Australia’s public research institutions landed more than $1 billion worth of private sector research contracts for the first time in 2023, according to an annual survey by Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia.
Released on Wednesday, the Education department funded survey of commercialisation outcomes from public research (SCOPR) also found Australian universities, medical research institutes and other research organisations generated $290 million in commercialisation revenue in 2023.
The number of active spinouts and startups founded on IP from Australian research organisations is now at a record 380, compared to the 338 that were active in 2022. University of Wollongong spinout Hysata was named the KCA’s best spinout of 2023.
Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia, a representative group for knowledge transfer professionals and organisations in Australia and New Zealand, measures commercialisation outcomes across four metrics.
It’s annual survey tracks the value of annual commercialisation revenue, industry research contracts, and equity in spinouts and startups, as well as the number of spinouts and startups founded.
Commercialisation revenue consists of the gross income from new IP deals with industry, in addition to the sale of products or services based on expertise or IP. It also includes the profits from cashed-in equity held in spinouts or startups.
Overall Australian research organisation revenue from private sector research contracts grew by 1.9 per cent to hit $1 billion for the first time and the value of equity holdings in spinouts and startups grew by 5.2 per cent, hitting a peak of $823 million.
The latest edition of the commercialisation outcomes survey also received a record 57 respondents from Australia and 17 from New Zealand. However, commercialisation revenue was 5.8 per cent lower in 2023 than in 2022 and represented a three-year low.
John Grace, who oversees the SCOPR committee, said the “commercialisation output of the public research sector hasn’t been overly affected by the impact of Covid”.
“In fact, the excellent results have been generated through the efforts of only 407 Research Commercialisation Staff. It is a stellar effort supporting over 48,000 researchers in Australia and New Zealand,” Mr Grace said.
The latest commercialisation outcomes data has been released as the federal government begins a review of Australia’s research and development ecosystem and ahead of a new cap on international student enrolments next year.
KCA Chair Quin Chang said the industry group’s “strategic alliance with the Department of Education [demonstrates that] they see the data as being very important in their policy decision making”.
In 2023, the ANSTO and the CSIRO again drew the most commercialisation revenue at about $73 million and $65 million respectively.
The Australian university that generated the most commercialisation revenue in 2023 was the University of Queensland at about $53 million, with the University of Western Australia a distant second at about $18 million, the same ranking as in 2022.
The top two organisations that had the highest income from industry research contracts in 2023 were the same as in 2022. Monash University led with just under $140 million, followed by the CSIRO at around $105 million.
Melbourne University no longer ranks third in the survey, with just under $60 million compared with the University of Queensland and the University of NSW, which both now sit at more than $60 million each.
In terms of the number of spinouts produced, UNSW retained the top spot, producing another 12 spinouts in 2023. Monash University and the University of Queensland remained second and third with 10 and five spinouts, respectively.
When considering where active startups and spinouts were born, the University of Queensland and the CSIRO are both on top with 33 companies each. The universities of Sydney and of Melbourne closely follow with 31 active companies each.
Across the Tasman Strait, Auckland University has produced 47 active companies and beats most Australian research organisations in almost all of the commercialisation outcome metrics.
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