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R&D population overview

See R&DTI data by expenditure and business population for 2023–24.

Published 23 September 2026

Reported companies

There are 13,490 companies represented in the Report of data about research and development tax incentive entities 2023–24. They claimed $16.7 billion in R&D expenditure for the 2023–24 income year. The report also includes an additional 342 companies that made R&D claims for an earlier income year after the cut-off date for inclusion in previous reports.

The Report of data about research and development tax incentive entities includes companies that have substituted accounting periods for the relevant income years. This year, complete datasets are available for both the 2023–24 and 2022–23 income years. This means a direct like-for-like comparison can be made between the 2 years.

Reported population

The Report of data about research and development tax incentive entities population includes:

  • companies with an eligible expenditure greater than $20,000, and turnover of less than $20 million, who are eligible for the refundable offset
  • companies with an eligible expenditure greater than $20,000, and turnover greater than $20 million, who are eligible for the non-refundable offset
  • both Australian-owned and foreign-owned companies which are Australian residents for income tax purposes.

Total expenditure

Public and multinational businesses claimed the most R&D expenditure for the 2023–24 income year with a total of $9 billion. This was followed by privately owned and wealthy groups with $4.6 billion, and lastly small businesses with $3.1 billion in R&D expenditure claimed.

This represents a 3% increase on the prior year's total of $16.2 billion R&D expenditure, representing a growth in expenditure claimed.

Graph 1 – Total R&D expenditure for the 2023–24 and 2022–23 income years

Graphical representation of the total R and D expenditure claimed in 2024 compared to 2023:
Public and multinational businesses claimed $8.7 billion in R and D expenditure in 2023 compared to $9.0 billion in 2024.
Privately owned and wealthy groups claimed $5.0 billion in 2023 compared to $4.6 billion in 2024.
Small businesses claimed $2.4 billion in 2023 compared to $3.1 billion in 2024.

Business population

The companies in the 2023–24 transparency report are:

• 51% (6,920) small businesses (companies with an aggregated turnover of less than $10 million)

• 31% (4,116) privately owned and wealthy groups (companies and their associated subsidiaries with an annual turnover of more than $10 million that aren't public groups or foreign owned)

• 18% (2,449) public and multinational businesses (publicly listed Australian and multinational companies).

Graph 2 – R&D population count for the 202324 and 202223 income years

Graphical representation of the R and D population by business size in 2024 compared to 2023:
2,428 public and multinational businesses in 2023, compared to 2,449 in 2024.
4,507 privately owned and wealthy groups in 2023 compared to 4,116 in 2024.
6,016 small businesses in 2023 compared to 6,920 in 2024.

Table 1 shows the average claim per entity in each business population.

Table 1: Average R&DTI claim per entity in each business population

Business population

Average claim per entity in 2023–24 ($)

Average claim per entity in 2022–23 ($)

Public and multinational businesses

3,661,002

3,599,102

Privately owned and wealthy groups

1,118,305

1,111,133

Small businesses

448,088

403,232

Note: Not-for-profit organisations aren't included in the breakdown and analysis, as only 5 organisations claimed the R&DTI for the 2023–24 income year. This number is too small to be evaluated.

Top 10 highest claims

Table 2 details the top 10 companies across all industries according to their R&D expenditure claims for the 2023–24 income year.

Table 2: Top 10 highest claims of R&D expenditure for the 2023–24 income year

Company name

Company ABN

Total R&D expenditure ($)

ATLASSIAN AUSTRALIA 1 PTY LTD

98166799542

236,287,319

FORTESCUE LTD

57002594872

155,183,626

COCHLEAR LIMITED

96002618073

145,768,412

CSL LIMITED

99051588348

113,700,731 (amended to 111,193,525)

RIO TINTO LIMITED

96004458404

105,199,647

RESMED HOLDINGS PTY LTD

28003765133

104,015,053

LANAI (AU) 1 PTY LTD

86652351909

101,901,863

CHEVRON AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD

60098079344

98,185,698

SHELL ENERGY HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED

69054260776

85,910,938

BLACQUA PTE. LTD.

62169810011

85,288,568

QC108045