Without a doubt, this year, the Learned Academies have continued to come together through ACOLA to deliver unique value to governments, parliaments, and society. ACOLA, with its over 70 years of dedication to interdisciplinary leadership and convening of Australia’s leading minds, has been at the forefront of many key issues of policy debate.
Professor Richard Holden FASSA FES
Chair, Board of Directors
ACOLA
ACOLA STRATEGIC STATEMENT
The scale and complexity of the challenges facing communities across the world, especially with COVID-19, calls for fresh, robust and authoritative thinking, and new approaches if our legacy is to secure a better world for future generations, economically, socially and environmentally. ACOLA’s aim is to advance discussions on complex issues through trusted, independent, and interdisciplinary evidence-based advice to solve real world problems. In doing so, we are unique in the Australian landscape – we seek to place research and trusted experts at the core of policy making.
In an era of misinformation and multiplicity of views, the need for ACOLA and the Learned Academies is never more critical, to raise research-based policy advice above opinion and institutional, discipline and political biases.
Through our members, Australia’s five Learned Academies, ACOLA brings together over 3,500 of Australia’s leading academic and industry experts spanning science, the humanities, social science, health and medical sciences, and technology and engineering. This powerful resource allows us to deliver leading, comprehensive and interdisciplinary evidence-based advice to shape public policy, inspire innovation and deliver solutions to complex issues.
ACOLA’s interdisciplinary approach and access to the nation’s top researchers across all fields sets it apart from other research and policy organisations in this country. It is grounded in the recognition that complex challenges are mostly effectively addressed by bringing together specialist expertise from across domains, which are more than ‘the sum of the parts’. This ensures that policies, technologies and considerations are practical and implementable from the lab to the real world. It also allows deeper understandings of real or potential social, economic, cultural and environmental unintended consequences and barriers.
With research programs including the Securing Australia’s Future series and more recently the Horizon Scanning series, ACOLA has nearly seven decades of demonstrated experience as a trusted and influential source of expert advice for governments, industry and the public. Over recent years ACOLA has also become a trusted partner for Commonwealth agencies and various Parliaments for: 1) expert briefings on topics, and 2) convening and running workshops on policy issues and reviews. These have solidified ACOLA’s role as a key source of high-quality, robust, and independent interdisciplinary advice for Australia’s decision-makers.
