During the 2016-17 financial year, expenditure on R&D performed by Australian government organisations was $3,279 million. Commonwealth government organisations contributed $2,139 million (65%), and state and territory government organisations contributed $1,140 million (35%), to total government expenditure on R&D (GOVERD).
GOVERD decreased 2% in current price terms and 4% in chain volume terms between 2014-15 and 2016-17.
Government resources devoted to R&D
2006-07 | 2008-09 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2014-15 | 2016-17 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Expenditure on R&D - Current prices | ||||||||
Commonwealth | $m | 2 046 | 2 252 | 2 426 | 2 345 | 2 257 | 2 139 | |
State/territory | $m | 1 049 | 1 169 | 1 123 | 1 381 | 1 072 | 1 140 | |
Total(a) | $m | 3 095 | 3 420 | 3 549 | 3 725 | 3 329 | 3 279 | |
Expenditure on R&D - Chain volume measures(b) | ||||||||
Commonwealth | $m | 2 657 | 2 755 | 2 761 | 2 556 | 2 312 | 2 139 | |
State/territory | $m | 1 363 | 1 429 | 1 278 | 1 506 | 1 098 | 1 140 | |
Total(a) | $m | 4 019 | 4 184 | 4 039 | 4 062 | 3 409 | 3 279 | |
Human resources devoted to R&D | ||||||||
Commonwealth | PYE | 9 481 | 9 209 | 9 800 | 9 820 | 8 443 | 8 000 | |
State/territory | PYE | 7 279 | 7 834 | 6 889 | 6 561 | 6 273 | 6 773 | |
Total(a) | PYE | 16 760 | 17 042 | 16 689 | 16 381 | 14 715 | 14 773 |
a. Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of the component items and totals.
b. The reference period for chain volume measures is 2016-17. See Methodology for details.
Subsequent expenditure figures and supporting commentary relate to current price terms.
R&D expenditure by Commonwealth government organisations decreased $118 million (5%) in 2016-17. R&D expenditure by State and territory government organisations increased $68 million (6%) from 2014-15.
Government expenditure on R&D, summary statistics
COMMONWEALTH | STATE/TERRITORY | TOTAL(a) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014-15 | 2016-17 | 2014-15 | 2016-17 | 2014-15 | 2016-17 | |||
$m | $m | $m | $m | $m | $m | |||
Type of expenditure | ||||||||
Capital expenditure | ||||||||
Land, buildings and other structures | 102 | 74 | 30 | 38 | 132 | 112 | ||
Other capital expenditure | 178 | 139 | 38 | 31 | 216 | 171 | ||
Total(a) | 280 | 213 | 68 | 69 | 348 | 282 | ||
Current expenditure | ||||||||
Labour costs | 1 210 | 1 204 | 620 | 687 | 1 831 | 1 892 | ||
Other current expenditure | 767 | 721 | 383 | 384 | 1 150 | 1 105 | ||
Total(a) | 1 978 | 1 926 | 1 004 | 1 071 | 2 981 | 2 996 | ||
Total expenditure on R&D(a) | 2 257 | 2 139 | 1 072 | 1 140 | 3 329 | 3 279 |
a. Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of the component items and totals.
GOVERD and Gross domestic product (GDP)
GOVERD as a proportion of GDP decreased from 0.21% in 2014-15 to 0.19% in 2016-17.
- See Methodology for details
Government expenditure on R&D (GOVERD)
Type of expenditure
In 2016-17, GOVERD included $2,996 million (91%) in Current expenditure and $282 million (9%) in Capital expenditure. The largest component of GOVERD in 2016-17 was Labour costs, at $1,892 million (58%) of GOVERD. This was followed by Other current expenditure, at $1,105 million (34%) of GOVERD.
In 2016-17, total Capital expenditure decreased $66 million (19%), with total Current expenditure increasing $15 million (1%). Compared to 2014-15, Other current expenditure recorded the largest decrease in dollar terms, down $46 million (4%), followed by Other capital expenditure, also down $46 million (21%). Labour costs was the only type of expenditure that recorded an increase, up $61 million (3%) in 2016-17.
Source of funds
The two main sources of funds for GOVERD in 2016-17 were Own funds, $2,209 million (67% of GOVERD) and Other Commonwealth government, $323 million (10% of GOVERD). These were also the main sources of funds in 2014-15.
