The Federal Government has announced a new $30m fund aimed at supporting Australia’s manufacturers to turn their good ideas into world-beating realities that create more local jobs.
The fund will be managed and administered by the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC), in collaboration with the five other Industry Growth Centres: AustCyber, Food Innovation Australia Ltd (FIAL), MTPConnect, METS Ignited and National Energy Resources Australia (NERA), and the CSIRO. Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said the Commercialisation Fund will foster projects that bring industry and researchers together to commercialise new manufacturing products and processes.
“Making science and technology work for industry is one of the central pillars of our Government’s $1.5bn Modern Manufacturing Strategy and this fund is just one of the ways we’re delivering on that,” said Andrews. “The Morrison Government is positioning Australia’s manufacturing industry at the cutting edge of innovation and this fund will help bring together the best of research and manufacturing capability to generate commercial outcomes.
“We know that by making our manufacturers more competitive and helping them to take on the world, we will create jobs for Australians – both for the COVID-19 recovery and for generations to come.”
As with all programs under the Modern Manufacturing Strategy, the new fund will support projects within the Government’s six National Manufacturing Priorities. These priorities are: Medical Products, Food and Beverage, Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Processing, Recycling and Clean Energy, Defence, and Space.
Commercialisation Fund grants will be between $100,000 and $1m and must be matched by industry. These smaller-sized grants will complement the larger projects that will be supported through the $1.3bn Modern Manufacturing Initiative.
AMGC Managing Director Dr Jens Goennemann said that the AMGC Commercialisation Fund had been established with the express intention of commercialising and transitioning new manufacturing products and processes.
“For the past five years, AMGC has been working with our manufacturers to identify and support promising manufacturing projects,” Dr Goennemann said. “These projects have resulted in an uplift in jobs, skills and Australia’s global competitiveness and the latest round of funding will allow us to continue the good work.
“This funding supports AMGC’s vision to transform Australian manufacturing to be internationally competitive, dynamic and thriving, with advanced capabilities and skills at its core – in short, we want to help Australia move from being a lucky country to a smart one.”
Projects must include collaboration with a research partner and a minimum of one industry partner. The fund will run over an 18-month period. The first round of funding will provide $20m while a subsequent round will deliver the remaining $10m.
For more information and to apply for a grant go to: