The Federal Government has announced that a new Chief Scientist position will be created within the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) to increase the role of social science and evidence in future policy development.

 

Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Bill Shorten, said the new Chief Scientist would work collaboratively with the Australian and international scientific research community to bring together the best research and evidence to tackle the challenges across the DEEWR portfolio.

 

“And we need to be doing everything we can to better engage the research community in responding to our productivity, education and social inclusion agenda for which DEEWR carries broad responsibilities,” Mr Shorten said.

 

DEEWR’s portfolio includes early childhood education and childcare, school education, employment, workplace relations and social inclusion. The Department is also responsible for four of the Government’s six Closing the Gap targets.

 

The Minister for School Education, Peter Garrett, said the Chief Scientist would play an important role in connecting research into what works in education to DEEWR’s school reform agenda.

 

“We’ve already capitalised on the recent research in early childhood development to inform improvements to early childhood education and care policies, including the National Quality Framework that is currently being implemented by the Government," Mr Garrett said.