Crawford School of Public Policy

Crawford School’s Development Policy Centre is part of a consortium which will implement a new $20 million Pacific Research Program.

The four-year program was launched this week by Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop MP and is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The Pacific Research Program will be a global centre of excellence for research on the Pacific.

The program will be implemented by a consortium led by the ANU Department of Pacific Affairs (formerly the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Program), with the Development Policy Centre and the Lowy Institute.

College Dean, Professor Michael Wesley said the grant represents an acknowledgement of the ANU as the country’s foremost centre for the study of the Pacific.

“The awarding of the Pacific Research Program grant will allow us to build on the university’s tradition of excellence in the study of our near neighbourhood, as highlighted in the ANU Strategic Plan, and in particular our expertise in policy-relevant research,” said Professor Wesley.

“Over the coming years I expect that the Pacific Research Program will make a strong contribution to greater understanding of the Pacific among both traditional and new audiences, and will contribute to better policy-making both about, and in, the Pacific.”