In addition to the MMS the Australian Government directly supports the manufacturing industry through a number of key programs which target:
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Business Research and Innovation Initiative
(BRII)
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The BRII aims to drive innovation that addresses Government policy and service delivery challenges, with the help of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The BRII complements the Entrepreneurs’ Programme, CSIRO Data61’s Innovation Challenges marketplace and the Small Business Innovation Research for Defence. BRII includes the following three stages:
1. Australian government agencies and Innovation and Science Australia to nominate five real life government policy and service delivery challenges.
2. SMEs are invited to submit proposals to address the challenges. SMEs with the most innovative ideas are granted up to $100,000 to do a feasibility study over three months to test their proposals.
3. The most successful ideas are eligible for a further grant of up to $1 million to develop a prototype or proof of concept.
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Attracting Investment
Research and Development
Skills and Training
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Cooperative Research Centres (CRC)
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The Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program aims to improve the competitiveness of Australian industries by fostering high quality research, and to encourage SME participation in collaborative research.
The CRC Program has two streams:
CRCs undertake industry-led, high quality collaborative research for up to 10 years. This research is to solve industry-identified problems and capture industry-wide opportunities. CRCs must include at least one Australian industry entity and one Australian research organisation as partners. CRCs have no set funding limit.
CRC Projects (CRC-Ps) undertake industry-led collaborative research for up to three years with grants capped at $3 million. CRC-Ps must have at least two Australian industry entities (at least one of which is an SME) and one Australian research organisation as partners.
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Research and Development
Supply Chain Support
Attracting Investment
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Cyber Security National Workforce Growth Program
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The Cyber Security National Workforce Growth Program seeks to ensure that cyber security skills required now can be developed quickly and a pipeline of cyber security skills for the future is embedded in Australian business to support secure ongoing operation in a digital economy. The program comprises of:
the Cyber Security Skills Partnership Innovation Fund
enhanced data collection on cyber security labour force
an expansion of Questacon’s STEM
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Skills and Training
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Cyber Security Skills Partnership Innovation Fund
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The Cyber Security Skills Partnership Innovation Fund will create a pipeline of cyber security professionals that can meet growing demand for cyber security jobs across the Australian economy.
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Skills and Training
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Digital Skills Finder Platform
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The Digital Skills Finder Platform provides Australian job seekers and businesses with access to free and paid digital skills training courses.
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Skills and Training
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The department’s overseas counsellor network
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The department has seven counsellors based in key countries/regions overseas—Japan, North America, China, India, and Europe. Counsellors are charged with seeking out new markets for Australian exports (including manufactures).
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Attracting Investment
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Energy Storage
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Support for energy storage projects reflects the potential benefit derived from these dispatchable sources of supply. Storage is needed to complement variable renewable energy, by providing firming necessary to ensure demand can be met. In the case of battery energy storage, these technologies also provide essential system services, necessary to keep the grid in a safe operating state.
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Attracting Investment
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Entrepreneurs Programme
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The Entrepreneurs’ Programme delivers advice, networking, and grants to help Australian SMEs to strengthen, grow, innovate, and commercialise nationally and globally. This helps to drive economic growth and jobs, improving broader community outcomes. The program provides businesses with access to tailored expert advisory services and grant funding. The program delivers this support through an independent national network of over 170 industry experts.
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Research and Development
Supply Chain Support
Skills and Training
Attracting Investment
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Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Negotiations
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The department contributes to FTA negotiations for goods related matters, notably industrial, (manufactured) and resources goods. Current FTA negotiations are with the European Union, the United Kingdom and India is expected to launch soon.
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Trade Policy
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Gas-Fired Recovery
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Gas is a critical enabler of Australia’s economy and helps to support our manufacturing sector that employs over 900,000 Australians. On 15 September 2020, the Prime Minister announced the Australian Government’s Gas-Fired Recovery as a key pillar in the Government’s economic agenda. The Gas-Fired Recovery is designed to support a strong economy by ensuring Australian gas is working for all Australians, through ensuring domestic users have access to internationally competitive prices. The Gas-Fired Recovery Plan focusses on three key actions: unlocking gas supply, delivering an efficient pipeline and transportation market, and empowering customers.
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Attracting Investment
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Hydrogen
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Australia’s National Hydrogen Strategy —released in 2019 —sets the vision for Australia to be a major hydrogen producer and exporter by 2030.
