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West Australian Defence Issues Minister Paul Papalia has announced the launch of the $200,000 Defence-Ready Initiative to empower more local businesses to join the defence industry supply chain.
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Eligible West Australian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will be able to apply for up to $10,000 to improve their business capabilities in areas of need and help WA industry meet Defence's requirements.
Businesses can use the funds to meet a broad range of initiatives to improve their capability and capacity to provide for Defence.
Defence Issues Minister Paul Papalia said, "Western Australia's defence industry continues to grow, and it's important that the state government helps eligible and motivated businesses to pivot their offerings and become 'Defence-Ready'."
Examples include gaining industry certifications and meeting general security and cyber security requirements needed to prepare them for CDIC compliance.
Through the initiative, the state government aims to increase the number of WA businesses that are 'Defence-Ready', and advance their capabilities within the Defence supply chain.
"It's the perfect time for local SMEs to capitalise on WA's competitive advantage in the defence industry, and I encourage businesses to take advantage of this initiative to explore what they can offer within the supply chain," Minister Papalia added.
The WA Defence-Ready Initiative supports the McGowan government's vision for the Defence sector to become a key pillar of the West Australian economy, and support businesses to become more competitive in bids to win Defence work.
The WA Defence-Ready Initiative provides funding to West Australian small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to undertake improvements in specific areas of their business capabilities, to assist in meeting Defence's requirements.
It is a mechanism to increase the number of WA businesses in becoming ‘Defence-Ready’ and subsequently entering or advancing their capabilities within the defence supply chain.
Funding will be awarded on a competitive basis. Defence West makes no provisions to approve or to fully fund every proposal submitted to the scheme. Defence West reserves the right to reject proposals without consideration.
The Defence-Ready Initiative supports defence related improvements in business capabilities. Requests for funding should be in the order of $1,000 to $10,000, but requests outside of this range will be considered where there is a compelling business case. Examples of ways in which the Defence-Ready funds can be applied include, but is not limited to:
- Cyber security upgrades;
- Certification activities;
- Defence Industry Security Program (DISP) improvements; and
- Defence conferences or workshop involvement.
The lead participant (applicant) is responsible for ensuring that any legal agreements and intellectual property arrangements that may be needed to support their activity are established before finalising the Defence-Ready Funding Agreement.
Stephen Kuper
Steve has an extensive career across government, defence industry and advocacy, having previously worked for cabinet ministers at both Federal and State levels.
