Industrial Research and Development Incentives Amendment Act 1978

Administered by Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism

Legislation au C2004A02010 Not in force Act

Select Document

INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES AMENDMENT ACT 1978

No. 211 of 1978

An Act to amend the Industrial Research and Development Incentives Act 1976.

BE IT ENACTED by the Queen, and the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:

Short title, &c.

1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Industrial Research and Development Incentives Amendment Act 1978.

(2) The Industrial Research and Development Incentives Act 1976 is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.

Commencement

2. (1) Subject to sub-section (2), this Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

(2) Paragraphs 3(c), (d) and (g) shall be deemed to have come into operation on 1 July 1976.

Interpretation

3. Section 4 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by omitting from sub-section (1) the definition of “eligible contract expenditure” and substituting the following definition:

“‘eligible contract expenditure’, in relation to a company in respect of a grant year, means so much of any amount paid or payable by the company to a research organization for the carrying out by the organization for the company of industrial research and development at a time in that year when the organization is an approved research organization as, in the opinion of the Board, is a reasonable charge for that industrial research and development;”;

(b) by omitting from sub-section (1) the definition of “eligible expenditure” and substituting the following definition:

“‘eligible expenditure’, in relation to a company in respect of a grant year in respect of which the company has eligible contract expenditure in excess of $1,500, or eligible salary expenditure, or both, means an amount equal to the sum of the following expenditure of the company in respect of the year:

(a) eligible contract expenditure;

(b) eligible expenditure on technical information;

(d) eligible prototype expenditure; and

(e) eligible salary expenditure;’’;

(c) by inserting in the definition of “eligible plant expenditure” in sub-section (1) “an amount equal to the sum of” after “means”;

(d) by omitting from paragraph (a) of the definition of “eligible plant expenditure” in sub-section (1) “or” (last occurring) and substituting “and”;

(e) by omitting from the definition of “eligible salary expenditure” in sub-section (1) all the words after “grant year” (second occurring) down to and including “any other duties” (second occurring) and substituting “in respect of so much of the salary or wages of full-time employees as was paid in respect of the whole or any part of a continuous period of not less than 4 weeks, or of periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than 4 weeks, during which the employees were, during their ordinary hours of duty, engaged primarily and principally in professional or technical research and development work and not engaged to any substantial extent in any other duties,”;

(f) by omitting sub-section (10); and

(g) by inserting after sub-section (4) the following sub-section:

“(4a) A reference in this Act to a grant, or to an amount of a grant, payable during or in a year shall be read as a reference to a grant, or an amount of a grant, as the case may be, that first becomes due for payment during that year.”.

Advisory Committee

4. Section 21 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting after sub-section (5) the following sub-section:

“(5a) The Minister may refer to the Advisory Committee for advice any matter relating to the operation of this Act.”.

Commencement grants

5. Section 23 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting sub-section (3) and substituting the following sub-section:

“(3) Regulations made for the purposes of sub-paragraph (2)(e) (i) or (ii) in relation to a grant year shall not be made after 31 March in the immediately preceding grant year.”.

6. Section 30 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following section is substituted:

Agreements with respect to projects

“30. (1) Where—

(a) an eligible company is carrying out, or proposes to carry out, a project for industrial research and development (other than a project referred to in paragraph (b)); or

(b) a company (whether or not an eligible company) has made an arrangement for the carrying out of a project for industrial research and development by 2 or more companies (which include an eligible company or eligible companies, but need not include the first-mentioned company) and, under the arrangement, no company other than the first-mentioned company is to apply to the Board for a grant under this Division in respect of the project,

and the company applies to the Board for a grant under this Division in respect of the project, the Board may, subject to this Act and to any relevant directions of the Minister under section 19, enter into an agreement, on behalf of the Commonwealth, with the company for and in relation to the making of a grant of financial assistance under this Division to the company in respect of expenditure in respect of the project incurred or to be incurred—

(d) in the case of an application by a company in accordance with an arrangement referred to in paragraph (b)—by such of the companies by which, under the arrangement, the project is being carried out or is proposed to be carried out as is an eligible company or are eligible companies.

“(2) Sub-section (1) does not apply in relation to a project that is to be commenced after 1 July 1981.”.

Total amount allocated for expenditure under this Division in respect of a year

7. Section 31 of the Principal Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following sub-section:

“(5) In this section, a reference to the Chairman shall, if there is an acting Chairman, be read as a reference to the acting Chairman.”.

