Impact of the COVID pandemic for manufacturing

HOW CAN Australia define and improve its sovereign manufacturing capability to ensure national resilience during unplanned events such as the global pandemic?

This is one of the questions to be addressed by the next public hearing of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade’s inquiry into the implications of the pandemic for Australia’s defence, trade and international relations.

Witnesses from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre and Ethical Clothing Australia will talk about manufacturing resilience, the importance of strong local supply chains and how businesses can collaborate for improved results.

Committee chair Senator David Fawcett said, "Knowing what it is the nation needs our industry to be able to provide at short notice and ensuring the capability for flexible and innovative adaptation in the manufacturing sector is one of the precursors to successful crisis response".

"This inquiry will explore not only how to ensure Australia’s manufacturing sector is resilient to a crisis, but also the opportunities the pandemic provides for improving collaboration and productivity into the future," Senator Fawcett said.

Jens Goennemann, the managing director of AMGC, will discuss the organisation's submission and describe AMGC’s COVID response. This includes the creation of the Manufacturer Response Register that has been able to connect manufacturing capability with areas of need.

Full terms of reference for the inquiry are on the committee website.

Public hearing details:

Date: Thursday, 9 July 2020
Time: 3pm – 4.30pm AEST
Location: By teleconference

The hearings will be audio streamed live at aph.gov.au/live

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