Every international uproar generates media scrutiny of universities as a national security risk, usually because of China links and right now, connections to Iran.
The Department of Education is issuing edicts to universities and Mr Clare is reported in media as telling the Australian Research Council to focus on espionage risks.
Which all rather ignores the work of the Universities Foreign Interference Taskforce, created in 2019 to stop what its title states.
By 2022, a report from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security acknowledged the work of UFIT and Liberal Senator James Paterson pointed to, “great progress in recent years hardening our systems and society against foreign interference and the higher education sector is now better equipped to protect our interests and safeguard or values.”
The Australian Research Council also sets out in detail the checks and processes that apply to its grants.
Perhaps it could have better worded its assurance for researchers that “the presence of a foreign interference risk … does not mean a project should not be funded,” but there are substantial checks in place, including engaging “national security agencies” and briefing the Minister.
Drill down into individual university governance, like at ANU and there are examples of security protocols embedded into their process at each institution. For sure there are spies on campus targeting researchers and security improvements to be made – in January Ross McLennan (Macquarie U) detailed a bunch in FC .
But the research funding system is not as dozy on security risks as it can look.