The report concluded that manufacturing is an important part of the Australian economy, with significant links to other industries including construction, agriculture, utilities and services.
However, it said that the sector currently faces challenges such as the high Australian dollar, the strength of the resources boom in terms of capital and labour, more intensive global and regional competition and the continuing fallout from the global financial crisis.
The report made more than 40 recommendations, which are designed to strengthen local firms as they adapt to global economic change.
The report indicated that manufacturing can grow by taking advantage of significant emerging opportunities, especially in the Asian region.
The Federal Government announced its support of most of the report’s recommendations but indicated that it did not support recommendations in the report to further investigate a Sovereign Wealth Fund and a domestic reservation policy for gas.
In order to support demand and address the immediate pressures in the manufacturing sector, the Federal Government has announced it is implementing a range of polices, including:
- Lifting Australian industry participation in major resources projects;
- Rewarding innovation in manufacturing by introducing a new R&D Tax Incentive and boosting support through Commercialisation Australia;
- Reducing the energy costs of manufacturers through the $1.2 billion Clean Technology Programs;
- Encouraging investment in clean energy through the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the $3.2 billion Australian Renewable Energy Agency;
- Co-investing with industry in improved productivity and competitiveness in automotive manufacturing;
- Strengthening the Australian Government’s Fleet Vehicle Selection Policy requiring departments and agencies to select Australian-made passenger vehicles, unless there is a genuine operational requirement that means they have to do otherwise; and,
Delivering $3 billion to create more training places and fundamentally reform the training system, including co-investing with industry to improve the skills of the manufacturing workforce.
In addition, the Federal Government announced it will bring together the Industry Capability Network, the Buy Australian at Home and Abroad Supply Advocates, AusIndustry and Enterprise Connect to share information on opportunities for Australian manufacturers in large domestic investment projects, with a particular focus on the resources sector.
Once these opportunities are identified, these agencies will work with Australian manufacturers to assist them to secure work on these projects.
The network will work closely with Austrade and the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation to identify and provide information on opportunities in export markets, with a focus on linking into global supply chains.
The Federal Government also supported the Taskforce’s recommendation to establish a Manufacturing Leaders Group, announcing that it sees an important role for this group in assisting the Government to implement its response to the Taskforce’s recommendations.
One of the policy agendas identified by the non-government members of the Taskforce is to address Australia’s competitiveness through the generation, dissemination and application of knowledge. This calls for researchers, research agencies and business to rethink how they can best work together to encourage innovation.
Such collaboration will be facilitated through the Industrial Research Transformation Program (ITRP), which supports strong partnerships between research and industry and encourages PhD students and postdoctoral researchers to gain industry experience.
The ITRP funding rules will be finalised in the context of the Industry and Innovation statement. The Australian Research Council will consult with Industry and the Research Sector in order to release the rules in coming weeks.
View Smarter Manfacturing for a Smarter Australia
