The Australian Research Council (ARC) is a Commonwealth entity established as an independent body under the Australian Research Council Act 2001, reporting to the Minister for Education.The ARC’s purpose is to help shape Australian research for the nation’s economic, social, environmental and cultural benefit by enabling excellent research; evaluating the excellence, impact and depth of Australian research; providing expert advice and research grants services; supporting research integrity and promoting ethical research.The ARC supports the highest-quality early-stage research through the National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP) which supports approximately $1 billion per year of excellent research to individuals, teams and large-scale centres in all disciplines except for medical.ARC at a Glance (PDF 1,533KB)History of ARCThe Australian Research Council has a long history – founded in 2001 under the Australian Research Council Act 2001 it is directly descended from the 1965 Australian Research Grants Committee (ARGC). ARC has functions which date to the 1946 Commonwealth Universities Research Grants Committee. Infographic pre-2001Infographic post-2001