In 2022, RTI International was commissioned by CSIRO to assess the value delivered to Australia by the public investment in CSIRO. The assessment is a meta-analysis of case studies of CSIRO’s research impact conducted by independent evaluators and analysts.
It builds on the 2020 assessment and provides the most up-to-date information about CSIRO's collective impact. The report quantifies impact using 68 case studies and aggregates values to generate the present value of benefits and costs of CSIRO research activities and programs, resulting in an estimated benefit-cost ratio of 8.4 to 1, meaning that every $1 invested in CSIRO results in about $8.40 in economic, social, and environmental value.
As many advances in knowledge and contributions to Australia's human capital and culture are not readily expressed in dollar terms, the report also provides qualitative and quantitative descriptions of non-monetised elements of CSIRO's impact.
Full Report
- The Value of CSIRO PDF (4 MB) (updated 2023)
- The Value of CSIRO - accessible text only version TXT (108 KB) (updated 2023)