One on One – Deborah Anton

AMT: What is the Entrepreneurs’ Programme and what is it aiming to achieve?

Deborah Anton: I’m really excited to be a part of the Entrepreneurs’ Programme, which aims to improve business competitiveness and productivity at the firm level. It is the Australian Government’s flagship initiative that drives business growth and competitiveness by supporting business improvement and research connections in targeted growth sectors and through the commercialisation of novel products, processes and services.

Based on my experience managing this programme, I can say that it is very business-orientated. It uses experienced Facilitators and Advisers drawn from industry to help small-to-medium-sized organisations develop the skills and knowledge they need to advance and grow. It also focuses on providing access to quality advice and established expert networks to meet business needs, and the programme delivers this objective through three distinct programme elements.

AMT: What are those three elements?

DA: ‘Accelerating Commercialisation’ helps entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized businesses, and researchers to address the commercialisation challenges of bringing novel products, processes and services to market. This may include a matched grant of up to $1m to support firms on their commercialisation journey.

The ‘Business Management’ element of the programme provides opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses by giving them the skills and insight to identify and leverage growth opportunities, improve business performance and increase markets. This may include a matched funding grant of up to $20,000 to support firms to implement practical activities focused on supporting their growth.

The final element of the programme is ‘Research Connections’, which provides expert advice and solutions for business to knowledge-related issues and a brokering service to link businesses with appropriate knowledge providers and research organisations. This may include a matched funding grant of up to $50,000 that assists direct access to research capability.

The ‘Research Connections’ part of the Entrepreneurs’ Programme recently helped Tank Stream Design, a business based in Burleigh Heads. This company knew it was time to integrate every aspect of their business into a single efficient IT system, including the design, manufacture and distribution of clothing and accessories; and sales and marketing, including an online presence.

The ‘Research Connections’ facilitators worked with the company to help them understand what web service providers could back-end into their enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and website. The facilitators also explored the areas the company knew they needed improvement and provided an evaluation of the company’s business, which Tank Stream Design acknowledged was extremely useful and would have taken them ages to do.

The Facilitators opened the eyes of this company in terms of what could be improved to make them more efficient and able to grow through such things as recommendations of software, training and who in the marketplace might have what the company needed. In the end, thanks to these facilitators, the company is in good shape to make the right decisions.

 

AMT: What sort of companies can apply for assistance under the Entrepreneurs’ Programme?

DA: Specific eligibility requirements vary across the different elements of the Programme.

For Business Management and Research Connections, the programme is primarily for small and medium-sized Australian businesses that have been trading for more than three consecutive years, and there are minimum and maximum turnover or expenditure thresholds. They must operate, or intend to operate in the future, in specific growth industry sectors or provide enabling technologies and services to those sectors. The growth sectors are: advanced manufacturing; food and agribusiness; medical technologies and pharmaceuticals; mining equipment, technology and services; and oil, gas and energy resources.

Accelerating Commercialisation eligibility is more focused on having novel intellectual property to commercialise. That said, turnover thresholds do apply as well.

For any business wanting to check their eligibility for the Programme they should call 13 28 46 or check the website: www.business.gov.au.

AMT: And in practical terms, what will they get if they qualify?

DA: The Programme provides advice, matched grants and connections at no cost. There are a diverse range of advisory services and grants on offer that can specifically help businesses to be more innovative and competitive. These include building business capabilities, developing networks and identifying and capturing market opportunities, brokering connections with research, knowledge and technology organisations or providing commercialisation solutions to get novel products, processes and services to market.

The Minister for Industry and Science, the Hon Ian Macfarlane, recently announced the first grants provided as part of Accelerating Commercialisation. There were quite a few in the manufacturing space: let me give you an example that hopefully can give you a bit of a flavour for the scope of activities that can be supported.

Smart Steel Systems Pty Ltd has developed a fully automated steel fabrication system, which has the potential to generate major productivity benefits for the industry. This project will prove to potential customers and strategic partners the commercial viability of this unique manufacturing system. Accelerating Commercialisation support will be used to complete the final pre-production development and trial phase, with the outcome being a fully operational state-of-the-art commercial production facility.

 

AMT: What other programmes does AusIndustry run to assist Australian manufacturers?

DA: There are a few key programmes that support manufacturers, such as the R&D Tax Incentive and the Manufacturing Transition Programme.

