About us

MCERA’s vision is to advance education by improving the reporting of education research in the media to enable the public to better understand education matters.

By serving as a conduit between the media and education researchers, MCERA assists public understanding of education issues and informs policy and practice.

MCERA assists media to disseminate research-based stories that contribute to community understanding on important education matters.

We believe that by empowering the public with accurate knowledge of education issues, we contribute to better policy-making, greater understanding between students, parents and educators, and a brighter future for all Australians.

The MCERA Establishment Group oversaw the early establishment phase of the centre. This included establishing MCERA as a legal entity, developing a constitution, and appointing a Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors is responsible for the governance of MCERA.

Patrons provide high-level support to MCERA through their expertise in government, media, business, educational research and education.

The Educational Research Advisory Panel members provide assistance to MCERA staff, including establishing a network of experts able to brief the media on educational issues. The Advisory Panel is comprised of eminent educational researchers appointed by the MCERA Board.

More information about our people can be found here.

The Media Centre for Education Research Australia (MCERA) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that relies on the generous support of its sponsors. The Centre seeks to raise the quality of education reporting by the media. MCERA actively distributes quality research to the media on a broad range of topics ranging from the early years through to higher education and adult learning. Also, MCERA assists journalists to find appropriate education researchers to comment on issues.

The MCERA Constitution sets out the objectives of the company and powers of the Board of Directors. The MCERA Board is responsible for all governance matters of the MCERA.

MCERA is free to distribute the best available research, regardless of any commercial, political or personal interests, including those of any sponsors or board members.

MCERA staff are supported by the Education Research Advisory Panel, which is comprised of eminent educational researchers appointed by the MCERA Board. The Educational Research Advisory Panel members provide assistance to MCERA staff, including providing advice on the network of experts able to brief the media on educational issues.

MCERA’s commitment to independence and quality is supported by a number of core principles:

MCERA provides access to research-informed experts

MCERA aims to identify experts to recommend journalists who can provide an authoritative perspective on a particular issue that is based on research queries. Similarly, MCERA recommends experts who have undertaken a significant body of research in the particular area for op eds or to The Conversation.

Relevance

MCERA will ensure that researchers put forward in expert comments, rapid responses and in response to journalist queries have published research related to the issues on which they are commenting.

Excellence in research

MCERA is committed to only distributing research of the highest quality that has been subjected to rigorous external scrutiny.

High quality communication

It is imperative that researchers are able to communicate their research in a way that it is understood and unlikely to be misconstrued by the general public. MCERA provides coaching and support to ensure that this occurs.

Representing diversity in education debates

As with most areas of research, there are areas of contention. MCERA aims to fairly represent all quality research from a wide variety of viewpoints and perspectives available.