ABOUT INNOVATION IN AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS STATISTICS
The development, introduction or implementation of new or significantly improved goods, services, processes or methods is generally considered to be innovation. Innovation is often seen as a continuous process. Therefore, it can be difficult to measure, and aspects of the process can also be intangible. An international framework, the 'Oslo Manual, Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Innovation Data', has been developed jointly by Eurostat and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to aid in measuring the process of innovation. This manual, updated in 2005, forms the basis of concepts and definitions used to measure the incidence of innovation by the Business Characteristics Survey (BCS). The BCS collects information about the broad types and status of innovation in Australian business for the 12 month reference period. For more detail about these concepts and definitions, please refer to the Explanatory Notes and the Glossary.
Scope changes associated with the adoption of an updated industry classification, the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industry Classification 2006 (ANZSIC06) for the 2006-07 BCS have affected comparability with data previously collected on the ANZSIC93 basis. The data presented here are not directly comparable to those released in earlier issues of this publication or releases from previous stand-alone surveys of innovation in Australian business. For more information about the impact of moving to ANZSIC06 on innovation statistics, please refer to the Appendix - Changes to Industry Classification: Comparability with previous outputs.
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