8158.0 - Innovation in Australian Business, 2014-15 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 21/07/2016   
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INNOVATION IN AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS - SUMMARY


ABOUT INNOVATION IN AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS STATISTICS

The development or introduction of new or significantly improved goods, services, processes or methods is generally considered to be innovation. As innovation is often seen as a continuous process and aspects can be intangible, it can be difficult to measure. 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 assist 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 undertaken by Australian businesses in a 12 month reference period. For more detail about these concepts and definitions, please refer to the Explanatory Notes and the Glossary.


KEY MEASURES OF INNOVATION

The Business Characteristics Survey (BCS) covers four broad types of innovation (goods or services, operational processes, organisational/managerial processes and marketing methods) across three innovation statuses (introduced, still in development and abandoned) during the 2014-15 period. These are combined to group businesses into two categories of innovation: innovating businesses (includes businesses that introduced at least one type of innovation during the reference period) and innovation-active businesses (includes businesses that undertook any innovative activity irrespective of whether the innovation was introduced, still in development or abandoned during the reference period).


SUMMARY OF INNOVATION IN AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS


Summary of innovative activity in Australian business, key indicators(a), 2012-13 to 2014-15

2012-13
2013-14
2014-15

Estimated number of businesses(b) '000
770
757
776
Businesses that introduced any new or significantly improved:(c)
goods or services %
20.0
24.1
19.3
operational processes %
16.9
17.9
15.6
organisational/managerial processes%
20.2
21.7
17.4
marketing methods %
18.8
20.3
16.5
Businesses that introduced innovation (innovating businesses) %
36.6
42.5
38.2
Businesses with innovative activity that was:(c)
still in development(d) %
22.8
24.7
21.2
abandoned %
5.9
8.4
7.7
Businesses with any innovative activity (innovation-active businesses) %
42.2
48.3
45.0

(a) Proportions are of all businesses in each output category.
(b) Business counts are provided for contextual information only, and the total may not sum to the total of the components due to rounding. Refer to Explanatory Notes 18 and 19.
(c) Businesses may be counted in more than one category.
(d) As at the end of the reference period.



The proportion of businesses that were innovation-active (i.e. those that undertook any innovative activity) in 2014-15 was 45%, a decrease of three percentage points from the previous year.

Summary of innovative activity in Australian business, by employment size(a), 2014-15

0-4 persons
5-19 persons
20-199 persons
200 or more persons
Total

Estimated number of businesses(b) '000
468
249
55
4
776
Businesses that introduced innovation (innovating businesses)%
30.7
47.2
58.1
64.7
38.2
Businesses with innovative activity that was:(c)
still in development(d) %
16.9
25.8
35.2
44.7
21.2
abandoned %
6.9
8.9
8.4
12.2
7.7
Businesses with any innovative activity (innovation-active businesses) %
37.3
54.1
67.4
73.3
45.0

(a) Proportions are of all businesses in each output category.
(b) Business counts are provided for contextual information only, and the total may not sum to the total of the components due to rounding. Refer to Explanatory Notes 18 and 19.
(c) Businesses may be counted in more than one category.
(d) As at the end of the reference period 30 June 2015.


The proportion of businesses that were innovation-active increased with each successive employment size range. The proportion of businesses with 200 or more persons employed that were innovation-active (73%) was almost double that of businesses with 0-4 persons employed (37%).

It is important for users to note that the population varies considerably between each employment size range. For example, 73% of businesses with 200 or more persons employed being innovation-active represents approximately 3,000 Australian businesses, while 37% of businesses with 0-4 persons employed being innovation-active represents approximately 173,000 businesses.