Industry-Innovation-and-Competitiveness-Agenda

Co
In
Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda
TPO00007
Ambition 4:
INDUSTRY POLICY THAT FOSTERS INNOVATION
AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The Government is reshaping industry policy and focusing our research spending to stimulate
innovation and entrepreneurship, improve competitiveness, and create new job opportunities
for Australians.
Industry policy will seek to capitalise on Australia’s strengths, in contrast to past approaches
that supported industries that proved to be uncompetitive. The Government will no longer
borrow money to give to big business, whether to prop up failing businesses or to compensate
for bad taxes, such as the Carbon Tax. In the 2014-15 Budget, the Government announced the
end of decades of special assistance for the automotive and textile, clothing and footwear
manufacturing sectors. The Government intends to foster excellence, not entrench dependence,
and to tailor industry policy to help capitalise on emerging opportunities.
The broadly-based reforms of our first three
ambitions focus on improving the general business
environment and will remain the mainstays of
efforts to lift competitiveness. However, we
believe the Government also has a facilitation and
coordination role so businesses can take better
advantage of quickly evolving opportunities.
Government support can help businesses to build
the skills and connections they need to grow, by
overcoming the difficulties some businesses face
in developing new capabilities by themselves.
For example, small and medium enterprises
face challenges in obtaining useful information
about overseas markets and about the detailed
requirements to sell into global supply chains. It
is often not a lack of information; it is finding the
right information and separating the wheat from
the chaff that takes time.
Specialised government agencies such as the
Government’s new Single Business Service and
Companies do the hard yards for success after
government assists with early hurdles
Narrowcasters, an audio tour company, produces
multilingual, interactive audio guides and apps for
tourist attractions including museums, galleries,
zoos and palaces. Narrowcasters received
support from Austrade in India to identify and
facilitate meetings with key Government officials
and business contacts. But success ultimately
required hard work, networking and knowing
the market. Founder and Director, Penny Street,
says ‘being the first audio tour company in India
didn’t mean we enjoyed instant success’. The
company researched the country’s most visited
sites and made the case for how an audio guide
could add value to the experience of visitors.
In India, Narrowcasters operates audio tours in
28 languages, and have been heard by 5 million
visitors over the last 12 years.
68 Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda