Three months on from the Future Made in Australia budget commitments, GME’s Tony Crooke argues policy ambition now needs to become factory-floor reality.
Three months after the Federal Government reinforced its Future Made in Australia manufacturing agenda in the 2026 Budget, the conversation is moving from policy ambition to practical delivery.
The agenda has been welcomed for its focus on sovereign capability, resilient supply chains, workforce development, and advanced manufacturing. However, for Australian manufacturers, there are still question marks around what these commitments mean on the factory floor.
A successful Future Made in Australia agenda cannot be measured only by the number of announcements made or funding programs established. It must ultimately be judged by whether more products are being designed, engineered, assembled, and supported in Australia and whether manufacturers can invest with confidence.
For manufacturers already operating locally, this shift from commitment to implementation is essential.
Turning ambition into action
The first requirement is policy certainty. Manufacturers make investment decisions over years, not months. Expanding a production line, investing in specialised equipment, developing a new product, or training an apprentice all depend on stable, supportive policy settings.
The Government’s commitments around sovereign capability, supply chain resilience and workforce development therefore need to be translated into a coordinated implementation plan. Manufacturers need clear priorities, defined funding pathways, and measurable outcomes.
Procurement will be one of the most powerful tools available. If the government wants to strengthen domestic manufacturing, it must create dependable demand for Australian-made products in strategically important categories. That means moving beyond broad statements of support and establishing clear procurement signals, faster pathways for locally made goods and, where national resilience is at stake, measurable local content requirements.
This does not mean every product must be manufactured entirely in Australia. In many cases, international sourcing will remain commercially sensible, particularly for commodity components available from multiple suppliers. But the country should be clear about which products, components and capabilities are too important to leave vulnerable to a single offshore source.
Critical electronics, communications equipment, safety products, health supplies, energy infrastructure and other products supporting emergency services and essential infrastructure should be assessed according to their strategic importance, import dependency and exposure to disruption.
A published set of sovereign manufacturing priorities would give businesses greater clarity about where investment and procurement support are likely to be concentrated. It would also help ensure that government assistance is directed towards companies with proven capabilities and a realistic pathway to long-term commercial viability.
Resilience is built before disruption
Recent global supply chain disruptions demonstrated that resilience is not created when a crisis begins. It must be built in advance through local capability, supplier diversity, inventory planning and the ability to respond quickly when conditions change.
Australian manufacturers have learned several important lessons. Long and concentrated supply chains can create significant exposure. Local design, engineering and assembly provide greater control over quality and timing. And customers are often willing to value certainty, particularly when products must perform reliably in critical situations.
At GME, more than 85 per cent of our revenue comes from Australian-made products. That local manufacturing base has helped the business reduce its exposure to global freight disruptions and support skilled jobs and critical domestic capability. It has also reinforced the commercial value of local production: shorter feedback loops, closer quality control, greater responsiveness and stronger customer confidence.
However, local manufacturing does not mean complete independence from international supply chains. Australian manufacturers still rely on imported materials, components, and sub-assemblies, many of which are not available domestically at sufficient scale.
The objective should therefore be targeted resilience rather than reshoring everything. Businesses need to assess each part of their supply chain according to its strategic value, disruption risk, and impact on customers.
For some products, that may mean bringing the full manufacturing process onshore. For others, the most effective model may involve local design and engineering, domestic production of critical sub-assemblies, and international sourcing of lower-risk components.
This hybrid approach can strengthen continuity without imposing unnecessary costs. The key is to ensure that the parts of the supply chain that matter most to product performance, certification, quality and customer support remain within a level of control the business can manage.
Making local production competitive
Resilience alone is not enough to sustain manufacturing. Australian businesses must also be able to compete.
The barriers facing local manufacturers are structural. Energy, logistics, materials, compliance and labour costs all place pressure on margins. Cheaper imports can undercut domestic products, while critical inputs may need to be sourced internationally. A shortage of skilled workers can make it difficult to expand even when demand exists.
These challenges cannot be solved through a single grant or short-term incentive. They require a policy environment that improves the underlying economics of local production.
Governments can make a practical difference by reducing avoidable costs, supporting domestic component ecosystems and using procurement to create reliable demand. Co-investment in processing, component manufacturing, testing and certification would help address some of the gaps that currently force manufacturers to rely on offshore suppliers.
Manufacturers must also focus on where operating in Australia creates a genuine advantage. Competing solely on price against high-volume international production is unlikely to be sustainable. The strongest opportunities will be found in specialised products and applications where quality, reliability, technical support, speed to market and supply certainty matter.
That is the space in which Australian manufacturers can build defensible capability. It is also where investment in research and development, automation, product design and advanced manufacturing can create lasting value.
Building the workforce behind the agenda
No manufacturing strategy can succeed without the people required to deliver it.
Workforce investment needs to be aligned with genuine industry demand. That means supporting employer-linked apprenticeships, traineeships and advanced manufacturing training in areas such as electronics assembly, machining, radio-frequency engineering, testing, certification and production management.
The focus should not be on headcount alone. Training must lead to practical capabilities and clear employment pathways. Incentives should encourage businesses to train workers, support completion and improve retention in the industry.
Manufacturers need skilled people who can operate increasingly sophisticated equipment, understand quality systems, solve production problems and contribute to continuous improvement. These capabilities are central to productivity as well as resilience.
There is also an opportunity to strengthen connections between manufacturers, vocational education providers, universities and industry bodies. Training programs designed with employers are more likely to reflect the technologies and processes used in modern production.
A stronger workforce pipeline would help businesses expand domestic capacity while giving Australians access to skilled, well-paid and increasingly technical careers.
Measuring whether implementation is working
The success of Future Made in Australia should be assessed through practical indicators.
Over the next three to five years, manufacturers should be looking for:
- More production lines operating in Australia.
- Greater domestic capability in critical product and component categories.
- Fewer essential supply chains dependent on a single offshore source.
- More investment in local design, engineering, testing and automation.
- Fewer manufacturing insolvencies, particularly among innovative and specialised businesses.
These measures would show whether the agenda is improving the conditions for manufacturing, rather than simply increasing the number of policy commitments.
They would also provide a clearer connection between government action and outcomes for businesses, workers and customers.
The next phase
Future Made in Australia has established an important direction for the country. The challenge now is to turn that direction into a practical framework that manufacturers can understand, invest behind and contribute to.
That means identifying what Australia must be able to produce and maintain locally, creating reliable demand through procurement, developing the skills required for advanced production and supporting businesses that are building commercially sustainable capabilities.
It also means recognising that local manufacturing is not an either-or choice between complete self-sufficiency and unrestricted offshore sourcing. A resilient manufacturing sector will use a targeted combination of domestic capability, trusted international partnerships and intelligent supply chain design.
Australian manufacturers are ready to play their part. Many are already investing in local production, skilled workers, innovation and product development despite the cost and complexity of operating onshore.
The next test is whether policy implementation gives those businesses the certainty and market conditions required to grow.
The real measure of Future Made in Australia will not be whether the agenda remains a compelling policy narrative. It will be whether, years from now, Australia has more specialised manufacturers, stronger supply chains, deeper technical capability and greater confidence in its ability to produce the products it relies on.
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