Australia's government and university research institutions were ranked fourth in the Asia Pacific by the Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008 compiled by the World Economic Forum.

New South Wales has a strong commitment to innovation and new technologies, and is home to 13 Cooperative Research Centres which focus on industry partnerships to achieve commercial outcomes. These centres of research focus on several fields, including internet technology, environmental biotechnology, beef, sheep wool and cotton production, medical research (asthma and ocular afflictions), and fraud detection in capital market systems.

New South Wales is Australia's leader in ICT research capabilities, being the headquarters of the National ICT Centre of Excellence (NICTA), the Australian Centre for Advanced Computing and Communications, and four R&D facilities under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

The State Government also provides funding to nine of Australia's 27 Australian Research Council Centres of Excellence in a variety of fields such as advanced silicon photovoltaics and photonics, biotechnology and development, and quantum computer technology. These centres work closely with government, industry and community organisations and attract research and development funding to New South Wales.