Higher Education Research Promotion (HERP) Fact Sheet 

Key Points

• The Higher Education Research Promotion (HERP) provides grants under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (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)
• Learned Academies:
• The Council of Learned Academies (ACoLA), formerly the National Academies Forum (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)
• 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 ACCP is funded up until 2013. The CHASS and FASTS are funded up until 2010.

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 2011-12. This funding is an administered expense paid under Appropriation Bill No.1.

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.

The Government provided CHASS and FASTS with a further $216,000 each this year. This is in addition to the previous funding they received under the Higher Education Research Promotion program (HERP) in 2010. This additional funding will assist CHASS and FASTS to become self-sustainable and allow them to continue to organise highly successful events such as CHASS’ HASS on the Hill and FASTS’ Science meets Parliament.

Reviews in FY 09/10

During the 2009-10 financial year, the department undertook a review of the HERP grants to CHASS and FASTS. The HERP grants to the learned academies will be reviewed in the 2010-11 financial year.

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
• The learned academies to:
  • Provide secretariat and other administrative support to enable the academies and their fellows to contribute advice and assistance on issues of national importance
  • Conduct workshops, forums, symposia and similar events so that the academies and their fellows can engage on issues of national importance
  • Manage the development and conduct of policy, education and other programs
  • To support relationships with international communities including exchange programs and joint research programs.
• The Australian Council of Learned Academies: to support cooperation between the four learned academies, provide a common point of access to the learned academies for outside organisations and individuals, and promote a unified national vision, helping to enhance interactions between academies without compromising their individual priorities or activities.