8101.0 - Innovation and Technology Update (Newsletter), Jun 2004  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/07/2004   
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3 RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL DEVELOPMENT (R&D) STATISTICS

3.1 Higher education R&D survey 2002

The processing of the survey of R&D undertaken by higher education organisations in 2002 has been completed and results released. 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 socioeconomic objectives are available.

Summary statistics are contained in the publication Research and Experimental Development, Higher Education Organisations, Australia (cat. no. 8111.0) which was released on 3 May 2004.

Key findings included:

  • In 2002, Higher education expenditure on R&D (HERD) was estimated to be $3,430m at current prices, 23% higher than that recorded in 2000. In volume terms, with the effect of changes in prices and wages and salaries removed, HERD was 14% up on 2000.
  • HERD as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased from 0.42% in 2000 to 0.45% in 2002. Australia's HERD/GDP ratio is of a similar magnitude to those available for other comparable OECD countries, being higher than those for Germany, the United States of America and France.

3.2 Business, government and private non-profit R&D surveys 2002-03

The processing of the surveys of R&D undertaken by businesses, government organisations and private non-profit organisations in 2002-03 are nearing completion. 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 socioeconomic objectives will be available.

Summary statistics for 2002-03 will be included in the publications Research and Experimental Development, Businesses, Australia (cat. no. 8104.0), Research and Experimental Development, General Government and Private Non-Profit Organisations, Australia (cat. no. 8109.0) and Research and Experimental Development, All Sector Summary, Australia (cat. no. 8112.0) which are due to be released in August 2004.

3.3 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' 2002), available as a free PDF file by visiting www.oecd.org).