About Us

The Board is chaired by Peter Yates AM and meets four times a year. Deputy chairs are Robyn Williams AO from the ABC and Professor Merlin Crossley AM from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Board members include:

- Peter Yates AM (Chair) Chairman, Business and Economics Board, Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Melbourne
- Jim Carroll Private media consultant and former director of News and Current Affairs at SBS
- Anna-Maria Arabia Chief Executive, Australian Academy of Science 
- Professor Merlin Crossley AM Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic, The University of New South Wales
- Professor Aleks Owczarek Dean of the Faculty of Science, The University of Melbourne
- Kristy Redfern General Counsel, AIA Australia
- Dr Michael Ellies Non-Executive Director
- Julia Naughton Head of Life - Culture, Lifestyle & Travel at the Sydney Morning Herald, Nine Entertainment Co.
- Melvin Mansell Chairman, The Advertiser Foundation, News Corp Australia
- Professor Melissa Brown Executive Dean, Faculty of Science, The University of Queensland
- Professor Raymond Chan Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Flinders University
- Robyn Williams AO Presenter, Science Show, ABC
- The Hon Peter Malinauskas MP Premier of South Australia 
- Tanya Bowes Director of Corporate Affairs, CSIRO
- Professor Melinda Fitzgerald Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Curtin University
- Nick Campbell Vice President, Academic Affairs, Nature Portfolio & Springer Nature
- Professor Emma Johnston AO Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, The University of Sydney
- Will Berryman Executive Director/Council Member, The Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) 
- Professor James Wallman Dean of Science, University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
- Professor Andrew Lowe Director, Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide
- Dr Darren Saunders Deputy Chief Scientist and Engineer, Executive Director, Office of the Chief Scientist & Engineer, NSW Government

The Board is governed by the AusSMC’s constitution and acknowledges the Centre’s Statement of Independence.

The role of the Science and Media Advisory Panel (SMAP) is to provide scientific and media advice to the Centre.

The following are current members of the SMAP.

- Professor Peter Fray
- Tory Shepherd, Freelance journalist
- Jonathan Webb, Science Editor, ABC
- Carolyn Varley, Communication and media consultant
- Liam Mannix, National Science Reporter, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
- Jason Gale, Senior Editor and Biosecurity Correspondent, Bloomberg News, Melbourne

Our Australian patron

Dr Alan Finkel AC

In March 2013, Dr Alan Finkel AC agreed to become Australian patron of the Australian Science Media Centre. Since then, he was appointed Australia’s Chief Scientist from January 2016 through to the end of 2020. He has a long history with science and the media through his own work in neuroscience and engineering and as co-founder of the multi award winning science magazine, COSMOS.

Prior to becoming Chief Scientist, Dr Finkel was the eighth Chancellor at Monash University, President of the Academy of Technology and Engineering, CEO of Stile Education Pty Ltd and Chairman of the Australian Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics.

A detailed biography for Dr Finkel is available here.

Our International patron

Baroness Susan Greenfield, CBE

Baroness Susan Greenfield is a scientist, an entrepreneur, a communicator of science, a policy adviser and is considered to be one of the most influential women in science globally. Her books include “Private Life of the Brain” (2000), and Tomorrow’s People: How 21st Century Technology Is Changing the Way We Think and Feel” (2003).

She is Chief Executive of Neuro-Bio Ltd and Senior Research Fellow at Lincoln College, Oxford University. Baroness Greenfield was Professor of Synaptic Pharmacology, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and a scientist whose work on the physical basis of the mind has many important implications for our understanding of human behaviour, work and society. From 1998 to 2010, she was Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, the first woman to hold the position.

In 2004, Baroness Greenfield was invited by the South Australian Government to be a “Thinker in Residence”, a program that brought two or three world-class thinkers to Adelaide each year to live and work for periods of up to several months. During her residency, Baroness Greenfield initiated many new projects including the Australian Science Media Centre which is based on a similar initiative she started in London in 2002.

Annual reports

***NEW*** Download our latest annual report for 2022-2023 (pdf) or view an online version

Previous annual reports

July 2021-June 2022 (pdf) or view an online version

July 2020-June 2021 (pdf) or view an online version

July 2019-June 2020 (pdf) or view an online version

July 2018-June 2019 (pdf) or view an online version

July 2017-June 2018 (pdf) or view an online version

July 2016-June 2017 (pdf) or view an online version

July 2015-June 2016 (pdf) or view an online version

July 2014-June 2015 (pdf) or view an online version

July 2013-June 2014 (pdf) or view an online version

July 2012-June 2013 (pdf) or view an online version

July 2011-June 2012 (pdf) or view an online version

July 2010-June 2011 (pdf) or view an online version

The AusSMC believes scientists can make a big impact on the way issues are covered in the media.

By building bridges that help the scientific community to engage with journalists, the AusSMC supports scientists to take more initiative and play a leading role in informing public debate.

The AusSMC is a not-for-profit organisation that represents no particular faction in science. Its agenda is simply to utilise evidence-based science to shed light on issues and present a broad spectrum of scientific opinion.

