EXPLANATORY NOTES


INTRODUCTION

1 This release presents summary statistics on Research and Experimental Development (R&D) undertaken by Australian organisations within the Business, Government, Higher education and Private non-profit sectors for the 2008-09 reference period.

2 The data have been released previously on an individual sector basis and at more detailed levels; see Explanatory Note 17.


DATA SOURCES

3 Data for each sector were collected separately in the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) surveys of R&D:

• Business - compiled from data collected from businesses in the Survey of R&D, Businesses in respect of the year ended 30 June 2009.
• Government and Private non-profit - compiled from data collected from organisations in the Survey of R&D, Government and Private Non-Profit Organisations in respect of the year ended 30 June 2009.
• Higher education - compiled from data collected from institutions in the Survey of R&D, Higher Education in respect of the year ended 31 December 2008.

DEFINITION OF R&D

4 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 the data presented.

5 For a more comprehensive interpretation of the definition of R&D, see the OECD publication The Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities: Proposed Standard Practice for Surveys on Research and Experimental Development - Frascati Manual 2002.

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


SECTOR CLASSIFICATION

7 The sector classification used in the compilation of these statistics is adapted from the guidelines specified by the OECD for use in the conduct of R&D surveys. There are four distinct sectors:

• Business - includes all businesses whose primary activity is the production of goods or services for sale to the general public at a price intended to cover at least the cost of production, and the private non-profit institutions mainly serving them.
• Government - includes all Commonwealth, state and local government departments and authorities.
  • The ABS Government R&D survey excludes: local government; universities (which are included in the Higher education sector); and public sector organisations mainly engaged in trading or financial activities (which are included in the Business sector).
• Higher education - includes all universities and other institutions of post-secondary education, whatever their source of finance or legal status.
  • The ABS Higher education R&D survey excludes other higher education institutions, such as colleges of Technical and Further Education.
• Private non-profit - includes private or semi-public incorporated organisations which are established with the intention of not making a profit.

SCOPE AND COVERAGE

8 Refer to the Explanatory Notes of the individual sector releases for scope and coverage details.


INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION

9 The statistics in this release are classified to industry in accordance with the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006 (cat. no. 1292.0).


LOCATION

10 With the exception of the Higher education sector, estimates for location relate to the region(s) in which the R&D was performed. For the Higher education sector, the estimates represent the main campus or head office location of the reporting institution, with the exception of the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) which is shown against the Australian Capital Territory.


TYPE OF ACTIVITY (TOA), FIELD OF RESEARCH (FOR) AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC OBJECTIVE (SEO)

11 TOA, FOR and SEO statistics presented in this release have been collected and compiled based on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008 (cat. no. 1297.0). Earlier issues of this release used the Australian Standard Research Classification (ASRC).

12 Due to differences between the two classifications, implementation of the ANZSRC represents a break in series. Users should familiarise themselves with the differences if attempting to compare data across reference periods, particularly for FOR and SEO estimates.

13 The ABS has not compiled previous cycle estimates on an ANZSRC basis or 2008-09 estimates on an ASRC basis. Previous cycle data compiled on an ASRC basis (including revised data for 2006-07) are available in the data cubes accompanying this release.

14 Some organisations may have experienced difficulty in classifying their R&D projects to TOA, FOR and SEO. See also the Reliability of statistics and Revisions sections of the Technical Note.


GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) AND GROSS STATE PRODUCT (GSP)

15 The most recent GDP and GSP values available were used to calculate the R&D expenditure/GDP and R&D expenditure/GSP ratios presented in this issue. These values are referenced in the tables below.

Gross Domestic Product, current prices
	1998-99	2000-01	2002-03	2004-05	2006-07	2008-09
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
GDP	622 695	708 889	804 361	925 864	1 091 327	1 254 651
Source: Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, June 2010 (cat. no. 5206.0), released 1 September 2010.

Gross state product, current prices
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
2006-07	352 162	261 200	209 173	71 725	138 688	21 249	14 339	22 791
2008-09	402 334	291 637	243 901	78 986	169 950	23 176	17 168	25 969
Source: Australian National Accounts, State Accounts, 2008-09 (cat. no. 5220.0), reissue released December 2009.

16 GDP is estimated by the ABS according to the recently updated international standards System of National Accounts, 2008 (2008 SNA) and is not directly comparable to GDP for countries where these standards have not been applied.


R&D RELEASES

17 ABS releases of R&D statistics for individual sectors:

Research and Experimental Development, Businesses, Australia, 2008-09 (cat. no. 8104.0)
Research and Experimental Development, Government and Private Non-Profit Organisations, Australia, 2008-09 (cat. no. 8109.0)
Research and Experimental Development, Higher Education Organisations, Australia, 2008 (cat. no. 8111.0)

RELATED RELEASES

18 Users may also wish to refer to the following ABS releases:

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008 (cat. no. 1297.0)
Innovation in Australian Business, 2008-09 (cat. no. 8158.0)
Microdata: Business Longitudinal Database, Expanded CURF, Australia, 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 (cat. no. 8168.0.55.001)
Selected Characteristics of Australian Business, 2008-09 (cat. no. 8167.0)
Summary of IT Use and Innovation in Australian Business, 2008-09 (cat. no. 8166.0)

19 Relevant OECD publications include:

Main Science and Technology Indicators 2010/1
The Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities: Proposed Standard Practice for Surveys on Research and Experimental Development - Frascati Manual 2002

ABS WEBSITE

20 Other information relating to R&D and Innovation (including data cubes in spreadsheet format) can be found on the ABS website <www.abs.gov.au>. See the Innovation, Science and Technology Theme page under Topics @ a Glance/Industry.


ROUNDING

21 Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of the component items and totals.