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ICN Victoria celebrates 40 years of supporting local Victorian businesses and workers

Since its founding in 1984 as the Industrial Supplies Office (ISO), ICN Victoria has supported local businesses through supply chain intelligence and facilitating government and industry networks, and connected thousands of local suppliers with major projects, ensuring the sustained growth of Victoria’s manufacturing, construction, renewable energy, and advanced technology. The Hon. Natalie Hutchins, Minister for Jobs and Industry said the anniversary was an important milestone. “For 40 years, ICN Victoria has supported local businesses to get a fair go at work on government projects.” “Local Jobs First – Australia’s longest standing industry participation policy – is designed to maximise jobs and economic benefits from our major projects pipeline, and ICN Victoria has played a key role in identifying and connecting local businesses to these projects.” Nick Foa, CEO, ICN Victoria, said the organisation had played a critical role in shaping Victoria and supporting the delivery of signature projects that define the state, including the MCG redevelopment, Southern Cross Station, and the State Library. “Over the last decade alone, it has contributed more than $3 billion in economic value to the state, worked with 30,000 small businesses, and helped generate some 256,000 new jobs. “As the Victorian economy has evolved from a manufacturing, textiles and automotive focus in the early 1980s to what we see today – including advanced manufacturing, medtech, and renewable energy generation – ICN Victoria has evolved with it. “Today ICN Victoria has more than 54,000 businesses in its network and a team of specialist advisers working across industry sectors, including renewable energy, housing, construction, advanced manufacturing, and medtech and biotech as well as Victoria’s key regional hubs –Ballarat, Geelong, Northern Victoria and Gippsland.

Its the Shito

Coast of Gold Bursts into Australian Market with Award-Winning Shito Pepper Sauce Range An Australian brand centred on authentic West African flavours is making massive waves in the premium foods and condiments market, with the official launch of the award-winning Coast of Gold Shito Pepper Sauce range. Arguably the most loved sauce in Ghana, Shito (pronounced Shi-Tow) is a unique blend of hot peppers, herbs, spices and seafood, slow cooked to perfection. Known for its smoky heat and rich flavour profile, it pairs well with a variety of dishes such as rice, grilled meats, vegetables and even snacks. Boldly bursting into the Australian market with Gold and Silver accolades from the 2024 Melbourne Royal Australian Food Awards, Coast of Gold’s Shito Pepper Sauce is now available in a sweet, smoky and spicy Hot variety (Silver award-winner), Medium heat, and via a 100 per cent plant based Mild (Gold award-winner) recipe. The range has also received international acclaim via a Gold Star at the 2024 Guild of Fine Food Awards in the United Kingdom. With all three individual varieties also available in a taster pack and as a value bundle, Shito Pepper Sauce is the hero product of the Coast of Gold brand, which is sold online and delivers nationally and internationally. Rapidly capturing the attention of specialty food stores since its recent launch, the range is also now sold through more than 70 retailers across New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria and Queensland. With plans for rapid wider distribution soon across the nation, Coast of Gold was originally founded during the Covid-19 lockdown period in the home kitchen of Ghana-born Sydneysider, Genevieve Muir. After more than a year of perfecting the recipe via countless test batches made with the input of her family members scattered across the globe – aunties […]

2. The Melt Modern Manufacturing centre in Muswellbrook provides access to facilities and technical specialists at an affordable price 2