The AusSMC is:

- Independent – With a broad range of sponsors and by capping individual contributions to 10% of total operating costs, the Australian Science Media Centre is able to provide an independent service and a spectrum of opinion from the scientific community without fear or favour. See full statement of independence below.

- Media driven – While most issues we cover are driven by the level of media interest, the AusSMC also plays a role in providing journalists with heads-up on emerging issues.

- Proactive – The AusSMC is constantly 'horizon scanning' looking for situations where science can help clarify an issue.

- Collaborative – When scientists from different institutions are involved with the same media story, the AusSMC can provide an independent platform, enabling coordinated distribution of the message to the media.

The AusSMC is not:

- Responsible for increasing the profile of specific concepts or areas of science (eg: physics etc) in the media;

- Set up to take general enquiries directly from the public or non-media institutions.

Statement of independence

The AusSMC is an independent, not-for-profit organisation actively disseminating evidence-based science to the public through the media on a broad range of topics (read our policy on selection of experts below). The AusSMC is governed by a Board of Management. All board members acknowledge that Centre staff are free to disseminate the best available scientific information, regardless of any commercial, political or personal interests, including those of any sponsors or board members. Full editorial control of all material disseminated by the SMC rests with the staff of the SMC, with guidance sought from the Centre’s Science and Media Advisory Panel (SMAP) when required.

The AusSMC’s activities inform and sometimes trigger debate, but are not intended to endorse particular policies or boost the profile of specific individuals or organisations.

The AusSMC has a clear policy on who it approaches for scientific and related expertise and who is eligible to be added to our database of scientific and research-based experts.

Scientific Expertise

Peer Review

The AusSMC will use peer-reviewed publications in the relevant area of science and health as the basis for defining the expertise of scientists.

The peer-review process used by leading scientific and health journals provides a standard accepted by the scientific community by which the reliability of both investigations and researchers are judged.

Expertise outside of peer-review

Some scientific research may be newsworthy while it is being performed (for example, a longitudinal study over several years, research into a topical issue, the discovery of a rare species etc) and before it has been reported in scientific journals, making the application of peer-review impossible at that stage of the research.

Similarly, in some disciplines, particularly those within the social sciences, arts and humanities (eg science communication), publication in peer-reviewed journals is less applicable.

In such cases, the AusSMC will consider:

- the reputation of the expert’s institute or academic department;
- the professional qualifications and previous track record of the expert;
- the expert’s current role as an active practitioner in his or her field; and
- the expert’s professional reputation within his or her field (judged by, for example,  the number of significant awards and grants won).

The credentials of experts may be further assessed by consultation with other experts in the relevant field or, where appropriate, with the AusSMC’s Science and Media Advisory Panel.

Suitability

When the expertise of an individual is questioned, the AusSMC will refer final decisions on the credibility and suitability of that expert to the appropriate member of the Science and Media Advisory Panel.

Declaring interests

In general, the AusSMC does not utilise experts working for specific lobby groups (such groups normally have strong mechanisms to promote their message to the media). Known affiliations or interests of scientists is clearly stated.

Availability

The availability of experts within the media's time frame may be a major determinant of which experts are put forward by the AusSMC.

Review

This policy will be reviewed and updated from time to time.

If you have questions or feedback on our choice of experts please feel free to contact us.

The AusSMC celebrates and encourages diversity and inclusion in all its forms. Australian science is diverse, and we want the media to hear from experts that reflect this diversity. To support and improve the diversity of expert voices in the media we have developed several programs to encourage a wide range of experts to engage with the media.

When a story breaks, reacting quickly is the key to ensuring accurate news coverage that is reflective of the science. Therefore, our focus is on increasing the diversity of experts on our database who can respond to breaking news. That way when a story breaks, we are more likely to have a more diverse group of experts responding.

Working towards gender balance and gender inclusivity

Women are less likely than men to be quoted as experts in the media, and the AusSMC is actively working to address this imbalance. Our Scimex ‘Find an Expert’ database is currently just over 40 per cent female, and we have a number of active programs in place to help us reach gender equity.

We are pleased to be part of the Superstars of STEM program which increases the public visibility of women in STEM. The AusSMC is also a proud project partner of the STEM Women database developed by the Australian Academy of Science. The AusSMC celebrates gender diversity and offers experts registering with our ‘Find an Expert’ database the opportunity to list diverse gender options and to select pronouns.

First Nations scientists

The AusSMC runs the Indigenous Media Mentoring Program (IMMP) which provides intensive media training to competitively selected Indigenous scientists and researchers. The IMMP is unique in Australia. It provides practical hands-on media experience with media partner NITV-SBS, mentoring from Indigenous researchers, media trainers and Indigenous journalists, and an expert profile on AusSMC’s science news portal, Scimex. It incorporates frank discussion of the issues Indigenous experts can experience when working with media and strategies to manage these.

Culturally and linguistically diverse experts

With the support of the Victorian Government, the AusSMC has developed specific media training for women from CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) backgrounds.

We also offer experts the opportunity to list Languages spoken (other than English) when they register on Scimex.  There are currently close to 400 experts on the Scimex database who speak languages other than English.