The Australian Academy of Humanities has an eight-point election plan for “ensuring a humanised future for Australia”

The Academy’s election manifesto calls for government to stop ignoring the humanities and social sciences while lavishing attention on STEM. “The HASS sector has been neglected. There is no map of areas of strategic need or capacity and no plan for addressing capability gaps or areas requiring investment in the national interest.”

The Academy’s proposals for the next government include;

* “ethical, historical and cultural expertise informs all government agendas”

* “abandon the siloed approach to policy-making” that separates HASS and STEM

* “expedite” infrastructure investment for technology innovation in HASS, and;

* “develop clearer national policy settings to guide investment in a culturally confident Australia”

But academy president Joy Damousi laments; “we are at the half-way point of the campaign and there has been little to no discussion of the importance of the arts, culture, music, history, language and literature to our national life.”