Both the public and the private sector have made their intentions known: it is time to take back Australia’s manufacturing. To this end, there's a lot of support available to local manufacturers.
In the past, Australia fell prey to long supply chains and outsourcing the majority of our goods and processes beyond our borders. Many skilled workers had left the country and the cost of labour was too high to compete.
To boost manufacturing and our local GDP, experts agree Australia needs to become less reliant on international counterparts to ‘deliver the goods’.
During Open IIoT’s ‘Get the Smarts’ Webinar series which wrapped up last month, valuable insights were shared into the need for reshoring and government’s support via various initiatives.
One such topic was that of ‘Government Assistance for Manufacturers’. In a discussion led by Jim Wallace, sales manager for Balluff Australia New Zealand, the various support options available to manufacturers were unpacked.
“Budgets are always an issue when it comes to designing and deploying new projects and upgrades to existing projects,” Wallace said.
Government Incentives and Policies Currently Available
Shane Infanti, CEO of Australian Manufacturing Technology Institute Limited (AMTIL) joined the discussion as a guest speaker.
“AMTIL is an industry association in the manufacturing sector. We comprise of 320 company members and 7000 associates,” Infanti said.
“It always amazes me that while there are a host of policies to promote local manufacturing, they still seem to be a well-kept secret; many people aren’t familiar with the initiatives that are accessible to them,” explained Infanti.
The government’s recent budget speech highlighted a $1.3 billion modern manufacturing initiative.
“Little detail is available at this stage, but government expects this to be in place from early next year. As part of this budget allocation, we are putting forward a technology diffusion program valued at $7 million for government’s consideration. This is set to run over the next three to five years and will promote new technologies and methodologies.”
• Manufacturing Modernisation Fund (MMF) (round 2): $52.8 million will be allocated to this hugely popular initiative. Funding will be made available before the end of 2020 and it will support around 150 firms in the priority sectors.
• Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI): $107.2 million goes towards identifying and supporting vulnerable supply chains for critical products.
• Industry Growth Centres Initiative: $50 million is allocated to support projects in priority areas until the end of June 2022.
• Entrepreneurs’ Program: Support to businesses through facilitators and advisors in industry sectors, R&D, intellectual property and raising capital to gain global competitiveness.
• R&D Tax Incentive: Tax off-sets are made available for firms engaging in extensive R&D efforts.
• Apprenticeship Subsidy: This is available to companies of all sizes across all industries who engage in an apprenticeship program from 05 October 2020 up until the cap is reached.
Infanti said: “Get expert advice. Chat to our team if you need help in connecting with the correct person/s and in accessing the relevant grants. There is also an export market grant of $207 million worth of funding for companies looking to explore export markets.”
*Note: There are specific criteria required to access these grants.