Advanced manufacturing

A vibrant advanced manufacturing sector is emerging from the Hunter’s well-established traditional assemblage. Much of the advanced manufacturing aligns with the existing defence, aerospace, and mining industries but also incorporates chemical processing, construction, and energy generation and distribution. Advanced manufacturing in the Hunter comprises about 2000 regional businesses employing about 20,000 people and contributing $2 billion to the NSW economy. The sector’s priorities include improving engagement with international markets, accessing global supply chains, and increasing the engagement between research and industry. It is important the Hunter’s advanced manufacturers position themselves to maximise their potential to leverage government initiatives including the National Reconstruction Fund, the Future Made in Australia bill and Industry Growth programs among many others. The current ecosystem suggests the Hunter is well placed to build leading capability. Hunter Manufacturing Awards (HMA) recognises the importance of sharing the stories of the region’s advanced manufacturers on a national stage. HMA chair Jacqui Daley says it enhances “Brand Hunter”. Assisting advanced manufacturing businesses reach the stage where they have a worthy story to tell is The Melt, founded in 2017 as a spinoff from Australia’s most successful corporate accelerator, Slingshot. Brett Thomas is Director and Chief Operating Officer of The Melt’s Muswellbrook facility, which provides technical specialists, and investment funding via Melt Ventures, to help emerging businesses prove, prototype, pilot, and produce physical devices. “We help start-ups and scale-ups,” Mr Thomas says. “In particular, businesses creating new devices and products that are clean tech, climate tech, or advanced-manufacturing related. Most of those products have embedded IoT (internet of things) and software elements but the core of the products is a physical device.” MrThomas says the risk of failure for the founders, start-ups, and scaling businesses making physical products is much higher than it is for other start-ups. There are several reasons […]

Manufacturing finalists announced

2024 AUSTRALIAN TRADES AND WOMEN’S SMALL BUSINESS CHAMPION AWARDS From thousands of entrants from across the nation, 26 have made the Manufacturing Finalists Lists of 2024 Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards and the 2024 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards – two major recognition awards programmes dedicated to spotlighting top-performing small business operators, nationwide. Spanning all capital cities as well as rural, regional and suburban towns, the Trades and Women’s Small Business Champion Awards pay tribute to the vital role of small businesses in Australia’s overall social and economic prosperity. Moreover, the Awards recognise small business owners’ invaluable contributions to their local communities and to their fields of specialty. The Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards is now in its third year and requires at least 50 per cent female ownership of an entrant business. Now in its second year, the 2024 Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards features a total of more than 50 categories, across trades-based retail, services and manufacturing industries.PIC from 2023 Awards. Among this year’s most competitive categories, Manufacturing is proving exceptionally challenging to judge, says Steve Loe, Awards Founder and Managing Director of Precedent Productions, which coordinates the Australian Trades and Women’s Small Business Champion Awards. “The quality of Manufacturing category entrants is very impressive. The shortlisting of this year’s finalists was quite the challenge for our judges. “When the Champion Judges evaluate entries, they consider all aspects of a business: its strategies, growth, eco-friendliness, community contributions, innovation, customer service, and product and service quality – to name but some of the criteria. “The next rounds of judging will be intense as we continue to evaluate the achievements of this year’s 26 Manufacturing finalists to reach just one winner per programme,” says Mr Loe. The 16 Manufacturing finalists of the Australian Trades Small Business […]

Aussie innovators recognised at CSIRO’s ON Accelerate 8 Showcase

CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, celebrated the progress and achievements of its latest ON Accelerate 8 cohort at a showcase in Melbourne yesterday. ON Accelerate breaks down the challenges that often prevent deep tech ideas and research from evolving into real-world applications and market-ready ventures. The showcase highlighted the impressive strides made by the 10 deep tech teams from the latest ON Accelerate cohort since commencing the three-month program. They were selected for their work in addressing critical areas of innovation; including global health challenges, championing sustainability through circularity and pushing the boundaries of advanced manufacturing and AI. CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Doug Hilton said the ideas, innovations and advancements delivered by this year’s ON Accelerate program were truly inspiring. “These researchers are working at the cutting edge of technology to tackle some of society’s greatest challenges,” Dr Hilton said. “CSIRO’s proud to play a pivotal role in unlocking success pathways that ensure the translation of ideas into real solutions, products and companies. “We are committed to continually breaking down barriers for researchers to foster the next era of Australian inventiveness.” Dr Grant Lynch of EMU Systems from the University of Sydney, and one of the Accelerate 8 teams, was announced as the recipient of the prestigious 2024 Stanford Australia Foundation (SAF) award scholarship. The scholarship provides ON Accelerate alumni with the opportunity to benefit from the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education Program. Stanford Australia Foundation Chairman, Aaron Bilston said, “The SAF award scholarship will empower its ON Accelerate 8 researcher recipient, Dr Grant Lynch from EMU Systems, to advance their innovation and commercialisation skills, driving impactful solutions from research to real-world applications, ultimately boosting Australia’s global competitiveness and fostering economic growth.” Notably, Cytophenix Co-Founder Dr Christine Carson from the University of Western Australia was awarded the CSIRO Impactful […]

