Start-ups have long struggled with funding “valleys of death”; trying to fund operations between an initial injection of capital until the company begins generating revenue. Ms Williams noted there was little detail on the new fund just yet, and hoped the fund would focus on scaling existing small to medium companies.
“Investing in manufacturing technologies is critical to national supply chain resilience, but we need to be strategic and smart,” she said.
“Instead of duplicating capabilities in every state, we should be building out manufacturing capabilities that can be a core resource for many companies to use.”
Boosting tech skills
Steps to address Australia’s critical skills shortage were largely welcomed, but Tech Council of Australia chief executive Kate Pounder said cuts to the women’s workforce reskilling initiative were disappointing.
“While we support the government’s investment in tech training and additional university places, we are concerned about the cut to the women’s tech workforce reskilling initiative,” Ms Pounder said.
“We believe keeping a focus on the role of women in the tech sector is absolutely critical if we are to meet our shared goal with government of meeting 1.2 million jobs by 2030.”
The budget earmarked $1 billion for investments in fee-free TAFE places and vocational education, targeting the digital economy with 20,000 new university places for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
WiseTech chief executive officer Richard White applauded the government’s financial commitment, but said the country needed to leverage technology itself to rehone labour market skills.
“[Money] is an important lubricant, but there are fundamental things we need to do better which require you to approach the problem differently,” he said.
“I’m a technologist and the lens I look at things through is about using tech to amplify and scale. I think if we’re going to build the technological future, we can’t do it using the analogue past. Education needs to at least partly be converted to digital, if not wholly.”
The budget also provided $42.2 million for more Department of Home Affairs workers to clear visa backlogs, and a sweeping package to support working mothers and families.
“It’s pleasing that the budget is fully funding the government’s election commitments to reducing the skills crisis that exists in the Australian tech sector,” said Simon Bush, chief executive of the Australian Information Industry Association.
“Another key element of trying to bridge the alarming tech skills gap is welcoming and encouraging a wide range of demographics to the industry – that’s why the AIIA is in full support of the budget funding increase for childcare.”
Cyber, a missed opportunity
Executives said the government’s commitment to spend another $31 million to fortify Australia’s cyber defences through its cyber hub pilot program was necessary but fell short of the overarching needs of a globally competitive security capability.
Ajay Unni, chief executive officer of StickmanCyber, said that “$12.6 million over four years to protect tens of millions of consumers is a joke”.
“How is that going to make a dent? That funding is to combat scams and online fraud, with the bulk going towards a National Anti-Scam Centre. This won’t go far, which is a missed opportunity.
“How many breaches need to occur before the government realises the seriousness of cybersecurity? Penalties are not a deterrent for these breaches if there is a lack of standards and knowledge that leads to these insufficient practices in the first place.”
Other cyber experts warned that a fragmented national cybersecurity strategy would undermine any well-meaning investment.
“While this investment represents a positive step forward, we also encourage further collaboration between governments and enterprises to promote knowledge-sharing to inform appropriate cyber regulation and ensure best practice,” said Crispin Kerr, Australia-New Zealand vice president at security firm Proofpoint.
