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More than $4.488 million in grant funding will be awarded by Defence to 16 successful applications under the 2024 Strategic Policy Grants Program.
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Defence will award the funding to the applications across 14 entities, under the annual Strategic Policy Grants Program (SPGP), which funds independent, strategic policy-focused research and related activities
Under the newly announced funding, successful applications will align with the strategic priorities, initially outlined in the Defence Strategic Review 2023, including deterrence and national resilience, cyber domain capabilities, Indo-Pacific relations and partnerships, Defence workforce, and Defence’s international relations.
Grant recipients include the Asia Society Australia, Australia India Institute (The University of Melbourne), Australian Industry Group, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Bond University, FrontierSI, L21 Pty Ltd, Macquarie University, Observer Research Foundation America, RMIT University, The University of Adelaide, Australian National University (ANU), the International Institute for Strategic Studies (Asia) Ltd (IISS Asia), the United States Studies Centre, and the University of Sydney.
The SPGP aims to support Defence’s mission and purpose by deepening public debate on Australia’s strategic and defence policy choices, informing the development of Australia’s defence and national security policy and strategy, strengthening Defence’s international and domestic partnerships and broadening participation in Australia’s strategic and defence policy debate.
In addition, the program seeks the publication of original, well-informed policy-relevant research, engagements between Defence and non-government experts, events and activities involving Defence’s international and domestic counterparts, fostering new and emerging talent in Australia’s strategic and defence policy ecosystem.
Funding awardee Australian National University has also recently announced it will be reviewing its ANU Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) policy in line with defence applications and recent advocacy from the community.
“Recent advocacy from our community has helped to draw attention to a lack of clarity in the SRI policy on revenue derived from the manufacture and sale of technology with military applications. This is not just an issue for ANU but across the university sector,” an official ANU investment statement said.
“Changing community sentiment requires new considerations for the university’s investment portfolio. As an example, consider the important role investors play in shaping the use of artificial intelligence in a responsible manner. Without responsible oversight and development, the use of generative artificial intelligence may amplify bias and cause individual, societal and environmental harms.
“On 14 June, the ANU Council endorsed a joint recommendation by the vice-chancellor and the ANUSA president to review the SRI policy. This review includes consultation with ANU staff, students and alumni.”
