Published July 2025
The Australian Academy of Science is calling for an urgent national conversation on R&D investment in Australia.
Australia’s persistent underinvestment in R&D threatens our productivity, limits wage growth, threatens our standard of living, and weakens our ability to respond to global volatility. These threats have consequences for every member of society.
This issues paper makes the case for investment in the underpinnings of an Australian future that is flourishing, fair and secure.
The paper outlines the Academy’s proposal to incentivise business R&D investment by applying either a 0.25% or 0.5% R&D levy to businesses with annual revenue of $100 million or more that can be discounted if businesses invest in R&D.
The fact sheet (page 10) provides independent economic analysis of the measure and outlines its impact.
© 2025 Australian Academy of Science
