Australian Research Council Funding Rules for schemes under the Linkage Programme (2015 edition)
A16.3Confidentiality
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A16.3 Confidentiality
A16.3.1 The ARC will treat information contained in a Proposal as confidential. However, the ARC may disclose information contained in a Proposal, or otherwise provided to the ARC, to the extent that the information is:
- disclosed by the ARC to its advisors (including assessors), officers, employees or other third parties in order to assess, evaluate or verify the quality, accuracy or completeness of a Proposal;
- disclosed by the ARC to its advisors (including assessors), officers, employees or other third parties solely to comply with obligations or exercise rights under the ARC Research Integrity and Research Misconduct Policy;
- disclosed by ARC personnel to third parties to enable effective management or auditing of the Linkage Programme schemes or any Funding Agreement;
- disclosed by the ARC to the relevant Minister(s) and their staff;
- shared by the ARC within the agency, or with another Commonwealth Department or agency, where this serves the Commonwealth’s legitimate interests;
- authorised or required by law to be disclosed;
- disclosed in accordance with any other provision of these Funding Rules or the Funding Agreement; or
- in the public domain.
A16.3.2 Where information contained in a Proposal is made available to third parties for evaluation, assessment or audit purposes the ARC will require the third parties to maintain the confidentiality of the material, including any intellectual property contained in the Proposal.
A16.3.3 In addition to the exemptions listed at A16.3.1, the ARC may publicise and report offers or awards of funding, including the following information about the proposed Project: the name of the Administering Organisation and any other parties involved in or associated with the Project; named participants and their organisations; the proposed research programme (the title and summary descriptions of the Project); infrastructure, equipment and/or facilities funded; classifications and international collaboration country names; and the level and nature of financial assistance from the ARC. Administering Organisations should ensure that information contained in the Proposal title and summary descriptions would not, if released, compromise their own requirements for confidentiality (such as protection of intellectual property).
A16.3.4 In making public information about a Proposal which has been approved for funding, the ARC may use a Project description, including title and summary, which may differ from that provided in the Proposal.