The Budget: Skill funding welcomed

RSM Australia National Leader – Manufacturing Services, Jessica Olivier: Rather than the manufacturing sector as a whole, the Budget focused on Critical Minerals, Clean Energy and Green Technologies, however it was pleasing to see the announcement of $500m for the tertiary sector to increase skills in manufacturing and clean energy, as well as the announcement of various initiatives to lift private investment and workforce skills, and boost local supply chains. Beyond that announcement and as expected, we saw the Federal Government set out their agenda for the recently announced Future Made in Australia Act and highlight their priorities by focusing investment on transformational opportunities. Last year’s $15b National Reconstruction Fund has been rolled into the Future Made in Australia policy, which on a positive note saw a 51% increase in the overall funding allocated to Future Made in Australia totalling $22.7b. This also included “picking winners” such as the $1 billion for the Solar Sunshot production of solar panels in the Hunter Valley and $1 billion to build the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer in Brisbane, along with $840 million for Arafura’s rare earth metals production in the NT. WA will be the primary beneficiary of the $566m allocated to GeoScience Australia to map what is under Australia’s soil and seabed to uncover mineral deposits for critical mineral processing. We also saw the Government demonstrate their commitment towards a cleaner, greener future in Australia with funding towards green energy, critical minerals and renewables in Australia – in particular $13.7 billion in production tax incentives for green hydrogen and processed critical minerals. In terms of grants (both new and extended programs), it should have been a significant part of the new measures announced to bolster manufacturing, however there was little specifically targeted at this sector. In relation to other incentives and over 8 years […]

Xefco Q & A: Tom Hussey, CEO and Co-Founder

What is your role at Xefco and what does it involve? Xefco was born to transform the textile industry by tackling problems of functional performance and sustainability in fashion. Traditional wet dyeing and finishing is a huge part of the textile supply chain with the process making up about 36% of the industry’s carbon footprint and about 3% of all global carbon emissions. What’s more, it’s an extremely water and chemical-intensive process leading to about 20% of all industrial wastewater. With Xefco’s innovative technologies, Ausora and XReflex, we are creating advanced materials for a sustainable future. In my role as CEO and co-founder, I drive the business forward through innovation and as we commercialise our solutions. This means working with investors, building and leading a motivated team and ensuring we’re working efficiently with innovation at the forefront of everything we do. I’m currently focused on using our latest capital to grow the team and commercialising Ausora, which is a novel way of dyeing and finishing textiles without water. How is Ausora is benefitting the environment? Ausora is a waterless dyeing and finishing solution using a unique shower plasma process to produce the same look, feel and performance properties without the environmental footprint. Ausora’s solution not only eliminates the use of water but cuts energy, chemical consumption and cost compared to conventional wet dyeing and finishing. In removing the need for water, Ausora is also removing polluted water from being discharged back into waterways. The shower plasma process also consumes 97% less chemistry and uses 90% less energy compared to conventional wet dyeing and finishing processes. As such, Ausora has the potential to stop millions of tonnes of waste entering our waterways and CO2 from entering our planet. Reducing cost production of textiles. How does this work? Within textile production, the […]

CSIRO invests $20 million to drive SME innovation

Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, has announced a $20 million investment to provide small to medium enterprises (SMEs) with greater access to vital research and development (R&D) opportunities to accelerate their growth. The funding will allow CSIRO’s SME Connect team to support up to 750 SMEs through a range of programs and initiatives that provide facilitation, training, dollar-matched funding and support to start-ups and SMEs seeking to engage in company-led research projects. One of the programs being supported is SME Connects flagship program, CSIRO Kick-Start. Since its inception in 2017, the Kick-Start program has facilitated over 280 company-led R&D projects, with alumni companies collectively holding a market value exceeding $2 billion. Dr Doug Hilton, CSIRO’s Chief Executive, emphasised the significance of this investment and the transformative impact it would have for Australia’s critical SME sector. “SMEs are crucial drivers of Australia’s future and so often the engine room of new, innovative thinking and solutions to many of the challenges our society faces,” Dr Hilton said. “CSIRO’s fundamental role as the national science agency is to create benefits for Australia and that includes helping to drive SME’s productivity, sustainability and growth through greater access to R&D opportunities and conducting research to support a more resilient and diverse economy. “CSIRO is committed to its role within the innovation ecosystem of supporting SMEs in embracing research and providing access to the resources, knowledge, and support they need to flourish.” SMEs are the backbone of Australia’s economy, constituting 99.8 per cent of businesses, contributing to more than half to the gross domestic product (GDP) and employing 68 per cent of the private sector workforce. CSIRO’s SME Connect team has supported start-ups and SMEs across a broad range of industry sectors including technology, manufacturing, agriculture, mining, energy and health and biosecurity. Simon Hanson, Director […]