Our focus on hydrogen reflects it can be used:
to power vehicles
to generate heat and electricity
as an industrial chemical feedstock for products such as ammonia and steel
to globally trade clean energy.
Like the rest of the world, the main use of hydrogen in Australia currently is as a raw material for industrial processes. Current production processes for hydrogen result in carbon emissions. For hydrogen to be a clean fuel that contributes to lowering emissions we need to change this production to methods which release low or no carbon emissions. In Australia, most clean hydrogen producers are considering three different approaches to production. These are: electrolysis using renewable electricity through thermochemical reactions, using coal (in a process known as gasification) or natural gas (in a process known as steam methane reforming) with substantial carbon capture and storage.
Clean hydrogen use in Australia would help us reduce emissions in those high temperature industries as well as some transport sectors. When it is produced using renewable energy or processes, hydrogen becomes a way of storing renewable energy for use at a later time when it is needed.
Clean hydrogen can be blended through existing natural gas pipelines as a source of low emissions heat and power in homes and in industrial applications. When converted to a liquid or another suitable material, hydrogen can also be transported on trucks and in ships. This means hydrogen can also be exported overseas, effectively making it a tradable energy commodity.
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Attracting Investment
Research and Development
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Industry Growth Centres Initiative
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Through an industry-led process the Industry Growth Centres Initiative aims to drive innovation, productivity, and competitiveness.
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Research and Development
Attracting Investment
Supply Chain Support
Skills and Training
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Landing Pads are an initiative of the Australian Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship. The program provides Australian start-up businesses with a workspace for up to 90 days in a global innovation hub. The program provides market-ready scaleups with an operational base and customised support for their overseas expansion goals. Landing Pads provide:
a dedicated Landing Pad manager
a co-working space
access to in-market Entrepreneurs in Residence
connections to local founder communities
introductions to Austrade customer networks, partners and contacts.
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Attracting Investment
Research and Development
Skills and Training
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Liquid Fuel Security
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The Fuel Security (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2021 (Cth) commenced on 29 June 2021. In the 2021-22 Budget, the Government committed up to $2.4 billion to deliver fuel security certainty to Australia and has secured Ampol and Viva Energy’s commitment to continue refining until 2027.
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Attracting Investment
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Microgrids
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Microgrids can represent more reliable, secure, and cost-effective energy supply options for regional and remote communities in Australia. In September 2020, the Australian Government announced a further $53.6 million to support the development of microgrid pilot projects, which will be delivered by ARENA under the Regional Australia Microgrid Pilots Program. These pilot projects will demonstrate the design and performance of microgrids and help communities and businesses understand and break down the barriers to deployment.
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Attracting Investment
Research and Development
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Moon to Mars: Demonstrator
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The Moon to Mars Demonstrator program supports demonstrator and pilot projects. This program is divided into feasibility grants, to develop the feasibility of space projects and missions; and mission grants, for space activities at more advanced stages of mission development.
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Research and Development
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Moon to Mars: Supply Chain
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The Moon to Mars Supply Chain initiative consists of both grant and facilitation components, targeting projects and activities that support Australian industry to deliver products and services into domestic and international space supply chains.
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Supply Chain Support
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National Artificial Intelligence Centre
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Establishment of a National AI Centre and four AI and Digital Capability Centres will bring together Australia’s leading AI researchers and industry, and support businesses to adopt and use AI technologies.
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Research and Development
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Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Graduates Program
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Supporting Australia’s Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Graduates to develop industry co-funded scholarships to attract and train home-grown, job ready Artificial Intelligence specialists.
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Skills and Training
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Next Generation Emerging Technologies Graduates Program
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The Next Generation Emerging Technologies Graduates Program will deliver industry co-funded competitive national scholarships to support emerging technologies areas such as robotics, cyber security, quantum computing, blockchain and data science.
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Skills and Training
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Offshore Renewable Energy
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Offshore renewable energy, in particular the use of wind resources, is booming globally with the International Energy Agency viewing offshore wind as one of the big three sources of clean energy alongside solar and onshore wind. Australia is yet to fully capitalise on its potential to harness our capacity in this new energy resource, although there is increasing investor interest in the region. The advantages Australia’s offshore wind can bring through higher capacity factors, a diverse energy supply that complements solar and onshore wind along with employment opportunities cannot be underestimated, with new developments in floating offshore wind turbines only increasing access to deeper water sites with higher quality generation capacity. The Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Bill 2021, which is intended to be introduced into Parliament in Spring 2021, will establish the licensing framework required for offshore electricity generation and transmission projects, such as offshore wind farms, to commence construction in Australian waters. The framework covers the construction, operation and decommissioning of offshore low emissions projects. The government has committed $4.8 million to the development of the framework, which is intended to commence in 2022.
