‘Innovation’, the term alone has somewhat formed a place in the Australian vernacular in recent months. The buzzword skyrocketed into popularity when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull issued its National Innovation and Science Agenda in December, detailing plans to increase innovation, entrepreneurship and reward risk tasking. Now, according to the latest details provided by the Australian Intellectual Property Report 2016, innovation has become more than just political jargon and is actually on the rise by Australians – both locally and abroad. To […]
Undeniably, sugar consumption is emerging as a major health issue to be faced by governments around the world, including in Australia. Correspondingly, debate on a sugar tax in Australia has now become a key topic of conversation since the British Government decided to proceed with a tax on soft drinks last month. In research published by PLOS ONE, the impact of such a tax in Australia has been modelled. Over 25 years, a 20 per cent rise in the price of soft drinks […]
As the cut-off for lodgement of R&D tax claims draws near, companies should now be turning their focus to the preparation and registration of their R&D tax credit claim for 2015. With higher levels of review activity and scrutiny by AusIndustry and the ATO, companies need to focus on, and be able to, reinforce and substantiate their R&D claims with suitable records and contemporaneous documentation in the event of an audit. In short, companies must keep sufficient records to validate: They conducted eligible research […]
They’re known as the Australian ‘Silicon Valley mafia’, a cabal of 20,000 talented software engineers who have relocated to Silicon Valley, the tech epicentre of the world, to follow their dreams of becoming successful entrepreneurs. But the exodus in recent years has raised concerns that Australia is losing its talent and has been left with skill shortages in the technology sector. ‘Brain Drain’, as it’s in labelled in public discourse, is the pervading fear in Australia that our best and […]