Push-to-Talk technology successfully demonstrated on Fleet Space’s Centauri-4 satellite

Fleet Space and SmartSat collaboration leads to breakthrough in tactical communication capabilities. SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre (SmartSat) has commended Fleet Space Technologies’ successful demonstration of satellite-enabled Push-to-Talk (PTT) capabilities as part of the Defence Space Command-funded ASCEND2LEO project. SmartSat and Safety from Space supported Fleet Space by adapting a variant of the ‘Beagle’ communications waveform, developed under previously SmartSat-funded projects, which Fleet Space implemented on the Centauri-4 satellite for this demonstration. This milestone in PTT capabilities opens a path to more secure, reliable, instantaneous communications across vast distances using highly advanced microsatellite architectures. ASCEND2LEO’s successful demonstration for the Australian Defence Force Joint Capabilities Group showed that Fleet Space’s Centauri satellites can be re-programmed to deliver high-quality, fit-for-purpose voice capabilities while in orbit. Voice capabilities for Fleet Space’s Centauri satellite were enabled via a software update, establishing a proof of concept for the Regenerative Voice System architecture underlying the ASCEND2LEO program. As a result, this demonstration validated the ability of highly adaptable microsatellite constellations to rapidly deliver purpose-built, high-quality SATCOM capabilities at scale to meet complex needs in diverse scenarios. ASCEND2LEO’s achievement was commended by Peter Kerr, SmartSat’s Defence & National Security Coordinator, who drove the concept for SmartSat’s involvement in the project by adapting and delivering the Beagle waveform. “Enabling an entirely new voice capability for a satellite that is already in orbit is a tremendous technical accomplishment. With this proof of concept, SmartSat is playing a critical role in helping the Australian industry develop SATCOM resiliency for Australian Defence and validate the Regenerative Voice System architecture, a powerful and ambitious approach undertaken by the ASCEND2LEO program.” During the live demonstration, hosted by the Defence Science & Technology Group (DSTG), Fleet Space’s PTT capabilities have met strict performance criteria for one-way voice transmission including voice quality, reliability, and link persistence across […]

Australia’s first ever AI Month launches

Australia’s inaugural Artificial Intelligence (AI) Month launches today, calling on Australians to help shape and plan for the AI future they want to see. Held from November 15 to December 15, AI Month is an initiative from the National AI Centre (NAIC), which sits within Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO. The initiative will bring together leading AI organisations, entrepreneurs and researchers to showcase the country’s domestic expertise and provide a forum to discuss Australian perspectives on AI. National AI Centre Director Stela Solar said that AI Month was central to the NAIC’s mission to pave the way for a responsible and inclusive AI future for Australia. “The rapid advancements in AI this year have emphasised the need for Australia to seize the AI opportunity and accelerate its global competitiveness,” Ms Solar said. “This month we are encouraging everyone to join in the important conversations to make the AI opportunity real. Together we can shape a responsible and inclusive AI future for Australia.” More than 50 free and ticketed AI-related events hosted by over 40 organisations will take place across the country. These workshops, panel discussions, hackathons and conferences will highlight AI use cases, opportunities, best practices, and the strength of Australia’s AI industry. “AI Month is a moment to learn new things, sharpen your skills, and step into new opportunities the future.” Ms Solar said. Australia’s AI Month was officially launched by the Minister for Industry and Science, the Hon Ed Husic, at the opening of Friend or Foe – The Rise of Artificial Intelligence, a new exhibition by Australian technologist and artist Luke Millanta at Queston this morning. Get involved in Australia’s AI Month by joining or submitting an event (please email naic@csiro.au).

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