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Attracting Investment
Research and Development
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Renewable Energy
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Renewable energy from sources like wind, solar and hydro generated 24% of Australia’s electricity in 2020. This included electricity from both large, utility scale generators and small systems owned by Australian families and businesses. Australia is the world leader on rooftop solar with more than 16GW now installed as of June 2021. Today, Australian businesses and householders have more options than ever to generate and manage energy. Over one in four Australian homes now have solar panels on their roof—the highest uptake of household solar in the world. Uptake of household battery storage is also expected to increase over the coming years. The key challenge to ensuring continued strong growth in new renewable capacity is to drive down the cost of storage and backup as well as transmission and grid upgrades. The Government has invested $1.4 billion in reliable renewable generation and storage, supporting a high-tech expansion of the Snowy Hydro scheme and the development of the Marinus Link, the second Bass Strait interconnector needed to turn Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation vision into reality. The Australian Government has also established a $1 billion Grid Reliability Fund. Co-investments that reduce costs, will increase demand. This in turn will create incentives to invest, unlocking economies of scale, reducing prices further and stimulating more demand. This can complete a virtuous circle that supports greater scale and improved cost competitiveness in an emerging industry. Contributing to the growth of the clean energy sector in Australia while enhancing opportunities for a range of Australian industries, including manufacturing, is the proposed offshore renewable energy regulatory framework currently being prepared by the department. The proposed regulatory framework will allow Australia to develop new industries and jobs, and act to open up regional communities to investment through large scale offshore renewable energy projects and interconnector infrastructure
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Attracting Investment
Research and Development
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Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive (RDTI)
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The RDTI aims to encourage businesses to invest in R&D. R&D is often the first critical step in innovation. The RDTI drives technological improvements that lead to productivity improvements and increased economic growth. Companies tend to underinvest in R&D for several reasons, including:
not being able to capture the benefits of their R&D because new knowledge tends to leak out or 'spill over' to benefit competitors and the rest of the economy
difficulties finding external finance because of uncertainties around the likely success of their R&D projects.
This is why the government has a role to play in encouraging industry to invest more in R&D. The tax incentive offers a way for companies to invest in R&D while alleviating some of their initial reasons for not investing.
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Research and Development
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Securing Electricity Supply and Lower Prices
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The department is focussed on delivering affordable, reliable, and secure electricity for Australian households and businesses. Australia’s electricity system is changing. To balance and integrate high shares of renewable energy, more flexible back up generation and storage is needed, such as gas, pumped hydro and batteries. The department is supporting reliability of affordable, reliable and secure electricity through a range of measures, including $149.9 million for the development of the Marinus Link, $1.38 billion in equity investment for Snowy 2.0, the $1 billion Grid Reliability Fund, the Retailer Reliability Obligation, and has established the Underwriting New Generation Investments program.
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Attracting Investment
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Standards and Conformance
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Australia’s standards and conformance infrastructure provides businesses and consumers with confidence in the goods and services they are developing or using. Standards underpin business competitiveness in global markets, they act as a launching pad for innovation and establish a common language for new concepts and technologies.
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Trade Policy
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Tariffs and Tariff Concession Programs
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Tariffs exist to protect local industry and assist with the domestic competitiveness of locally produced goods. Tariffs can be effective where Australia is looking to develop a sovereign capability, protect against global shocks and demonstrate continued support of industry in the face of tariffs and subsidies applied in competitive markets. Consistent with Australia’s support for open and free trade, a range of tariff concessions are also provided for by Government. These exist to enhance the global competitiveness of Australian industries by lowering input costs for firms as well as reducing costs to the general community where the application of a tariff serves no industry assistance purpose
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Trade Policy
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Using blockchain technology to reduce business compliance costs
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The Blockchain Pilot Grants provide funding to demonstrate the potential for blockchain to reduce regulatory compliance burden for business. Two pilots will be funded to develop measures that demonstrate this potential in the Critical Minerals sector and the Food and Beverage sectors.
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Research and Development
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