Maker to Manufacturer to Market - useful links

This page contains links to organisations that offer financial support or useful information for designers.

AusIndustry

AusIndustry is the Australian Government's business unit within the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources. AusIndustry provides a range of incentives for Australian businesses to invest, innovate and be internationally competitive. AusIndustry products cover a range of industry sectors and business needs. They are delivered in the form of grants, loans, tax and duty concessions and access to venture capital.

Research and development (R&D) are a major focus for AusIndustry, which describes its incentives as follows:

R&D Tax Concession is a broad-based, market-driven tax concession, which allows companies to deduct up to 125 per cent of qualifying expenditure incurred on R&D activities when lodging their corporate tax return. A 175 per cent Incremental (Premium) Tax Concession and R&D Tax Offset are also available in certain circumstances. This program forms part of the Backing Australia's Ability - Building our Future through Science and Innovation $5.3 billion package to follow on from the $3 billion Backing Australia's Ability strategy announced in 2001.

Many companies working in design are inventing new tools and machining mechanisms for prototyping new products. This is an R&D activity and claims can be made against this expenditure.

There are strict guidelines for what kind of company structures and rebates are eligible for these rebates. To get a better understanding of how a project’s R&D activities might fit with AusIndustry rebates, specialised rebate and grant consultants are available to guide designers through the process. There are numerous consultancies operating in most capital cities.

Other AusIndustry products include:

Commercialising Emerging Technologies (COMET) - a competitive, merit-based program that supports early-growth stage and spin-off companies to successfully commercialise their innovations.

Commercial Ready – dollar-for-dollar funding for companies engaged in product innovation and early commercialisation. Commercial Ready is a competitive merit-based grant program supporting innovation and its commercialisation. It aims to stimulate greater innovation and productivity growth in the private sector by providing around $200 million per year in competitive grants to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) between 2004-05 and 2010-11. A wide range of project activities can be supported, extending from initial research and development (R&D), through proof of concept, to early-stage commercialisation activities.

Manufacturing

Australian manufacturers listed at ManufactureLink offer quotes based on initial design proposals.

If you are looking for advanced tooling that is not being fulfilled by any companies currently working in the object design sector, it might be worth contacting the National Tooling and Machining Association.

Marketing

There are an increasing number of marketing companies specialising in the design/manufacturing industry. Some examples include:

The Parcel Group – a company dedicated to communicating the activities of the design sector to the local and international market.

Propeller - builds communication and marketing strategies using publishing, press, web, graphic, exhibition and architectural formats.