| In 2010 the Australian Federal Government released the landmark report Inspiring Australia which described the first national strategy for engagement with the sciences, and aimed to create a 'scientifically engaged Australia'.;This study investigates what might be meant by a 'scientifically engaged Australia' by creating a snapshot picture of the current Australian science communication landscape: its priorities, its limitations and its key players' envisioned recommendations for future activity. It draws on several sources of data to create this picture: academic and practitioner literature regarding the emerging concept of 'public engagement'; literature and case studies that discuss the appropriate place for deficit model and one-way approaches to science communication; the Inspiring Australia report itself and other government policy documents; and a series of interviews with top level public figures in Australian science policy and advocacy.;A central finding of this study is the absence of a universal and unambiguous definition of public engagement. In addition, in contrast to trends within much of the scholarly literature, the study highlights the persistence of one-way methods and to a lesser degree the deficit model in practice. The ongoing use and relevance of one-way communication is evident; it remains a popular, albeit often default, choice in practice and is seen as ideal for the communication of fixed messages. Science communication in Australia remains, for the foreseeable future, dominated by one-way methods, in particular in the use of traditional and social media. In this respect, a scientifically engaged Australia would seem to be one in which a great deal of one-way communication takes place, supplemented by small moves towards dialogical or participatory communication.;Finally, this study highlights two dominant motivations behind the call for a 'scientifically engaged Australia'. Much high level discourse on this topic is characterised by governments' desire to safeguard future investment in science and to bolster a dwindling economy, so in this sense economic pragmatism drives much of the science communication agenda. To a lesser degree, a desire to foster science appreciation within society is also a driver. It is apparent that the nation's science agenda is influenced by the increasing politicising of science, and the communication of it. |
