Jobs and innovation minister Michaelia Cash says the government's changes to research and development tax breaks are designed to drive better returns for taxpayers, and form part of a broader package that will help cushion the impact of technological change on the jobs market.

The government announced changes to the R&D tax incentive in the May budget designed to save $2.9 billion over 2018-19 to 2020-21 by reducing grant levels for many claimants and beefing up compliance and enforcements measures.