Businesses have spent $24.4bn a year on research and development according to new data – but the 18% annual increase was concentrated in just one sector of the economy.
And that was information and communication services. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the IT research spend was up 25% in 2022-23 on the previous year to $5.9bn, including outlays on AI which increased 140%.
Overall, the professional, scientific and technical services category accounted for $9bn of total R&D and manufacturing $5bn. The bottom five industry categories all invested less than $1bn each.
The ABS also reports the 2023-24 business spend was 30% higher than the $14bn outlayed by the higher education sector.
The data follows a proposal from the Australian Academy of Science for a levy on companies with $100m above turnovers to fund public sector R&D.