INNOVATION IN AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS - SUMMARY

Summary of innovative activity in Australian business(a), key indicators, 2008—09 and 2009—10
			2008 - 09	2009 - 10(b)	2009 - 10(c)
Estimated number of businesses(d)		'000	713	717	776
Businesses which introduced any new or significantly improved:(e)
	goods or services	%	18.2	20.8	19.8
	operational processes	%	16.3	17.0	16.9
	organisational/managerial processes	%	19.4	21.2	20.7
	marketing methods	%	17.2	17.1	16.7
Businesses which introduced innovation (innovating businesses)		%	35.0	39.5	38.6
Businesses with innovative activity which was:
	still in development	%	17.6	20.4	19.9
	abandoned	%	6.5	7.5	7.3
Businesses with any innovative activity (innovation-active businesses)		%	39.8	44.7	43.8
(a) Proportions are of all businesses.
(b) Excludes businesses in Agriculture, forestry and fishing industry division.
(c) Includes businesses in Agriculture, forestry and fishing industry division.
(d) Business counts are provided for contextual information only, please refer to Explanatory Notes 20 and 21.
(e) Businesses may be counted in more than one category.

Innovation-active businesses

Innovation-active businesses are those which had undertaken any innovative activity during the reference period, including businesses which introduced any of the four types of innovation and/or work on the innovative activity was still in development at the end of the period or abandoned during the period.

The proportion of businesses which were innovation-active (i.e. those which undertook any innovative activity) in 2009-10 was 44%. Overall, the inclusion of businesses in the Agriculture, forestry and fishing industry had a small downward impact on the proportion of businesses which were innovation-active. Excluding Agriculture, forestry and fishing, the proportion of innovation-active businesses was 45%.


Innovating businesses

Innovating businesses are those which introduced any of the four types of innovation during the 2009-10 reference period.

During the year ended 30 June 2010, 39% of Australian businesses reported introducing at least one type of innovation. Excluding the Agriculture, forestry and fishing industry, the proportion of businesses that reported introducing at least one type of innovation increased by 5 percentage points, from 35% in 2008-09 to 40% in 2009-10.


Innovation still in development

One in five Australian businesses reported some form of innovative activity that was still in development as at 30 June 2010. Excluding the Agriculture, forestry and fishing industry, the proportion of businesses with innovation still in development increased from 18% in 2008-09 to 20% in 2009-10.


Abandoned innovation

During the year ended 30 June 2010, 7% of Australian businesses abandoned at least one innovative activity. Between 2008-09 and 2009-10, the proportion of businesses that reported having abandoned at least one type of innovation remained relatively unchanged.

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