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PREFACE

The Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC) has been developed for use in the collection, analysis and dissemination of research and experimental development (R&D) statistics in Australia and New Zealand.


The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and Statistics New Zealand (Statistics NZ) have jointly developed ANZSRC to serve as a standard research classification for both countries. It will improve the comparability of research and development statistics between the two countries and the rest of the world. For the ABS and Australian stakeholders, ANZSRC replaces the Australian Standard Research Classification (ASRC 1998) and for Statistics NZ and New Zealand stakeholders ANZSRC introduces a new framework to measure R&D activity.


The past decade has seen ongoing changes in the Australian and New Zealand R&D sectors in terms of the number and complexity of research projects undertaken, resource invested and personnel engaged. An up-to-date research classification is an essential response to reflect these changes and to satisfy the changing user requirements for R&D data.


In the development of the classification many academic and research professionals, government departments, research organisations, professional associations and peak industry bodies were consulted. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance provided by these individuals and organisations.


In particular, we would like to thank members of the Reference Group for providing advice and guidance to the ANZSRC development team; the Australian Research Council (ARC) for partially funding the project; and the New Zealand Ministry of Research, Science and Technology for providing considerable input and assistance to Statistics NZ.


We encourage use of the classification to improve the comparability and usefulness of research and development statistics across Australia and New Zealand.