Translating academic research to higher education policy reform: The case of enabling programs

Proposed reforms to Enabling programs by the Australian Government highlight the complex relationship between research and its dissemination and translation into policy. The budget proposals suggest that the Government considered broad research supportive of Enabling programs, but that academics were largely ineffective in communicating more detailed research to influence policy. These limitations have implications for specific changes to Enabling programs, but also highlight the broader need for communication and translation of research into policy. In this address I will outline four major policy questions that currently confront the Government when determining the future of Enabling programs, and the ways in which those questions were answered by the proposed reforms with little reference to related research. Findings reveal a need for the university sector to strengthen advocacy and ensure that evidence and research are clearly and coherently presented to policy makers.