Public Policy Statements and Responses

This page contains CAUL's public policy statements and responses to external consultations. See also News Items and publicly accessible documents and reports.

Public policy statements and responses from CAUL

Council of Australian University Librarians and Open Access Australasia Statement on the American Chemical Society’s new Article Development Charges

9 October 2023

The Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) and Open Access Australasia wish to express our joint concerns over the recent introduction of the Article Development Charge (ADC) model by the American Chemical Society (ACS). 

CAUL Members and others across the Australian scholarly community have expressed many concerns about this development in recent days, which are reflected in this statement.  CAUL urges ACS to reconsider this model, taking into account the broader implications for the academic community, especially those concerning open access, transparency, and equity, and to support broader efforts to ensure authors retain rights – at no cost – over their accepted manuscripts.

Inquiry into the use of generative artificial intelligence in the Australian education system

25 September 2023

A joint submission from library and information service-related organisations to the Safe and Responsible AI in Australia Discussion Paper.

View the submission (pdf).

Academy of Social Sciences Research Infrastructure Decadal Plan submission

31 August 2023

A joint submission from CAUL, NSLA, ALIA, ASA, and CAARA on the Academy of Social Sciences Decadal Plan for Social Science Research Infrastructure 2023-32

View the submission (pdf)

CAUL Response to the Consultation for Sexual Harm Good Practice Note

13 July 2023

CAUL Response to the 2021 National Student Safety Survey Report

23 March 2022

CAUL Response to the Exposure Draft of the Copyright Amendment (Access Reform) Bill

24 February 2022

CAUL Response to the Exposure Draft of the Copyright Amendment (Access Reform) Bill

NRI Roadmap Exposure Draft submission

22 December 2021

CAUL response to the exposure draft of the National Research Infrastructure Roadmap 2021, released for consultation by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment.

CAUL appeals to publishers and content vendors to be responsive to the ongoing long-term impacts of the pandemic on the university library sector

1 July 2021

CAUL's statement to Publishers and Content vendors

Statement

20 April 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the crucial role that free, open and immediate access to research plays in combating this threat to human life, society and our way of life.

18 March 2020

The International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) has recently released a statement written on behalf of library consortia globally to help publishers understand how the current global COVID-19 pandemic affects the worldwide information community, and to suggest a range of approaches that are in the best interest of libraries and providers of information services. With mass University and school closures affecting hundreds of millions of students globally and the further conversion of teaching to online delivery, it is vital that libraries and publishers work in partnership on the best approach to information delivery.  

12 December 2019

CAUL and NSLA recently reviewed the principles for access to electronic resources as agreed in 2013. The substance of the principles is the same with the only change being the substitution of “licensed digital content” to replace “electronic resources”.

3 December 2019

Members of the International Alliance of Research Library Associations (IARLA), alongside a number of international academic library organisations, have signed an open letter calling for the expedition to Release 5 of the COUNTER Code of Practice.

17 September 2019

CAUL's response to the proposed merger of Cengage and McGraw-Hill to the ACCC informal review submitted on the 17th September 2019.

31 July 2019

In June 2019 Standards Australia released a discussion paper seeking community feedback on the development of a new distribution and licencing model. The model is being designed to deliver greater reach, allowing more choice in how content is accessed and to support its public benefit role in the economy.
 

6 June 2019

The response addresses questions four and five posed by the Australian Academy of the Humanities consultation paper 'The Future Humanities Workforce': What are future knowledge, skills, and capabilities that humanities researchers will require? And what can the humanities contribute to the data and digital literacy agenda over the next decade?

8 March 2019

On the 8th March CAUL responded to the Australian Government Review of the Higher Education Provider Category Standards.

14 January 2019

On the 4th September 2018 Science Europe announced cOAlition S and Plan S – a process for achieving full and immediate open access to research publications by 2020.

7 September 2018

This page contains information about CAUL's incorporation. It includes the draft constitution, a draft incorporation motion the be considered by members and details of the incorporation process.

3 July 2018

CAUL's response to the Department of Communication and the Arts’ Copyright modernisation consultation paper regarding options for important reforms to the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). 

2 July 2018

In May 2018 the Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training adopted an inquiry in Funding Australia’s Research referred by the Minister for Education and Training.

28 June 2018

CAUL welcomes changes to Australia’s copyright laws introduced by the Copyright Amendment (Service Providers) Bill 2017 which passed both houses of Parliament on the 27th June 2018. The Bill will extend the safe harbour provisions in the Copyright Act to the disability, education, library, archive and cultural sectors.

26 October 2017

In October 2017 the Business Council of Australia (BCA) launched the discussion paper Future Proof: Protecting Australians Through Education and Skills.

17 September 2017

In November 2017 the Australian Government announced that it would develop a national Digital Economy Strategy. The strategy was released in December 2018, this post contains information about the strategy and CAUL's response.

25 August 2017

The Bureau of Communications and Arts Research (BCAR) will undertake this review in consultation with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The BCAR are seeking feedback on the extent to which the current Code of Conduct for Copyright Collecting Societies promotes fair and efficient outcomes for both members and licensees of copyright collecting societies in Australia. The BCAR intends to release a draft report in late 2017 and provide a final report to Government in 2018. 

9 June 2017

The discussion paper poses a number of questions and flags new ideas for further discussion with Australia’s higher education community about the issues of retention, completion and success. Submission's to the HESP were open until the 7th July 2017. The HESP intends to follow up with a series of public consultations.

11 May 2017

Senate referred the Higher Education Support Legislation Amendment (A More Sustainable, Responsive and Transparent Higher Education System) Bill 2017 to the standing committee on Education and Employment for inquiry. The Bill implements higher education reforms which were announced in relation to the 2017 Australian Government budget on 9 May. Responses were accepted until 9 June.

24 March 2017

The Australian Government has tasked Innovation and Science Australia (ISA) with developing a Strategic Plan for the Australian innovation, science and research system out to 2030. An issues paper has been released by ISA to facilitate public consultation on the strategic plan. Responses to the issues paper were accepted until the 7th June.

Author Harry Rolf
Last modified 10 July 2020