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EXPLANATORY NOTES


INTRODUCTION

1 This release presents statistics compiled from data collected from Australian government and private non-profit (PNP) organisations in the Survey of Research and Experimental Development (R&D), Government and Private Non-Profit Organisations 2011-12. The survey was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) via mail questionnaire and achieved a response rate of 98.1%.


REFERENCE PERIOD

2 For the Government and PNP sectors, the survey is conducted biennially and based on a single financial year. The 2010-11 survey was deferred for a year. The reference period for statistics presented in this issue is the financial year ended 30 June 2012. The Survey of R&D, Government and Private Non-Profit Organisations will be conducted again for 2012-13, before returning to a biennial (two-yearly) collection frequency.


DEFINITION OF R&D

3 R&D, as collected by the ABS, is defined in accordance with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standard as 'creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications'. Although outside the economic boundary of R&D as defined by the OECD, R&D performed overseas by Australian organisations is included in these data.

4 For a more comprehensive interpretation of the definition of R&D activity, see the Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008 (cat. no. 1297.0) or refer to the OECD publication The Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities: Proposed Standard Practice for Surveys on Research and Experimental Development - Frascati Manual 2002.

5 Data providers report and self-classify R&D survey information based on their interpretation of OECD and ABS definitions and classifications. The ABS makes every effort to ensure correct and consistent interpretation and reporting of these data by applying consistent processing methodologies. See also the Reliability of Statistics and Revisions sections of the Technical Note.


FRAME

6 The source of the frame for the Survey of R&D, Government and Private Non-Profit Organisations is the ABS Business Register (ABSBR). The ABSBR records information about statistical units and is used to create the frames for most ABS economic collections.


Statistical units defined on the ABSBR

7 Statistical units are those entities from which statistics are collected, or about which statistics are compiled. In ABS economic statistics, the statistical unit is generally the business (or in the case of this survey, the government or PNP organisation).

8 The ABS uses an economic statistics units model on the ABSBR to describe the characteristics of organisations, and the structural relationships between related organisations. Within large, complex and diverse organisations, the units model is also used to define reporting units that can provide data to the ABS at suitable levels of detail.

9 The units model allocates organisations to one of two sub-populations. The vast majority of organisations are in what is called the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Maintained Population (ATOMP), while the remaining organisations are in the ABS Maintained Population (ABSMP). Together these two sub-populations make up the ABSBR population.

10 Most organisations in Australia need to obtain an Australian Business Number (ABN) and are then included on the whole-of-government register of businesses, the Australian Business Register (ABR), which is maintained by the ATO. Most of these organisations have simple structures; therefore, the unit registered for an ABN will satisfy ABS statistical requirements. The organisations with simple structures constitute the ATOMP, and the ABN unit is used as the statistical unit for ABS economic collections.

11 For the population of organisations where the ABN unit is not suitable for ABS statistical requirements, the ABS maintains its own units structure through direct contact with each organisation. These organisations constitute the ABSMP. This population consists typically of large, complex and diverse organisations. For organisations in the ABSMP, statistical units comprise the Enterprise Group, the Enterprise and the Type of Activity Unit (TAU). The range of activities across the Enterprise Group can be very diverse. The TAU represents a grouping of one or more organisation entities within the Enterprise that cover all of the operations within an industry subdivision and for which a basic set of financial production and employment data can be reported.

12 The current economic statistics units model was introduced into the ABS in mid 2002, to better use the information available as a result of The New Tax System (TNTS). For more information please refer to the
Information Paper: Improvements in ABS Economic Statistics [Arising from the New Tax System], 2002 (cat. no. 1372.0).

13 Statistical units for the Survey of R&D, Government and Private Non-Profit Organisations consist of ABN units for the ATOMP and TAUs from the ABSMP.


SCOPE AND COVERAGE

14 The Survey of R&D, Government and Private Non-Profit Organisations aims to be a complete enumeration of Australian government and PNP organisations with intramural expenditure on R&D during the reference period.

15 Intramural expenditure is defined as expenditure for R&D performed by the statistical unit regardless of the source of funds. Expenditure made outside the statistical unit but in support of intramural R&D are included. For further information, refer to the OECD Frascati Manual 2002.

16 The ABS identifies organisations for inclusion in the survey if the organisation:

• reported expenditure on R&D in the previous survey; or
• was identified through other sources such as newspapers, journals, research compendia, etc. as likely to have expenditure on R&D.

• Higher education institutions, e.g. universities (which are included in the ABS Survey of R&D, Higher Education).

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, current prices
	2000-01	2002-03	2004-05	2006-07	2008-09	2011-12
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
GDP	706 895	800 936	920 969	1 083 303	1 254 293	1 474 686
Source: Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, Dec 2012 (cat. no. 5206.0), released 6 March 2013

GROSS STATE PRODUCT, current prices
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
2008-09	391 662	282 945	258 746	79 998	176 143	22 095	16 625	26 078
2011-12	455 275	328 595	283 604	91 928	238 870	24 175	18 583	32 197
Source: Australian National Accounts: State Accounts, 2011-12 (cat. no. 5220.0), released 21 November 2012

Research and Experimental Development, Businesses, Australia, 2011-12 (cat. no. 8104.0), to be released 6 September 2013

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008 (cat. no. 1297.0)
Innovation in Australian Business, 2010-11 (cat. no. 8158.0)
Microdata: Business Longitudinal Database, Australia, 2004-05 to 2009-10 (cat. no. 8168.0.55.001)
Research and Experimental Development, Businesses, Australia, 2010-11 (cat. no. 8104.0)
Research and Experimental Development, Higher Education Organisations, Australia, 2010 (cat. no. 8111.0)
Selected Characteristics of Australian Businesses, 2010-11 (cat. no. 8167.0)
Summary of IT Use and Innovation in Australian Business, 2010-11 (cat. no. 8166.0)

Main Science and Technology Indicators 2012/2
The Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities: Proposed Standard Practice for Surveys of Research and Experimental Development - Frascati Manual 2002