act) to foster an understanding of the importance of, and/or promote research and scholarship in, science, social science or the humanities in Australia.
• Funding is provided on a calendar year basis to the:
• Australian Centre for Child Protection (ACCP); 
• Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS);
• Council for the Humanities, the Arts and the Social Sciences (CHASS);
• Federation of Australian Societies for the Technological Sciences (FASTS); and
• Learned Academies:
• The National Academies Forum (NAF) (peak body for the Learned Academies);
• The Australian Academy of the Humanities (AAH); 
• The Australian Academy of Science (AAS);
• The Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA); and
• The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (AATSE).

Facts and Figures

Legislation

The core HERP funding is provided as a Special Appropriation under the Act.

Length of program and proposed annual budget over the program's life

The funding for HERP is appropriated on a financial year basis and payments are made on a calendar year basis.  The Learned Academies and ANZAAS are funded on an ongoing basis.  The CHASS and FASTS are funded up until the end of 2010 and the ACCP is funded up until the end of 2013.

Note 1:

The core funding is provided on an ongoing basis.

Note 2:

The supplementary funding is terminating funding with the last payment programmed for expenditure in 2012.  This funding is not paid under the Act.

In addition to funding under the Act, the Academies also have access to project funding from:

• The Australian Research Council ; and
• The International Science Linkages Program.

Reviews in FY 09/10

During FY 2009-10, a review was conducted on the utilisation of the Other Grants by CHASS and FASTS.

Eligibility and target audience

Eligible bodies for this funding and the specific purpose for each grant are:

• ACCP: To work collaboratively across disciplinary and organisational boundaries, undertake research and facilitate its translation into policy, program development, professional education and service delivery in order to enhance the life opportunities of children at risk of abuse or neglect in Australia;
• ANZAAS: To cover the costs of transportation and accommodation for approximately five students from each Australian state and territory to attend the annual Youth Conference;
• CHASS: To promote and provide advocacy for the humanities, arts and social sciences, and to serve as a coordinating forum for academies, students, business, practitioners and the broader community;
• FASTS: To support FASTS' role in policy formulation, raising public awareness, and promoting the importance of science and technology in addressing important national issues; and
• Learned Academies, as follows: 
• The NAF (peak administrative body for the Learned Academies): To support cooperation between the four Learned Academies, to provide a common point of access to the four Learned Academies for outside organisations and individuals, and promote a unified national vision, helping to enhance interactions between the four Learned Academies without compromising their individual priorities or activities; and
• The AAS, AATSE, AAH, and ASSA: To provide secretariat and other administrative support to enable the Academies and their fellows contribute advice and assistance on issues of national importance, to conduct workshops, forums, symposia and similar events so that the Academies and their fellows can engage on issues of national importance, to manage the development and conduct of policy, education and other programs, and to support relationships with international communities including exchange programs and joint research programs.