Back

Appreciated value

January 2015 - Is the effort worth it, the millions spent each year into science projects?

Absolutely, according to a study by Centre for International Economics, commissioned by the Australian Academy of Sciences and the Office of the Chief Scientist.

Launching the Academy's reports, outgoing chief scientist Professor Ian Chubb acknowledged the difficulty of conducting such an analyses, but he was positive in the robustness of the obtained data:

 We have, for the first time, a credible estimate of a phenomenon that defines our lives and underpins our prospects for growth. I trust it will inform our discussions about the actions we take to maximise the benefits of science for Australians.

The Academy split its analyses on the contribution of science to the Australian Economy into two reports: one focussed on the importance of recent advances in the biological sciences, and another combining the impact of biological sciences with previous research on the impact of mathematical and physical sciences.

Key findings include that advances in physical, mathematical and biological sciences over the past 20 to 30 years had significant impact on the Australian economy including:

• they amount to more than a quarter (26%) of the Australian economic activity - or around $330 billion per year - either through direct or flow-on impacts;
• direct impacts alone relate to 14% of economic activity or $185 billion); and
• direct and flow-on impacts associate with exports worth around $84 billion per year (equivalent to 25% of Australia's total exports in goods and services).

Advances in the biological sciences alone account for 3.6% of economic activity and health improvements worth up to $156 billion a year.