Australia’s push to strengthen its research and innovation system will fall short without a central role for the humanities, according to the Australian Academy of the Humanities, which has backed the release of the Strategic Examination of Research and Development final report while calling for a broader definition of innovation.
The report, Ambitious Australia, has been framed as a blueprint for lifting national productivity and resilience through stronger investment in research, development and innovation (RD&I). But the Academy argues that delivering on those ambitions will require more than scientific and technological capability alone.
AAH President Stephen Garton said the report rightly recognises the need for bold reform, but emphasised that innovation ultimately succeeds or fails in a human context.
“New technologies succeed only when they are understood, trusted, governed and adopted by societies,” Garton said.
“These challenges — involving institutions, culture, communication, ethics and human behaviour — are areas where humanities researchers provide critical expertise.”
The Academy has welcomed key elements of the report, including calls to increase national investment in RD&I to OECD levels, strengthen industry incentives and progress reforms through new governance structures such as the proposed Australian Tertiary Education Commission.
However, it is also using the moment to reinforce a long-standing message: that the humanities, arts and social sciences must be embedded alongside STEM disciplines if Australia is to fully realise the benefits of its research system.
From the design of democratic institutions to the governance of emerging technologies, humanities research has historically played a central role in shaping national development. Today, the Academy points out, leaders of global technology companies — including firms like Netflix and YouTube — often draw on backgrounds in fields such as philosophy, literature and history.
For the Academy, this reflects a broader truth: innovation is not just about creating new technologies, but ensuring they are understood, adopted and aligned with societal needs.
“HASS and STEM are two sides of the same coin,” 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 reforms.”
The report also recommends the creation of a National Innovation Council and supporting advisory bodies to help guide Australia’s research priorities. The Academy says these structures must include humanities expertise to ensure decision-making reflects the full spectrum of knowledge.
The intervention comes amid a wider national conversation about how Australia can better translate research into economic and social outcomes, particularly as productivity growth slows and global competition intensifies.
For the humanities sector, the message is clear: if Australia wants to build an “ambitious” future, it will need to draw not only on scientific discovery, but on the disciplines that help society understand, shape and apply it.
“An ambitious Australia will need the full spectrum of knowledge,” Garton said.
“Science and technology create new possibilities. The humanities ensure those possibilities are understood, shaped and successfully realised in society.”
