This article is written by guest contributor Tom Moore, Director, R&D and Government Incentives at BlueRock.

The Australian Taxation Office has released its latest R&D Tax Incentive Transparency Report. This report forms part of a public disclosure process introduced by the Federal Government to improve accountability around the billions spent each year on innovation support. The published information lists every company that claimed the R&D Tax Incentive for the 2022–23 year and the total amount of eligible R&D expenditure they reported.

For executives of innovation-led businesses, this dataset is the only nationwide, company-level view of who is investing in R&D and at what scale. While this is the second transparency release, the prior year’s data was incomplete because it excluded non-standard year ends and late lodgers. The 2022–23 report is the first full dataset under the expanded framework. It captures amended returns and late submissions, providing the first publicly available representative picture of Australia’s innovation spend. Importantly, it creates a baseline for future year-on-year comparisons.

Several patterns emerge from the data, which we highlight in this article.

Key RDTI Insights And Numbers

More than 13,000 companies reported a combined $16.5 billion in eligible R&D expenditure. The sharp increase compared to the prior year is primarily due to broader capture of entities rather than a sudden jump in activity. The 2022–23release represents the first full dataset under the expanded framework, bringing in non-standard year ends, amended returns and late lodgers. There were 4,107 companies that did not appear in the previous dataset, indicating that last year’s report significantly understated the size of the claimant base.

As in previous years, spend is concentrated among large and established organisations. The top 150 claimants represent only 1.2% of companies yet account for 29% of total R&D expenditure, or $4.8 billion. These are primarily well funded firms in life sciences, technology, advanced manufacturing, energy and resources.

Average R&D expenditure increased from $972,000 in 2021–22 to $1.25 million in2022–23. This lift is influenced by the more complete data capture and the addition of several large claimants that were not included in the prior year.

Big Claimers

The biggest claimers in SaaS:

• Atlassian Australia —$220.2 million (up 10%)
• Technology One — $63.7million (up 18%)
• Seek — $62.7 million (up31%)
• Wisetech Global — $38.3 million(up 4%)
• REA Group — $36.9 million(up 23%)

Atlassian remains the largest RDTI claimant in the country by some margin, at more than$220 million. The other large software players also increased their reported spend year on year, and that direction is consistent across the sector. The data indicates that the major SaaS platforms continue to invest at scale and that R&D remains a core driver of their product and market strategy rather than a temporary phase of growth.

Major health and biotechnology claimants:

• Cochlear — $136.7 million (up 18%)
• CSL — $111.5 million (down14%) 
• ResMed — $106.7 million(up 36%)
• Sonic Healthcare — $54.9million (up 18%)
• Telix Pharmaceuticals —$50.6 million (new to dataset)

Health and biotechnology continues to be the sector with the largest absolute investment in R&D. The big three maintain programs above $100 million, and multiple organisations increased their spend year on year. CSL reported a decrease relative to the prior dataset, while others including ResMed and SonicHealthcare recorded notable increases. Telix appears for the first time under the expanded reporting framework, adding further scale to the sector.Collectively, these figures point to sustained investment in medical technology and life sciences and reinforce the sector’s role as a major contributor toAustralia’s innovation activity.

The biggest claimers in aerospace, space and defence:

• Boeing Australia — $54.8million (new to dataset)
• Gilmour Space Technologies— $43.6 million (up 16%)
• BAE Systems — $39.3million (new to dataset)

The data shows a significant lift in activity across aerospace, space and defence.Large multinational programs remain present, but several Australian founded players are now investing at a meaningful scale – most notable Gilmour SpaceTechnologies. This reflects a shift from space being a niche or experimental sector toward a more established part of the national innovation landscape.

Other fields with notable R&D investment include mining, energy and agriculture.

Growth Companies

Emerging technology companies investing at meaningful scale:

• Morse Micro – $40.6million
• Baraja – $36.5 million
• Canva – $17.4 million
• Siteminder – $12.5 million
• Q-CTRL – $12.3 million
• Silicon Quantum Computing– $11.3 million
• Culture Amp – $10.9million
• Hipages – $9.5 million
• Emesent – $9.5 million
• Employment Hero – $9.0million
• Fleet Space – $7.3 million
• Lumary – $6.8 million
• ReadyTech – $6.6 million
• Droneshield – $5.6 million

These figures point to a growing cohort of product-led Australian companies investing meaningfully in R&D. Innovation is being driven across a broader base, with a material number of businesses now spending between $5 million and $50 million each year. This decentralised profile is a healthier driver of long term capability than relying on a small number of standout firms and reflects a maturing technology ecosystem.

Decreases in R&D Spend

There were 3,639 companies that decreased their R&D spend year on year, including710 that cut claims by more than 50%. A noticeable share of these were large, established businesses. This may reflect tighter post-COVID economic conditions where R&D budgets were reduced to protect margins and refocus on core operations.

For many large corporates, the incentive rate fell from July 2021 as the program shifted to an intensity-based calculation. This change may have discouraged some R&D investment, or at least reduced the desire to claim for work already being undertaken, where the reward is insubstantial given the scale of operations.

There is also evidence of a more conservative approach to claiming. The ATO and DISR have increased scrutiny on large corporate claims, and the Big Four consulting firms that typically advise these companies have faced integrity investigations. These factors appear to have influenced how some larger organisations engage with the incentive.

About BlueRock

BlueRock is a multidisciplinary professional services firm that supports entrepreneurs and private businesses across accounting, law, finance, digital, and strategy. They work with founders and growth-stage companies through to established private groups, providing integrated commercial and compliance advice.

BlueRock is a certified B Corporation and takes a practical, values-led approach to helping clients scale while meeting regulatory, financial, and governance obligations.

Their Grants and Incentives team provides specialist support across government programs, including the Research and Development Tax Incentive. They help companies identify eligible activities, prepare compliant applications, and manage documentation to meet ATO and DISR requirements.

Learn more at bluerock.com.au