Deep techs seek carve out from ‘arbitrary’ cut to R&D incentives
Gilmour Space, Myriota and Quantum Brilliance are among the startups calling on the government to carve out priority industries from unexpected funding cuts detailed in the budget.
Australian deep tech firms backed by the National Reconstruction Fund are calling for exemptions from a proposed 10-year time limit on claiming the R&D tax incentive scheme, warning the move puts local high-skilled jobs at risk.
Rocket manufacturer Gilmour Space Technologies, which is among the companies set to lose access to the program, said the refundable stream of the R&D tax incentive is “very important for companies like ours…it helps us hire more engineers and technicians, continue development, and keep building advanced capability for the nation”.
In the 2026-27 federal budget, the government proposed to cap access to the refundable stream of the R&D tax incentive as part of reforms aimed at putting the $4.6 billion program on a more sustainable footing and to increase its effectiveness.
As Capital Brief revealed, the little-noticed change sparked mass concern among the biotech and deep tech sectors.
