Australia’s national review of research and development has recommended a major lift in financial support for PhD candidates in key research areas, a move postgraduate representatives say could reshape the country’s research pipeline and address long-standing concerns about student poverty.
The proposals appear in the final report of the Strategic Examination of Research and Development — known as Ambitious Australia — which outlines a series of reforms aimed at strengthening the nation’s research capacity and boosting innovation.
Among the most significant recommendations is a $50,000 annual stipend for around 1,000 PhD candidates working in national priority fields. The proposed rate would represent a substantial increase on the current minimum stipend under the Research Training Program, which sits at $34,315 for 2026.
The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA), which represents more than 570,000 postgraduate students, welcomed the proposal, describing it as a breakthrough after years of advocacy.
“This is a generational win for postgraduate students,” said Jesse Gardner-Russell.
“We have worked alongside our partners at Universities Australia, the Australian Council for Graduate Research and individual universities to present a united front on raising the stipend.”
Under the proposal, the higher stipend would apply to PhD candidates working in areas aligned with six national innovation pillars: health and medical research, agriculture and food, defence, environment and energy, resources, and technology.
CAPA policy and research adviser Maxim Buckley said the current stipend level has left many doctoral researchers struggling with basic living costs.
“The current minimum Research Training Program stipend barely meets the poverty line,” Buckley said. “The $50,000 figure outlined by the review marks a significant step forward in policy to support research students.”
Alongside the stipend increase, the report also recommends removing taxation on stipends received by part-time PhD candidates — a change advocates say would improve access to research degrees for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Gemma Lucy Smart said the reform would address a long-standing equity issue.
“The panel has rightly recognised that taxing part-time research scholarships is a massive barrier in the way of disadvantaged students,” she said, noting that part-time candidates often include those with caring responsibilities, disabilities or from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The review also calls for universities to design more industry-integrated doctoral programs, with research training increasingly linked to industry collaboration and entrepreneurial pathways. CAPA supports the concept but says any additional training requirements must be matched with extended funding periods.
The proposals come amid concerns about declining research productivity in Australia. CAPA modelling suggests that national research output growth slowed significantly over the past decade, falling from around 121 per cent growth between 2006 and 2016 to 64 per cent between 2013 and 2023.
Postgraduate researchers play a central role in the system. While they account for only around 8.5 per cent of research and development expenditure, higher degree by research candidates contribute more than half of all research hours produced by universities.
Advocates argue that improving financial support for doctoral candidates could therefore deliver a major productivity boost.
“A happy workforce is a productive workforce,” Buckley said. “Research students are overworked, underpaid and stressed. Increasing the stipend will support them properly and allow them to focus on their job: research.”
The review also recommends simplifying Australia’s research funding system, including the development of a unified digital access point and a streamlined two-stage grant application process. CAPA says such reforms could significantly reduce the administrative burden on researchers.
Despite welcoming the recommendations, postgraduate leaders say several key questions remain unanswered — including how the 1,000 higher-stipend places would be allocated across universities and disciplines.
Mitch Craig warned there is a risk the reforms could inadvertently create a two-tiered system if broader stipend increases are not implemented.
“We want to ensure we don’t end up with a situation where some PhD students are supported properly while others remain below the poverty line,” he said.
CAPA is now urging the federal government to move quickly to implement the recommendations and provide clarity on how the reforms will be funded and delivered.
“The most important thing is that these reforms are properly funded so they expand opportunity rather than reduce it,” Gardner-Russell said.
“We will keep working until every PhD candidate in Australia receives a stipend that respects their contribution, meets their basic needs and reflects the value of the knowledge they are creating.”