The R&D Tax Incentive programme is designed to boost industry investment in research and development (R&D), and is broad-based, market-driven and accessible to companies in all industry sectors. It provides a tax offset to support Australian companies to be more innovative, productive and competitive in the global marketplace.

The R&D Tax Incentive offers tax offsets for eligible small and large businesses for up to $100m R&D expenditure. This includes a 45% refundable tax offset for most small to medium companies with an annual turnover of less than $20m per annum, and a 40% non-refundable tax offset to other eligible business. At last count, over 13,000 businesses in nearly every sector of the economy have benefitted from the programme and the support it provides in offsetting some of the costs of undertaking industrial R&D.

R&D is a driver of innovation, and through the R&D Tax Incentive the Government is helping thousands of innovative Australian companies each year to invest in the new and improved products, processes and services that will keep them competitive in the global marketplace.

Another programme that supports manufacturers is the Manufacturing Transition Programme. Together with the Prime Minister, the Minister recently announced the 19 grants that were awarded under this $50m programme. It is a highly competitive programme that supports the transformation to build our manufacturing capability for the future. It encourages businesses to invest in more sophisticated and knowledge-intensive manufacturing creating high-value jobs in areas of greatest economic opportunity.

More than $250m will be injected into Australia’s advanced manufacturing, with more than $200m invested by Australian manufacturers and $48m from the Manufacturing Transition Programme.

To give you an example, Romar Engineering was awarded a $1.6m grant towards its $6.6m project to develop and expand its advanced plastic and silicone engineering moulding assembly and production facility in Sefton, NSW. The project will result in establishing capabilities that will provide more complex and higher value-added components for the electronics and medical devices industry.

AMT: What’s your background and how did you come to your current role?

DA: My first job in the Australian Public Service was as a Patent Examiner in the field of biotechnology. Since then I’ve moved around the Australian Public Service, but the constant theme has been roles involved in engaging with business. During my time in the Industry and Science Department, I have worked with a number of sectors including: mining equipment, technology and services; textile, clothing and footwear; and defence industries. I am now responsible for the AusIndustry – Entrepreneur Development Division, which in addition to looking after the Entrepreneurs’ Programme, also manages the R&D Tax Incentive and a range of Venture Capital Programmes.

 

AMT: What might an ordinary day in the job entail?

DA: My daughter seems to think my job is pretty easy – in her words, “I just talk to people.” Seriously though, as part of AusIndustry, my job is to ensure that we are efficiently and effectively delivering Government Programmes. This means I have a budget to manage, HR issues to deal with, reports to make to governance committees, and projects to oversee. These are all the usual elements of a business role, with the added extra of delivering in a Government context.

On an ordinary day I’m in my office in Canberra but the work that my team does is nationally focused so I might be on the phone to one of the AusIndustry State Office staff or one of our professional staff who are working with business every day. This week I’m heading to Adelaide to meet with our state office staff and customers.

 

AMT: Advanced manufacturing has been identified by the Government as one of five key growth areas for Australia. How does AusIndustry seek to promote advanced manufacturing and help more traditional manufacturers transition their businesses?

DA: As you mention, the Government has adopted a sectoral approach to industry policy. This prioritises government resources in areas where Australia enjoys a comparative advantage or is currently internationally competitive; where Australia is likely to have an opportunity to exploit favourable global market developments; or which have a significant impact on the Australian economy. Advanced manufacturing – which involves transitioning Australian manufacturers to adopt innovative technologies or business practices to improve or develop their manufactured products, processes or services – is seen as a priority.

We will also be building strong ties with the new Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre to ensure two-way access to initiatives that support business and sector growth.

AMT: What do you regard as Australian manufacturing’s key strengths, and what are the greatest challenges facing the sector?

DA: Australian firms and researchers have developed some world-class products, for example the Cochlear implant and WiFi. We need to develop more and there has been more focus in recent times on how we maximise the commercial returns of the excellent research we do. I think the other key issue for manufacturers is how they ‘internationalise’ their focus so they can engage in global supply chains. Even a small part of a global product could mean major growth for an Australian manufacturer.

 

AMT: How do you see the sector evolving over the next five to ten years?

DA: Clearly we are seeing a shift away from much of the traditional, heavy industry, towards more value-added, niche products and services – businesses that focus on the customer and have a highly skilled workforce with technologically-sophisticated and integrated systems. In my view, all manufacturers should be thinking of themselves as “advanced”, as a lot of the change required is cultural – it is about thinking globally, and embracing innovation, new technologies, skills and systems.

www.business.gov.au