Australian Research Council
Australian Research Council
Education portfolio
Verified figures
- Contracts (all years): 1,185
- Contract value (all years): 137,039,836 AUD
- Contract value (2026): 6,624,353 AUD
- APS headcount: 131
- Budget 2026-27: 1,115,398 thousand AUD
- Highest total remuneration: 557,681 AUD
- Directory roles: 5
Figures use publishable matches only (alias, abn, exact, case, punct, trading_name, wide_exact). Retrieved 2026-09-01.
Coverage — named in the headline (10)
- 2026-07-22 — Government lands ARC reforms for blue-sky research grants
- 2023-11-30 — Independent ARC board now responsible for national competitive grants program
- 2023-04-21 — ARC’s future requires law reform and governance revamp, review finds
- 2022-08-30 — Heads of ARC review named by education minister
- 2022-07-10 — Seven things the Australian Research Council review should tackle, from a researcher’s point of view
- 2022-07-08 — Education minister underscores universities in ‘solutions business for government’, announces ARC review
- 2022-02-02 — Minister appoints acting chief at ARC
- 2022-01-20 — Furore escalates over Robert’s ARC veto
- 2022-01-11 — ARC fellows condemn minister for blocking research grants
- 2021-10-28 — Movers & Shakers: Productivity Commission appointment, department promotions, ARC’s new faces
Passing mentions (10 shown)
Mentioned in the text but not the headline, so often not about this agency.
- 2026-08-26 — Rare, practical guide for public servants partnering with academics
- 2026-06-07 — Spotlight on strength of public service in King’s Birthday honours 2026
- 2026-05-20 — Homegrown research shows why innovation efforts fail
- 2026-03-10 — The postcode matters: Where to find the best-paid public service jobs
- 2026-02-24 — Commonwealth AI usage disclosures found sorely wanting
- 2026-02-12 — Movers & Shakers: Special envoy to Laos and other diplomats
- 2026-01-25 — Australia Day 2026 honours the best of public service
- 2025-12-11 — Movers & Shakers: All aboard government boards
- 2025-12-02 — Tony Cook: Department of Education secretary
- 2025-11-23 — CSIRO cuts deepen questions about Australia’s drifting research agenda
Payments to organisations — as reported by the agency
| Category | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Non-consultancy contracts | 30 | $8,813,272 |
| Consultancy | 20 | $833,801 |
Largest recipients across all reported years
| Organisation | ABN | Reported total | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jones Lang La Salle – 69 008 585 260 | — | $5,262,679 | 2020-21, 2021-22 |
| Enable Software – 62 085 051 216 | — | $804,371 | 2020-21, 2021-22 |
| The University of Melbourne – 84 002 706 224 | — | $429,474 | 2020-21 |
| QIRX Pty Ltd – 62 092 934 659 | — | $394,090 | 2020-21 |
| ICENI Group PTY Ltd – 50 607 624 304 | — | $380,820 | 2021-22 |
| Technology One – 84 010 487 180 | — | $338,338 | 2020-21 |
| McGrathNicol Advisory Partnership – 34 824 776 937 | — | $280,458 | 2020-21, 2021-22 |
| DFP Recruitment Services – 66 394 749 447 | — | $276,373 | 2020-21 |
| Macquarie University – 90 952 801 237 | — | $265,860 | 2020-21 |
| Face to Face Recruitment – 47 112 122 504 | — | $220,325 | 2021-22 |
| Calleo Resourcing – 29 606 001 763 | — | $219,983 | 2021-22 |
| Semaphore Alliance – 87 162 736 441 | — | $209,641 | 2021-22 |
From the expenditure disclosures in each annual report — a separate source from the AusTender contract figures above, and not directly comparable with them.
Workforce profile — as at 2025-12-31
| Measure | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| % CALD | 29.0% | at this date |
| % Female | 58.0% | at this date |
| % Indigenous | 1.5% | at this date |
| % at the APS classification level | 46.6% | at this date |
| % non-ongoing | 3.8% | at this date |
| % part-time (ongoing employees) | 13.5% | at this date |
| % who have worked in only one agency (ongoing employees) | 38.1% | at this date |
| % with a bachelors degree or higher | 67.6% | at this date |
| % with a disability | 7.6% | at this date |
| Exit rate - from agency (ongoing employees) | 17.6% | Year ending December 2025 |
| Headcount | 131 | at this date |
| Mean Age (years) | 41.8 years | at this date |
| Median LOS in APS (years) | 8.9 years | at this date |
| Separation rate - from APS (ongoing employees) | 10.7% | at this date |
APSC APS Employment Data, counting this agency including any bodies beneath it. Headcount, not FTE — the APSED release does not publish FTE.
Year by year
| Measure | 2010-11 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| APS headcount | 112 | 122 | 118 | 114 | 124 | 132 | 146 | 146 | 147 | 147 | 142 | 175 | 174 | 140 | 137 | |
| Contracts | 138 | 99 | 167 | 188 | 173 | 234 | 165 | 21 | ||||||||
| Contract value | $12,244,890 | $9,753,453 | $16,770,443 | $26,009,434 | $24,906,204 | $26,335,580 | $19,198,972 | $1,820,860 | ||||||||
| Budget ($000) | 1,040,015 | 1,115,398 | ||||||||||||||
| KMP disclosed | 5 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 10 | ||||||||||
| Top total pay | $521,269 | $491,944 | $289,183 | $557,681 | $309,111 | $426,429 |
An empty cell means no publishable row for that year — unknown, not nil. Never read a blank as a fall to zero.
Sources — annual reports
Each link opens transparency.gov.au — the published source the figures were read from. The label names the table to look for.
° The portal does not publish a path for this report, so the link opens the agency's reports on transparency.gov.au rather than that year directly. Pick the year from there.
