Australia’s Largest State Unlocks Over $1.5M in New Funding for Manufacturing

The government of Australia’s largest state, New South Wales (NSW), has announced A$2.3 million (~ US$1.5 million) in new funding for the Industry Capability Network (ICN), specifically targeted to the manufacturing sector. For over 30 years, the ICN has served to find new business opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) headquartered in Australia.

Notably, the news comes at the same time as the partnership between Australia, the UK, and the US (AUKUS) moves to its ‘Pillar II’ phase, which will see the partnership expand beyond the Pillar I focus on nuclear submarines. Pillar II will revolve around expanded collaboration between the three partner nations on a range of other technologies including AI, hypersonics, and autonomous weapons systems.

To support the move into AUKUS’s next phase, the partnership has reached an agreement to establish a “license-free environment” for exports between the three member nations, which will go into effect on September 1 2024. Among other changes involved in the new policy, license-free trade will now be in place for over 70 percent of defense exports from the US to Australia currently subject to International Traffics in Arm Regulations (ITAR) oversight, and license-free trade for over 80 percent of defense exports from the US to Australia currently subject to Export Administration Regulations oversight.

In a press release about the new funding for ICN from the NSW government, the NSW Minister for Industry and Trade, Anoulack Chanthivong, said, “The NSW Government is getting on with the job of rebuilding our local manufacturing sector. Today, we’re delivering on our election commitment to expand the ICN, a vital service that increases opportunities for our local businesses.

There are about 29,000 manufacturers in NSW, employing more than half a million people. We’re determined to ensure those businesses are supported to find new markets and grow their operations. The additional funding for the ICN means more businesses across the state will be linked to opportunities and projects to grow their capabilities and create more jobs.”

Australia’s additive manufacturing (AM) industry has seen significant benefits throughout AUKUS Pillar I, with companies like SPEE3D and AML3D being mobilized into action to help the US Submarine Industrial Base (SIB). Given the dynamics involved in the new export rules, it will be interesting to see if the US AM industry sees similar trade benefits from Pillar II.

Another interesting factor at play here is the potential expansion of the AUKUS membership to include other nations, namely Japan, South Korea, Canada, and New Zealand. This could be pivotal for the AM industries of all nations involved, breaking down barriers that are standing in the way of establishing genuinely distributed manufacturing networks across the globe.

Even if the partnership isn’t expanded, however, the opportunities that ICN members have access to are about to increase significantly.