Australia seeking to maximize local industry content in defense projects

The Australian government is changing its tendering process in an effort to increase the involvement of Australian companies in defense projects.

“We are changing the process companies undergo when responding to tenders for defence equipment,” Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne said announcing the changes.

“The Australian Industry Capability Plan Template has been strengthened in line with Government’s defence industry policy of maximising Australian industry involvement in meeting Australia’s defense capability goals, creating thousands of long-term jobs across the country and economic growth.

Under the new plan, defense companies will have to outline how and where they will involve Australian industry, before their bid is even considered.

The minister said changes have been made to explicitly address the tenderer’s strategy for maximising Australian industry involvement, maximised inclusion and evidence of having positively engaged Australian small to medium enterprises and indigenous business enterprises

”We have already used the new template in our Offshore Patrol Vessel and Future Frigate requests for tender and are now rolling it out across all relevant materiel procurements,” Pyne said.

Minister Pyne said this improved approach to Australian industry content is aligned with the 2016 Defence White Paper, the Integrated Investment Program and the Defence Industry Policy Statem