Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) and Engagement and Impact (EI) are Australia’s national assessments of university research performance.

ERA is a well-respected and established measure of research excellence at the discipline level. EI was introduced in 2018 as a companion exercise to capture the non-academic benefits of university research for end-users. Together, the programs demonstrate the richness and diversity of Australia’s university research landscape.

The recommendations of this report will make ERA and EI more robust and more useful to universities, government, industry and communities. For the first time, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and other Indigenous research will be specifically evaluated in ERA. Improvements to the methodologies of both assessments will ensure they are well-respected in Australia and internationally into the future. More data will be published in open and dynamic forms to support the needs of universities, government and businesses. These changes will set the scene for a future where Australian university research is lauded not only for its world-leading quality, but also for its generation of results of outstanding value for end-users. All of this must be delivered while reducing the reporting burden for universities.

The recommendations in this report are designed to enhance the existing strengths of ERA and EI as a world class national research assessment system. Background material on the current methodology of these exercises can be found at Appendix C. To ensure that universities have time to adapt to the proposed changes, the Advisory Committee has recommended that implementation allows for further consultation with the sector where necessary.