8111.0 - Research and Experimental Development, Higher Education Organisations, Australia, 2014 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 17/05/2016   
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HIGHER EDUCATION EXPENDITURE ON R&D (HERD)

TYPE OF EXPENDITURE

In 2014, HERD included $9,313 million (92%) in Current expenditure and $832 million (8%) in Capital expenditure. Compared with 2012, Current expenditure increased $734 million (9%), whilst Capital expenditure decreased $199 million (19%).

The largest component of HERD in 2014 was Labour costs which totalled $4,310 (42% of HERD). This was followed by Other current expenditure which totalled $4,266 million (42% of HERD). Compared with 2012, Labour costs recorded the largest dollar increase, up $419 million (11%), followed by Other current expenditure which increased $187 million (5%).


SOURCE OF FUNDS

The two main sources of funds for HERD in 2014 were General university funds ($5,465 million or 54% of HERD) and Australian competitive grants ($1,832 million or 18% of HERD). These were also the major sources of funds in 2012.

Compared with 2012, Australian competitive grants recorded the largest dollar increase, up $207 million (13%).

Two sources of funds experienced decreases from 2012. State and local government decreased by $46 million (11%), whilst Other Australian funding decreased by $24 million (100%).


LOCATION

In 2014, higher education institutions based in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland made up three quarters (75%) of HERD (at $3,161 million, $2,820 million and $1,668 million, respectively). Refer to Explanatory Notes for further information regarding the location of R&D expenditure.

Compared with 2012, New South Wales recorded the largest dollar increase in HERD, up $252 million (9%). The Australian Capital Territory was the only location to experience a decrease, down $47 million (7%).


Graph: HERD, by location, 2012 and 2014. Expenditure increased for each state except ACT.


HERD and Gross State Product (GSP)

In 2014, South Australia had the largest increase in HERD as a proportion of Gross State Product (GSP). The Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria experienced decreases in their HERD/GSP ratios.

HERD, by location of expenditure - proportion of GSP(a)
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
2012
0.61
0.83
0.54
0.68
0.34
0.66
0.35
1.90
2014
0.62
0.78
0.55
0.73
0.37
0.67
0.30
1.73
(a) See Explanatory Notes for details.



TYPE OF ACTIVITY

In 2014, 49% of HERD ($4,941 million) was directed towards Applied research, 23% ($2,367 million) to Pure basic research and 20% ($1,981 million) to Strategic basic research. The remaining 8% ($857 million) was directed towards Experimental development. The distribution of HERD across type of activity was largely unchanged from 2012.

Compared with 2012, Applied research had the largest dollar increase, up $597 million (14%).

Graph: HERD, by type of activity, 2012 and 2014. Pure basic research, Applied Research and Experimental development increased in 2014. Strategic basic research decreased in 2014.



FIELDS OF RESEARCH (FOR)

Expenditure devoted to the Medical and Health Sciences FOR ($2,884 million) represented 28% of HERD in 2014. In total, the fields of Medical and Health Sciences, Engineering, Biological Sciences and Studies in Human Society made up just over half (52%) of total HERD (at $2,884 million, $1,019 million, $897 million and $523 million, respectively). These top four Fields of Research, in terms of expenditure, remained consistent between 2012 and 2014.


Graph: HERD, Top 5 Fields of Research. In descending order Medical and Health Science, Engineering, Biological Science, Studies in Human Society and Agricultural and Veterinary Science.


SOCIO-ECONOMIC OBJECTIVE (SEO)

In 2014, a third of HERD was directed to the SEO of Health ($3,366 million or 33%). The next most prevalent SEO was Expanding Knowledge ($1,562 million or 15%) which was less than half the expenditure of Health. The distribution of HERD across SEOs remained consistent between 2012 and 2014.

Expanding Knowledge had the largest dollar increase between 2012 and 2014, up $193 million (14%). This was followed by Environment, up $157 million (17%) from 2012.


Graph: HERD, Top 5 Socio-economic Objective. In descending order Health, Expanding Knowledge, Environment, Cultural Understanding and Law, Politics and Community Services.