The Business Council welcomes the announcement today of the landmark review into Australia's research and development ecosystem.
BCA Chief Executive, Bran Black, said the Business Council had been calling for a major boost to Australia's R&D in light of dwindling investment and commercialisation over recent years.
"We know Australia's R&D has been slipping for years and that's been having a big impact on the economy. This review comes at the right time to deliver a much-needed shot in the arm to boost research and development here at home" Mr Black said.
"We welcome the Review's aim to drive greater R&D investment by industry. Business investment in R&D in Australia is low and from a narrow set of sectors. We can't afford to let brilliant ideas wither on the vine simply because they could not make the leap from research to real-world application."
"Giving businesses the opportunity to innovate and develop world leading products and services is part of what keeps our economy strong, productive and competitive."
Mr Black said a better R&D environment and tax incentives are critical to turning Australia's productivity and competitiveness around and to delivering a better standard of living across the economy.
"For Australia to prosper in the years ahead, we will need to increase our productivity - achieving more from our efforts through innovation, research and development of new technologies."
Mr Black said we must enhance the research commercialisation ecosystem and drive for increased investment in research and development to support economic growth, with an aspirational goal of three per cent of GDP.
"Diversifying the economy means lifting Australia's relatively low rates of R&D spending - this means greater tax and participation incentives, and better coordination between industry, universities and government. If we fail to do this, Australia will continue to fall behind internationally."
