Transitioning to a low-carbon energy system is one of humanity’s most pressing, and amongst the greatest, challenges in modern times. The scale and complexity requires unprecedented investment in new research to develop and scale technologies, and to support and enable the significant cultural and societal shift needed.

Drawing upon International Energy Agency (IEA) data and accounting for some of the differences in energy RD&D context and data reporting mechanisms between the countries, this paper highlights how Australia’s reported government energy RD&D spend has decreased significantly since 2013.