8101.0 - Innovation and Technology Update (Newsletter), Jun 2002  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 08/07/2002   
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3 RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL DEVELOPMENT (R&D) STATISTICS

3.1 Higher Education R&D Survey 2000\
3.2 Business, Government and Private Non-profit R&D Surveys 2000-01
3.3 Business R&D Survey 2001-02
3.4 International Standards

3.1 HIGHER EDUCATION R&D SURVEY 2000

The processing of the Higher education R&D survey for the year 2000 has been completed and results have been released. Details of R&D expenditure and human resources devoted to R&D classified by type of expenditure, type of activity, location of expenditure, source of funds, type of employee, research fields and socioeconomic objectives are available.

Summary statistics are contained in the publication Research and Experimental Development, Higher Education Organisations, Australia 2000 (Cat. no. 8111.0) which was released on 12 April 2002.

Key findings included:

    • In 2000, Higher Education Expenditure on R&D (HERD) was estimated to be $2,775m at current prices, 9% higher than that recorded in 1998. In volume terms, HERD was 2% up on 1998.
    • HERD as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell to 0.41% in 2000, down from 0.43% in 1998. Australia's HERD/GDP ratio remains relatively high when compared with those available for other OECD countries, being higher than those for the United States of America, Germany and France.
    • Most R&D expenditure by higher education organisations was directed towards Society ($1,123m or 40%) and Economic development ($795m or 29%).
    • Medical and health sciences ($668m or 24%), Biological sciences ($325m or 12%), Engineering and technology ($309m or 11%) and Agricultural, veterinary and environmental sciences ($205m or 7%) were major fields of research.
    • The leading states in terms of higher education R&D expenditure were New South Wales with $811m and Victoria with $631m, accounting for 29% and 23% of total R&D expenditure respectively. Queensland accounted for 17% and the Australian Capital Territory 11%.
Main Features of catalogue 8111.0 can be found on the ABS web site.
3.2 BUSINESS, GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE NON-PROFIT R&D SURVEYS 2000-01

Processing of the results from the surveys of R&D undertaken by businesses, government organisations and private non-profit organisations in 2000-2001 is complete and results will be released in July 2002. Details of R&D expenditure and human resources devoted to R&D classified by type of expenditure, location of expenditure, source of funds, type of employee, type of activity, research fields and socio-economic objectives have been collected.

The 2000-01 surveys were the first surveys of R&D by government and private non-profit organisations to use the classifications contained in the 1998 edition of the Australian Standard Research Classification (ASRC).


3.3 BUSINESS R&D SURVEY 2001-02

Dispatch of the survey of R&D undertaken by businesses in 2001-02 will take place in August 2002. Details of R&D expenditure and human resources devoted to R&D classified by type of expenditure, location of expenditure, source of funds, type of employee, research fields and socio-economic objectives will be collected. The survey will also include a question on biotechnology R&D.


3.4 INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

The ABS surveys of R&D are conducted in accordance with standard guidelines promulgated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and contained in the OECD publication, The Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities ('Frascati Manual' 1993). These guidelines have recently being reviewed and Australia was represented on several of the working groups that undertook the revisions.