Public research spending¡¯s share of the Australian economy has fallen by almost 10 per cent in just two years, new figures suggest.

A ?from the national statistics agency says that the federal and state governments spent a combined A$3.279?billion (?1.828 billion) on research and development in 2016-17, down almost A$450?million on their 2014-15 investment.

This represented 0.19?per cent of gross domestic product, down from 0.21?per cent in 2014-15.

Representative body Science and Technology Australia said that the figures, published on?5?July by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, painted a ¡°worrying picture¡± of a downward trend in research funding.

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¡°As the world moves rapidly into a science- and technology-driven future, Australia must reverse this trend to stay competitive and support research to fuel our future prosperity,¡±?chief executive Kylie Walker said.

¡°These latest figures show that there needs to be a significant correction.¡±

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In its May budget, the government pledged about A$1.9 billion to secure the future of the country¡¯s major research infrastructure. But commentators expressed concern?about the sector¡¯s short-term prospects, pointing out that the vast bulk of the money would not be dispensed until after 2022.

The ABS report shows that government R&D spending fell by A$50 million in the two years to 2016-17, with a A$68 million increase in funding from the states erased by a A$118 million drop in commonwealth allocations.

It says that government R&D spending fell as a proportion of state economies in every jurisdiction except Western Australia.

In human resource terms, government agencies contributed about 14,800 ¡°person years of effort¡± to R&D, down from?more than 17,000 five years earlier. In an illustration of the difficult labour market for scientists, the federal government provided 1,800 fewer research-related jobs in 2016-17 than it had in 2012-13.

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The figures also reflect a massive disinvestment in basic research, which attracted just A$122 million in 2016-17, down A$50 million from two years earlier. Fundamental research attracted 4?per cent of government R&D spending, compared with 5?per cent in 2015-16, while the share going to experimental development rose by two percentage points to 14?per cent.

The figures have emerged days after Margaret Sheil, the vice-chancellor of the Queensland University of Technology and?a former?chief executive of the Australian Research Council, warned of a decline in fundamental research.

Professor Sheil said that basic research had constituted just 23?per cent of research at Australian universities in 2016, down from 40?per cent in the early 1990s.

¡°Basic discovery research is undervalued and the appetite to fund it in decline, and we see a major turn towards applied research producing a substantial imbalance in the system,¡± she ?in the Universities Australia newsletter HIGHER ED.ITION.

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¡°We need to strike the right balance between basic and applied research, and we need to increase the quantum.¡±

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com