NOTES
INTRODUCTION
This release presents summary statistics on Research and Experimental Development (R&D) undertaken by Australian businesses during 2011-12.
Users should refer to the Explanatory Notes and Technical Note for further contextual information when interpreting these results.
DATA QUALITY
When interpreting the results in this release, it is important to take into account factors that may affect the reliability of estimates and comparability over time. These factors are described in the Technical Note.
This release includes revised data for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 reference periods. Refer to the Revisions section of the Technical Note for details.
ADDITIONAL DATA
More detailed data, including time series data, are available in spreadsheet format (data cubes) on the ABS website www.abs.gov.au. See the Downloads page for this issue (cat. no. 8104.0).
CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE
The estimates in this release are based on information provided from a sample of businesses within the Australian business sector with intramural expenditure on R&D of $100,000 or more during the reference period. This is a change from previous publications which were based on a census of Australian businesses with intramural expenditure on R&D of $100,000 or more during the reference period. Users should refer to the Explanatory Notes, Technical Note and Appendix - Survey Changes for further information.
This issue does not include information for Gross Expenditure on Research and Experimental Development (GERD). The ABS is continuing investigations into how GERD will be released in the future.
Fields of research and socio-economic objective data presented in this issue have been collected using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC) at the division level (2 digit) only, rather than group level (4 digit). Production of outputs at the 4 digit level, previously available upon request, is no longer possible.
FUTURE CHANGES
The frequency of the Survey of Research and Experimental Development (R&D), Businesses will change from annual to biennial following this 2011-12 cycle. The next survey will be conducted for the 2013-14 financial year.
INQUIRIES
For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Amanda Baile on Perth (08) 9360 5357.
SUMMARY COMMENTARY
BUSINESS RESOURCES DEVOTED TO RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTAL DEVELOPMENT (R&D)
During 2011-12, expenditure on R&D by Australian businesses was $18,321 million. Business expenditure on R&D (BERD) increased by 2% in current price terms and decreased by 1% in chain volume terms in 2011-12. This followed an increase of 7% in current price terms in 2010-11.
Business human resources devoted to R&D in 2011-12 totalled 64,906 person years of effort (PYE), an increase of 15% from 2010-11.
Subsequent expenditure figures and supporting commentary relate to current price terms.
BUSINESS RESOURCES DEVOTED TO R&D |
|
 | | | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10(a) | 2010-11(a) | 2011-12 |
|
| Expenditure on R&D | | | | | | |
| Current prices | $m | 15 047 | 17 291 | 16 760 | 18 007 | 18 321 |
| Chain volume measures(b) | $m | 16 654 | 18 275 | 17 203 | 18 533 | 18 321 |
| Human resources devoted to R&D | PYE | 50 896 | 53 886 | 57 936 | 56 511 | 64 906 |
|
| (a) Some 2009-10 and 2010-11 data have been revised. See the Revisions section of the Technical Note for details. |
| (b) The reference year for chain volume measures is 2011-12. See Explanatory Notes 31 and 32 for details. |
BERD and Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
BERD as a proportion of GDP decreased, down from 1.28% in 2010-11 to 1.24% in 2011-12.
BERD, as a proportion of GDP(a)
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