| Unit | 2016-17 | 2018-19 | 2020-21 | 2022-23 | 2024-25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth | $m | 2,139 | 2,110 | 2,337 | 2,800 | 2,782 |
| State/territory | $m | 1,140 | 1,219 | 1,281 | 1,544 | 1,597 |
| Total (a) | $m | 3,279 | 3,330 | 3,618 | 4,344 | 4,379 |
- Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of the component items and totals.
| Unit | 2016-17 | 2018-19 | 2020-21 | 2022-23 | 2024-25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth | $m | 2,620 | 2,479 | 2,721 | 2,950 | 2,782 |
| State/territory | $m | 1,396 | 1,433 | 1,491 | 1,627 | 1,597 |
| Total (b) | $m | 4,016 | 3,912 | 4,212 | 4,577 | 4,379 |
- The reference year for chain volume measures is 2024-25. Refer to the Chain volume measures section of the Methodology page for details.
- Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of the component items and totals.
| Unit | 2016-17 | 2018-19 | 2020-21 | 2022-23 | 2024-25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth | PYE | 8,000 | 7,763 | 7,791 | 8,277 | 8,746 |
| State/territory | PYE | 6,773 | 6,758 | 7,257 | 7,612 | 7,591 |
| Total (a) | PYE | 14,773 | 14,521 | 15,047 | 15,889 | 16,338 |
PYE – person years of effort
- Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of the component items and totals.
Government expenditure on R&D (GOVERD)
Compared to 2022-23, GOVERD:
- increased by 0.8% in current price terms
- decreased by 4% in chain volume terms.
Subsequent expenditure figures and supporting commentary relate to current price terms.
In 2024-25, of total government expenditure on R&D:
- $2,782 million (64%) was contributed by commonwealth government organisations
- $1,597 million (36%) was contributed by state and territory government organisations.
Compared to 2022-23, R&D expenditure:
- decreased by $19 million (0.7%) for commonwealth government organisations
- increased by $53 million (3.4%) for state and territory government organisations.
GOVERD as a proportion of GDP decreased from 0.17% in 2022-23 to 0.16% in 2024-25.
Type of expenditure
In 2024-25, GOVERD included:
- $4,080 million (93%) in Current expenditure
- $299 million (7%) in Capital expenditure.
Compared to 2022-23:
- Current expenditure increased $59 million (1%)
- Capital expenditure decreased $24 million (7%).
In 2024-25, the largest components of GOVERD were:
- Labour costs at $2,552 million (58%)
- Other current expenditure at $1,528 million (35%).
Labour costs recorded the largest GOVERD increase of $240 million (10%) between 2022-23 and 2024-25.
Location
Location of expenditure relates to the region in which R&D activity was performed. Please refer to the Methodology section for further information.
Compared to 2022-23, Queensland recorded the largest GOVERD increase in dollar terms, up $106 million (14%).
GOVERD and Gross State Product (GSP)
| NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | |||||||||
| Commonwealth | 0.06 | 0.13 | 0.08 | 0.32 | 0.04 | 0.35 | 0.18 | 0.72 | |
| State/territory | 0.07 | 0.06 | 0.07 | 0.08 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.06 | 0.03 | |
| Total (b) | 0.12 | 0.19 | 0.15 | 0.41 | 0.07 | 0.38 | 0.23 | 0.75 | |
| 2024-25 | |||||||||
| Commonwealth | 0.05 | 0.11 | 0.08 | 0.26 | 0.05 | 0.44 | 0.22 | 0.58 | |
| State/territory | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.08 | 0.09 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.04 | 0.03 | |
| Total (b) | 0.10 | 0.16 | 0.16 | 0.35 | 0.09 | 0.47 | 0.25 | 0.60 | |
- Refer to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross State Product (GSP) section of the Methodology page for details.
- Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of the component items and totals.
Between 2022-23 and 2024-25, four states/territories recorded increases in their GOVERD/GSP ratios, with the remaining recording decreases. Tasmania recorded the largest increase, up 0.09 percentage points, while the Australian Capital Territory recorded the largest decrease, down 0.15 percentage points.
Fields of Research
Fields of Research (FoR) classifies R&D expenditure based on the area of knowledge and methodology used in the R&D.
In 2024-25, the greatest contributions to GOVERD by FoR classification were recorded in:
- Environmental sciences at $634 million (14%)
- Biomedical and clinical sciences at $629 million (14%)
- Agricultural, veterinary and food sciences at $568 million (13%).
Compared to 2022-23, the largest dollar increases in FoR were recorded in:
- Environmental sciences, up $224 million (55%)
- Biomedical and clinical sciences, up $78 million (14%).
Socio-Economic Objectives
Socio-Economic Objectives (SEO) classifies R&D expenditure according to the areas that may benefit from the R&D.
In 2024-25, the greatest contributions to GOVERD by SEO classification were recorded in:
- Health at $906 million (21%)
- Environmental management at $704 million (16%).
Compared to 2022-23, the largest dollar increases in SEO were recorded in:
- Environmental management, up $166 million (31%)
- Health, up $101 million (12%).
Government human resources devoted to R&D
In 2024-25, Australian government organisations devoted a total of 16,338 person years of effort (PYE) to R&D, an increase of 449 PYE (3%) in comparison to 2022-23.
Researchers accounted for most of the human resources effort devoted to R&D in 2024-25, totalling 10,250 PYE (63%).