Purpose

The National Science and Technology Council is responsible for providing advice to the Prime Minister and other ministers on important science and technology issues facing Australia.

Term

These Terms of Reference are effective from the date accepted.

Chair

The Prime Minister is the Chair of the National Science and Technology Council.

Membership

The other Council members are:

• the Minister for Science (Deputy Chair),
• Australia's Chief Scientist (Executive Officer), ex-officio,
• the Chief Executive of the CSIRO, ex-officio, and
• between 6 and 8 expert scientific members.

For clarity, the Council is only considered to have a vacancy if the number of expert scientific members falls below 6.

Expert scientific member composition

Expert scientific members are significant non-statutory appointments.

They will normally be appointed for a term of three years and each individual member will be limited to a maximum of two consecutive terms.

Selection processes aim to ensure a broad range of science and technology expertise relevant to government priorities is represented on the Council.

Roles

The role of the Executive Officer is to ensure effective delivery of the work program, provide secretariat support, coordinate communication with members, and chair meetings in the absence of the Chair and Deputy Chair.

The role of the expert scientific members is to bring their scientific expertise and judgement to Council advice and provide close guidance and oversight to the development of reports and analysis commissioned by the Council.

Australia’s Chief Scientist is the Executive Officer and may also contribute to the Council in an expert capacity.

All members, including ex-officio members, attend as members of the Council, not as representatives of, or advocates for, their organisations.

Functions

The Council is to provide evidence-based, independent advice to the Australian Government on:

• Long-term and emerging scientific and technological developments.
• Scientific and technological issues of relevance to Government policy or priorities.
• Australia’s science system, including issues relating to science engagement, research capability and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce skills.
• Other matters requested by the Prime Minister or other ministers or considered important by the Council.

Meeting schedule

The Council will meet at least four times a year. 

Expert scientific members are also required to participate in intersessional meetings to progress the work of the Council. The Executive Officer will determine the need for and frequency of the intersessional meetings. 

The times and dates of intersessional meetings will be agreed with the expert scientific members. 

Meeting attendance

Meetings of the Council are chaired by the Prime Minister, or in the absence of the Prime Minister, by the Deputy Chair. 

If neither the Prime Minister nor the Minister for Science can attend, Australia’s Chief Scientist may chair a meeting of the Council. This arrangement is limited to no more than two meetings per year. 

The quorum for a meeting of the Council will be one of the Prime Minister, the Minister for Science, or Australia’s Chief Scientist, and two-thirds of the appointed expert scientific and ex-officio members at the time of the meeting, as set out below:

NSTC meeting attendance to constitute a quorum – in addition to the Chair
Expert scientific membership	Number to constitute a quorum
8	5
7	5
6	4

The Prime Minister or the Minister for Science may issue invitations to other ministers and experts to attend meetings of the Council as guests. A minister who is unable to attend may delegate an invitation to the relevant departmental secretary.

The Executive Officer may invite experts to participate at meetings of the Council, or at intersessional meetings, for specific discussions.

Work program 

The Council will agree an annual work program. 

The expert scientific members will be responsible for deciding how to deliver their work program, including, but not limited to, commissioning of research reports and collaborating with specialist delivery partners.

At least one expert scientific member will be nominated as a sponsor for each item on the Council’s work program. 

The Chair or Deputy Chair will determine whether requests for advice from ministers on specific issues or questions will be progressed by the Council, either as part of the Council’s annual work program or as the need arises. The Executive Officer and expert scientific members will advise the Chair and Deputy Chair on the Council’s capacity to provide the requested advice. 

Meeting agendas

Meeting agendas are developed by the Executive Officer, in consultation with relevant ministers and Council members.

The agenda for each meeting must be approved by either the Deputy Chair or the Executive Officer. 

Administrative arrangements

The Office of the Chief Scientist will provide secretariat support for the Council.

The Council may establish short-term expert working groups to assist with the delivery of its work program.

Amendment, modification or variation

Amendments to the Terms of Reference must be agreed by the Prime Minister.