ABSTRACT
Australia’s investment in biomedical research, public and commercial, has historically been low in relationship to other economically comparable countries. Over the past 30 years, measures to bridge the gap in government funding have placed the country at about the middle level among advanced economies whether calculated as percentage of GDP or per capita expenditure. In contrast, business investment in life sciences continues to be low when placed in the context of Australia’s success in this area in terms of publications in the international literature. Since 1990, federal and state governments have taken up the theme of the “knowledge economy” with enthusiasm, and biotechnology in all its forms is seen as a leading example on which to build a national innovation capability.
