2.1 Annual Performance Statement: Introduction - Australian Research Council Annual Report 2015-16

Introductory statement

I, as the Accountable Authority of the Australian Research Council (ARC), present the 2015–16 annual performance statements of the ARC, as required under paragraph 39(1)(a) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act). In my opinion, these annual performance statements are based on properly maintained records, accurately reflect the performance of the entity, and comply with subsection 39(2) of the PGPA Act.

Leanne Harvey
Acting Chief Executive Officer

Purposes

The ARC has three purposes:

to manage research funding schemes
to measure research excellence
to provide advice.

These purposes are consistent with the Australian Government’s expected Outcome for the ARC which is ‘growth of knowledge and innovation through managing research funding schemes, measuring research excellence and providing advice’ (Education and Training Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS) 2015–16, page 155). Mapping to the ARC’s Outcome
and three Programmes is provided in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1: Mapping PBS Outcome and Programmes to Corporate Plan Purposes

Purpose	Outcome	Programme
Manage research funding schemes	1	1.1: Discovery 1.2: Linkage
Measure research excellence	1	1.3: Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA)
Provide advice	1	1.1: Discovery 1.2: Linkage 1.3: ERA

Purpose

Outcome

Programme

Manage research
funding schemes

1.1: Discovery

1.2: Linkage

Measure research excellence

1.3: Excellence in Research
for Australia (ERA)

Provide advice

1.1: Discovery

1.2: Linkage

1.3: ERA

Results and analysis

A separate performance statement is provided for each of the three purposes:

Purpose 1: Manage research funding schemes (section 2.2)
Purpose 2: Measure research excellence (section 2.3)
Purpose 3: Provide advice (section 2.4).

The performance statement for each purpose comprises:

a description of the activity
a description of the highlights of delivering the activity in 2015–16
a summary of the results achieved in 2015–16 including:
- a description of the intended result
- a description of the activities undertaken by the ARC to help achieve the intended result (Purpose 1 only)
- a report of performance against the measures identified in the PBS and corporate plan
- an analysis of the performance against the intended result as indicated by the measures
if relevant, an analysis of the factors which impacted on the ARC’s performance in achieving its purpose in 2015–16 (including changes in its purpose, activities or environment).