The report identifies that the strongest performance results are achieved by businesses that innovate repeatedly.
They outperform other businesses in terms of sales, value added, employment and profit growth.
Compared with non-innovative businesses, innovative businesses have reported:
- 3 times more jobs/positions
- 1.4 times more income from sales of goods and services
- 1.4 times higher profitability
- 2 times higher productivity
- 4 times higher range of good and services offered
The report shows that innovation activity accounts for 50 per cent of economic growth in the OECD – and this is expected to increase.
And in Australia, innovative businesses contribute to over 60 per cent of sales and employment, and they are 40 per cent more likely to increase income and profitability.
Total expenditure on innovation by Australian businesses in 2014–15 was between $26 billion and $30 billion and sales from innovative goods and services about $60 billion.
Therefore on average, every $1 invested on innovation returns $2 in sales.
Next week marks one year since the launch of the Turnbull Government's National Innovation and Science Agenda – and the report's findings reinforce the importance and significant benefits of the work we're doing.
But the report also shows that Australia must continue to strive to do better so we remain globally competitive.
Australia ranks fifth out of 30 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries on the proportion of innovation-active businesses.
However, Australia ranks low among the OECD in new-to-market innovation. This means that the adoption of innovations developed by others are the most common type of innovation in Australian businesses.
Collaboration within Australia's research and university sectors is strong, but we need to improve business-to-research collaboration.
The Turnbull Government's National Innovation and Science Agenda recognises our strengths and is delivering new measures to improve our innovation framework.
The year's report includes additional business insights, thanks to novel innovation indicators made possible by the new Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment (BLADE) developed in cooperation between the Department and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The 2016 Australian Innovation System Report is available online at:
