Humanities central to delivering an ‘Ambitious Australia’

The final SERD report, entitled Ambitious Australia, was released on Tuesday 17 March 2026. Click the image to read the full report.

This morning, Australia’s Learned Academies and ACOLA held a joint media conference in Sydney, responding to the release of the final SERD report, Ambitious Australia. The Academies and ACOLA strongly support swift action on the recommendations and stand ready to work with government, industry and the broader research community to help make these reforms succeed.

The report sets out a clear call to action: business as usual will not deliver the social and economic transformation Australia needs. The Academy strongly supports its vision for bold reform to strengthen Australia’s research, development and innovation (RD&I) system to secure long-term prosperity, social wellbeing and national resilience.

The Academy welcomes the report’s recognition that strong foundational research across disciplines is essential to national prosperity. It also supports recommendations to increase investment in RD&I to OECD averages, strengthen industry incentives, and progress reforms through the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC).

Innovation is not driven by science and technology alone. Every scientific, technical and medical innovation at some point lands in a society, a culture, and a human context. Ensuring that these dimensions of research and research translation are handled well is vital for a vibrant research and innovation agenda.

“New technologies succeed only when they are understood, trusted, governed and adopted by societies,” said AAH President, Professor Stephen Garton AM FAHA. “These challenges — involving institutions, culture, communication, ethics and human behaviour — are areas where humanities researchers provide critical expertise.”

Academy President Professor Stephen Garton AM FAHA speaks on the SERD Report, at a joint press conference between Australia’s Learned Academies and ACOLA, in Sydney, NSW, on 17 March 2026.

Humanities knowledge has long shaped major national innovations, from the design of democratic and economic institutions to the governance of emerging technologies. Today, the leaders of many global technology companies — from Anthropic and Alibaba Group to Netflix and YouTube — draw on humanities training in fields such as literature, languages, philosophy, history and education.

If research, development and innovation are to meet community needs and expectations, Australia must draw on the humanities, arts, social sciences and Indigenous knowledges alongside the sciences and technology.

“HASS and STEM are two sides of the same coin,” Professor Garton said. “Australia’s social and cultural capabilities — alongside our scientific and technical strengths — must be recognised and deployed across the RD&I system if we are to realise the full potential of the SERD reforms.”

The SERD report recommends the establishment of a National Innovation Council and advisory bodies to guide national priorities. The Academy stresses that humanities expertise should be embedded within these governance structures.

“An ambitious Australia will need the full spectrum of knowledge,” Professor Garton said. “Science and technology create new possibilities. The humanities ensure those possibilities are understood, shaped and successfully realised in society.”

The post Humanities central to delivering an ‘Ambitious Australia’ appeared first on Australian Academy of the Humanities.