This report examines the extent to which fossil fuel companies are involved in Australian universities, positing that this involvement both compromises the integrity of those universities’ research and undermines their independence, impartiality and credibility. It finds that most Australian universities have close links with coal, oil and gas companies – through scholarships, fossil fuel-funded research centres and grant funding. 

The report argues that universities should cut ties with fossil fuel companies to protect their independence, as they have ended relationships with tobacco companies. Tobacco companies once exerted similar levels of influence on Australian academia, but their influence was reduced by policies prohibiting the acceptance of tobacco funding and health organisation funders that refused to fund academics with links to tobacco.

Key points

• Fossil fuel companies fund 24 research centres at 19 different universities.
• Scholarships funded by fossil fuel companies total at least $423,000 per year.
• Tens of millions in grant funding is provided via Australian Research Council Linkage grants and industry organisations like the Australian Coal Association Research Program.