Which fields led Australia’s university research spending

Three health-related fields approached half of all expenditure

Biomedical and clinical sciences, health sciences and biological sciences totalled A$7.14 billion in 2024. That was about 44% of all A$16.4 billion in the survey. The share uses the national total across every field. Source 1

Health sciences supplied the largest increase

Health sciences expenditure rose by A$574 million from 2022. Biomedical and clinical sciences rose by A$438 million and biological sciences by A$278 million, using the displayed rounded amounts. The table shows the two levels for each field. Source 1

Engineering remained the largest field outside those three

Engineering reached A$1.895 billion, up A$245 million. Agricultural, veterinary and food sciences rose to A$793 million, while information and computing sciences reached A$700 million. These groupings classify the research activity. Source 1

Field labels describe the work being performed

The ABS methodology says institutions self-classify their research by field and flags the possibility of classification difficulties. A field is therefore best read as the survey’s grouping of activity. Funding source and type of research effort appear in separate survey tables. Source 1 Source 2

Sources

• Australian Bureau of Statistics, Higher Education R&D 2024, fields of research table
• Australian Bureau of Statistics, Higher Education R&D 2024 methodology