FINANCIAL INDICATORS

Type of innovation related expenditure

Innovation-active businesses were asked to indicate which types of expenditure they had incurred in the development or introduction of new goods, services, processes or methods. Businesses were not asked to report dollars expended and could indicate more than one type of expenditure.

Types of expenditure for innovation purposes, by employment size, 2008-09(a)(b)
		0-4 persons	5-19 persons	20-199 persons	200 or more persons	Total
		%	%	%	%	%
Acquisition of machinery, equipment or technology		39.8	50.3	51.9	63.9	45.4
Training		24.6	31.5	45.2	57.6	30.0
Marketing activities undertaken to introduce new goods and/or services to the market		23.9	31.9	29.9	37.8	27.7
Research and Experimental Development for purposes of introducing innovation only:(c)
	acquired from other businesses	4.2	3.2	4.6	7.8	3.9
	undertaken by the business	9.3	9.8	10.9	24.4	9.8
	any expenditure on Research and Experimental Development	10.6	11.7	12.4	26.9	11.4
Design, planning or testing		11.5	14.6	18.8	34.4	13.7
Acquisition of licences, rights, patents or other intellectual property		9.8	8.6	10.6	18.1	9.5
Other activities related to the development or introduction of new or significantly improved:
	goods and/or services	12.5	11.3	11.9	13.9	12.0
	operational processes	8.3	13.0	12.1	23.4	10.6
	organisational/managerial processes	7.7	12.5	12.3	17.2	10.1
	marketing methods	16.0	14.8	11.2	10.7	14.9
No expenditure on any activities related to the development or introduction of new or significantly improved goods, services, processes or methods		34.8	23.2	23.4	13.5	28.9
(a) Proportions are of innovation-active businesses in each employment size category.
(b) Businesses were asked if they had incurred any expenditure during the reference period for activities related to innovation only. Businesses were not asked to report actual dollar expenditure for the items or activities included in this table.
(c) A definition of Research and Experimental Development was not provided. No interpretation checks were made.

No expenditure on any activities related to the development or introduction of any new or significantly improved goods, services, processes or methods was reported by 29% of innovation-active businesses. Businesses employing 0-4 persons were more than twice as likely to have no expenditure on activities related to innovation (35%) than businesses employing 200 or more persons (14%).

Acquisition of machinery, equipment or technology was the most commonly reported type of innovation-related expenditure at 45%. A relatively high proportion of innovation-active businesses also reported expenditure on training (30%) and marketing (28%) activities related to innovation.

Acquisition of machinery, equipment or technology was the most reported form of innovation expenditure across all employment size ranges, from 40% of innovation-active businesses with 0-4 persons employed, to 64% for 200 or more persons employed. Businesses that employed 200 or more persons (34%) were almost three times as likely to report expenditure on design, planning or testing than businesses with 0-4 persons employed (12%).

At industry level, the highest proportion of businesses reporting acquisition of machinery, equipment or technology were in Mining (67%). Businesses in Financial and insurance services were the most likely to report expenditure on training (46%), while Wholesale trade had the lowest proportion, at 22%. Electricity, gas, water and waste services was the only industry to record above 10% for research and experimental development acquired from other businesses.


Government Financial Assistance for Innovation Related Activities

Innovation-active businesses were asked if they had received any financial assistance from Australian government organisations specifically for the purpose of innovation. Those who indicated that they did were asked which broad level of government provided this assistance.

Assistance from government for innovation purposes, by employment size, 2008 - 09
		0-4 persons	5-19 persons	20-199 persons	200 or more persons	Total
		%	%	%	%	%
Businesses which received government financial assistance for the purposes of innovation		2.3	4.5	8.2	10.4	3.9
Level of government from which financial assistance was received(a)(b)
	Federal government	*70.4	^68.5	^86.4	75.8	^74.1
	State/territory or local government	*47.7	^33.9	*35.1	55.1	^38.2
^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
(a) Proportions are of innovation-active businesses which received financial assistance in each employment size category.
(b) Businesses could identify more than one level of government from which financial assistance for the purpose of innovation was received.

Almost 4% of innovation-active businesses indicated receiving financial assistance from Australian government organisations for the development or introduction of new goods, services, processes or methods during the year ended 30 June 2009.

It is important for users to note that the population varies considerably between each employment size group. For example, 10% of innovation-active businesses with 200 or more persons employed reported receiving government financial assistance for innovation; this represents approximately 300 businesses. While just 2% of innovation-active businesses with 0-4 persons employed reported receiving government financial assistance; this represents approximately 9,000 businesses.

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