Restrictions applicable to project grant agreements

8. Section 32 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by omitting sub-sections (4) and (5) and substituting the following sub-section:

“(4) The provisions of a project grant agreement shall be such that, unless the Minister otherwise approves in relation to the agreement, the amount of the project grant, or of the aggregate of the project grants, payable under the agreement shall not exceed an amount equal to 50% of the total amount that, in the opinion of the Board, is or will be the expenditure by the company or companies, after the date of the making of the application in pursuance of which the agreement is entered into, in respect of the project to which the agreement relates.”; and

(b) by omitting sub-section (6) and substituting the following sub-section:

“(6) In entering into a project grant agreement, the Board shall ensure that the sum of so much of the amounts of project grants payable in a year as is attributable to expenditure of a company, or of 2 or more companies that are, by virtue of section 5, deemed to be related to each other at any time during that year, does not exceed $500,000 or such greater amount as the Minister approves in relation to that company, or those companies, in respect of that year.”.

Application

9. (1) The amendments of the Principal Act made by paragraphs 3(a), (b), (e) and (f) apply in relation to the grant year that commenced on 1 July 1978 and succeeding grant years.

(2) The amendment of the Principal Act made by section 5 does not apply in relation to regulations made in relation to the grant year that commenced on 1 July 1978 or any preceding grant year.

(3) The application of the amendments of the Principal Act made by sections 6 and 8 extends to an application for a project grant made under the Principal Act on or after 1 July 1978 and before the commencement of this section, being an application in respect of which an agreement was not entered into under Division 2 of Part III of that Act before the commencement of this section.

Saving

10. An agreement entered into under Division 2 of Part III of the Principal Act and in effect immediately before the date of commencement of the amendments of that Division made by this Act is as valid and effectual on and after that date as if it had been entered into under that Division as so amended.

Overview

The Industrial Research and Development Incentives Amendment Act 1978 was enacted by the Queen, the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, to amend the Industrial Research and Development Incentives Act 1976. This Act was introduced to address the need for updating and refining the criteria and processes for providing incentives for industrial research and development. The policy objective behind these amendments was to ensure that the incentives provided under the Act are effectively aligned with the evolving needs of the industry, thereby encouraging greater participation in research and development activities. The amendments aim to refine definitions and processes, including the definition of eligible expenditures and the conditions under which project grants can be provided, ensuring that the incentives are both effective and sustainable. The Act came into operation on the day it received Royal Assent, with certain provisions deemed to have commenced earlier, on 1 July 1976.

Scope and Application

The Industrial Research and Development Incentives Amendment Act 1978 amends the Industrial Research and Development Incentives Act 1976 to modify and update the framework for providing financial assistance for industrial research and development projects. This Act applies to companies seeking grants for industrial research and development projects and the entities they contract for research services. It is a Commonwealth Act and therefore applies across Australia, with the implementation overseen by the federal government. The Act sets out specific definitions for key terms such as "eligible contract expenditure" and "eligible expenditure," which determine the types of costs that can be claimed and the circumstances under which they can be claimed. The Act includes provisions that restrict the amount of grants payable under project agreements to no more than 50% of the total expenditure on a project and limits the aggregate grant amount that can be paid to a company or group of related companies to $500,000 per year, subject to ministerial approval for higher amounts. The amendments apply to grant years commencing on or after 1 July 1978, and certain provisions are also retroactively applied to agreements entered into before the amendments, provided they were in effect immediately prior to the amendments' commencement.

Key Provisions

The Industrial Research and Development Incentives Amendment Act 1978 amends the Industrial Research and Development Incentives Act 1976 in several key ways. Firstly, it redefines certain terms such as "eligible contract expenditure" (section 3(a)), "eligible expenditure" (section 3(b)), "eligible plant expenditure" (section 3(c) and (d)), and "eligible salary expenditure" (section 3(e)). These redefinitions affect what constitutes allowable expenses for research and development purposes under the Principal Act. Additionally, section 4a clarifies that references to grants payable in a year are those that become due for payment in that year. The Act imposes various obligations on companies seeking grants for research and development projects. For instance, companies must ensure that their expenditure aligns with the newly defined categories of eligible expenditure (section 3). The Board, on its part, is mandated to ensure that the total amount of grants does not exceed 50% of the total expenditure on a project (section 32(4)). Furthermore, the sum of grants attributable to related companies must not exceed $500,000 unless otherwise approved by the Minister (section 32(6)). The Minister also has the authority to seek advice from the Advisory Committee on matters relating to the operation of the Act (section 4(5a)). Failure to comply with the provisions of this Act can result in significant consequences. Although specific offences and penalties are not detailed in the provided excerpt, the nature of the obligations suggests that non-compliance could lead to the disqualification of certain expenditures from being considered "eligible" for grants. This, in turn, could affect the amount of financial assistance a company receives. Additionally, entering into agreements that do not comply with the restrictions set forth in the Act could render those agreements invalid, as stipulated in section 10, which ensures that pre-existing agreements remain valid unless they conflict with the amendments made by this Act.

Area of Law: Commercial Law
Instrument: Act
Concepts: Commencement Provisions; Repeal & Amendment; Definitions & Interpretation; Reporting & Disclosure Obligations; Regulatory Standards

Interactions

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.

Legislation content

Overview

Scope and Application

Key Provisions

Legal classification tags

Interactions

Authorises

All Versions