Between 2014-15 and 2016-17, Other Commonwealth government recorded the largest dollar decrease, down $131 million (29%), followed by Universities, down $44 million (83%).
Location of expenditure
Location of expenditure relates to the region in which R&D activity was performed; see Methodology for details.
In 2016-17, Victoria ($792 million) and New South Wales ($626 million) together accounted for 43% of total GOVERD. Australian Capital Territory recorded the largest decrease in dollar terms, down $50 million or 12%. Queensland, as a location of expenditure, recorded the largest dollar increase in GOVERD between 2014-15 and 2016-17, up $18 million (4%).
- For a definition of location, see Methodology
GOVERD and Gross state product (GSP)
In 2016-17, the Australian Capital Territory had the largest decrease in GOVERD as a proportion of GSP (0.26%).
GOVERD, by location of expenditure - proportion of GSP(a)
NSW | Vic. | Qld | SA | WA | Tas. | NT | ACT | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
% | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | ||
2014-15 | |||||||||
Commonwealth | 0.08 | 0.15 | 0.09 | 0.30 | 0.06 | 0.45 | 0.18 | 1.20 | |
State | 0.05 | 0.07 | 0.09 | 0.12 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 0.12 | 0.06 | |
Total(b) | 0.12 | 0.22 | 0.18 | 0.42 | 0.11 | 0.46 | 0.31 | 1.26 | |
2016-17 | |||||||||
Commonwealth | 0.06 | 0.13 | 0.07 | 0.32 | 0.05 | 0.43 | 0.14 | 0.96 | |
State | 0.05 | 0.06 | 0.09 | 0.10 | 0.06 | 0.00 | 0.16 | 0.04 | |
Total(b) | 0.11 | 0.19 | 0.16 | 0.42 | 0.11 | 0.43 | 0.30 | 1.00 |
a. See Methodology for details.
b. Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of the component items and totals.
Type of activity
In 2016-17, 56% of GOVERD ($1,831 million) was directed to Applied research, 26% ($866 million) to Strategic basic research and 14% ($460 million) to Experimental development. The remaining 4% ($122 million) was directed towards Pure basic research.
Pure basic research recorded the largest dollar decrease of $50 million (29%), followed by Applied research down $47 million (3%) and Strategic basic research, down $22 million (3%) from 2014-15. Experimental development recorded the only increase in 2016-17, up $69 million (18%).
Fields of research (FOR)
The Fields of Research accounting for the largest amount of GOVERD expenditure in 2016-17 were Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, $574 million (18%); Medical and Health Sciences, $502 million (15%); Engineering, $494 million (15%) and Biological Sciences, $310 million (9%). Together, these four Fields of Research accounted for over half (57%) of total GOVERD for 2016-17.
Socio-economic objective (SEO)
The four Socio-economic Objectives attracting the most expenditure in 2016-17 were Health, $593 million (18%); Defence, $557 million (17%); Environment, $519 million (16%); and Plant Production and Plant Primary Products, $417 million (13%). In 2016-17, the top four Socio-economic Objectives remained the same as in 2014-15 and accounted for almost two thirds (64%) of total GOVERD.
Government human resources devoted to R&D
In 2016-17, human resources devoted to R&D by Australian government organisations totalled 14,773 person years of effort (PYE). Commonwealth government comprised 8,000 PYE (54%) of total PYE and State and territory government comprised 6,773 PYE (46%).
Government human resources devoted to R&D, by type of resource
COMMONWEALTH | STATE/TERRITORY | TOTAL(a) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014-15 | 2016-17 | 2014-15 | 2016-17 | 2014-15 | 2016-17 | |
PYE | PYE | PYE | PYE | PYE | PYE | |
Researchers | 4 594 | 4 501 | 3 044 | 2 982 | 7 637 | 7 483 |
Technicians | 2 416 | 2 168 | 2 254 | 2 345 | 4 671 | 4 512 |
Other staff | 1 433 | 1 331 | 975 | 1 446 | 2 407 | 2 777 |
Total human resources devoted to R&D(a) | 8 443 | 8 000 | 6 273 | 6 773 | 14 715 | 14 773 |
a. Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of the component items and totals.
In 2016-17, government human resources devoted to R&D increased 58 PYE (0.4%) from 14,715 PYE in 2014-15. The increase was due to increases in PYE for Other staff, up 370 PYE (15%).
Researchers remained the largest type of resource in 2016-17, accounting for 51% of total government human resources devoted to R&D.