Most of these schemes fall under the National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP), whereby institutions must compete amongst each other for funding.

ARC Centres of Excellence, funded for a limited period, are collaborations established among Australian and international universities and other institutions to support research in a variety of fields.

[5] It was formed in 1988 as a response to the Dawkins white paper, 'Higher Education: A policy statement', and was established as an independent body in 2001 under the Australian Research Council Act 2001.

[6] The ARC's mission is to deliver policy and programs that advance Australian research and innovation globally and benefit the community.

The Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship is awarded to a candidate from the humanities, arts and social science disciplines and the Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship is awarded to a candidate from the science and technology disciplines.