Global Integration – Background Paper

To achieve international competitiveness, many Australian organisations must produce for the global market to achieve the necessary economies of scale and scope. Focussing on the domestic market not only limits growth opportunities, it can handicap competitiveness.¹ In addition, Australia is facing a major intergenerational change that will place significant pressure on Australian society to maintain its economic prosperity. Against this background of global change, intergenerational change and the knowledge economy, Australia must find ways to generate competitive advantage to increase output in order to sustain society. Clearly, one major focus for Australia must be to be a major innovating society to increase wealth for the benefit of society.

Overview

The Academy strongly supports the Government’s intention to release an industry policy statement and is very pleased to make a submission on the Background Paper, Global Integration.

The Academy believes the main focus of future policy needs to be on knowledge based industries. Traditional service, manufacturing, agricultural and resource industries will continue to meet customer demands and improve their efficiencies but their growth will normally at best match the rate of growth of population or world demand. Real growth will require new industries or new products and services from existing industries, which is why the Academy’s submission is focused on two themes of the agenda, namely:

• Innovation, and
• Investment.

Under each of these themes, the Academy has addressed a number of “possible issues for consultation” as identified in the Background Paper. Full details are contained in the attached submission