While there is a slight increase in Government investment in R&D from 2022-23 to 2023-24, there is much still to be done if we are to see a full turnaround in the decades-long downward trend in R&D investment. Australia’s investment remains well below the OECD average.
We need a 10-year plan to reverse our investment trend and be positioned to meet national ambitions. The long-term decline in R&D investment and Australia’s resource focused economy is leaving Australia more exposed to external pressures and shocks, as well as increasing sovereign vulnerability. This has serious consequences for national well-being, security and prosperity.
Investment is just one piece of the puzzle – our current science system lacks strategy and coherence.
In our pre-budget submission, the Academy calls for a long-term strategic roadmap for the science system to chart a path to boost R&D investment by the government and other sectors, enhance productivity and ensure that science can support national needs. These include decarbonisation, the economic and social transformation driven by AI, securing critical supply chains, adapting to climate change and developing advanced defence and national security capabilities.
Our estimate of 0.51% of GDP government investment in R&D following the last Federal Budget is an estimate based on what was released in the Budget papers.
The Academy will comment further when actual expenditure is released for 2023-24 and our snapshot will be updated for the 2024-25 Federal Budget.
This statement can be attributed to the Academy’s President, Professor Chennupati Jagadish AC PresAA FREng FTSE.
