Emerging Australian Rural Industries

Australia’s rural industries make a fundamental contribution to the Australian economy and way of life. In addition to the major industries, numerous new and emerging rural industries bring opportunity, diversity and resilience to rural Australia. Detailed information on the volume and value of these industries is hard to come by. This book brings together available information about many of Australia’s new rural industries. And, for the first time, it gives us a picture of their overall worth – in aggregate more than $673 million. The Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation invests in new and emerging industries on behalf of government and industry stakeholders. New industries provide opportunities to be captured by rural producers and investors. They also provide avenues for farmers facing adjustment pressure to diversify and manage change. The establishment of new industries contributes to community resilience and regional development. Increasingly, new industries are also contributing to a distinctive regional character in rural Australia. New industries face a number of challenges – developing product quality and quantity, developing markets and supply chains, and industry leadership. Many of these issues are underpinned by research and development. Often, too, they are hampered by a lack of basic statistical information, which is why RIRDC has invested in this report. The importance of this report is that it provides that basic statistical information for the new and emerging industries. As well as indicating the high aggregate value of the ‘new and emerging sector’, the report provides detailed statistical information for each new industry. It will be a useful basis for those contemplating investment or formulating policy and will help to inform RIRDC as it plans its research and development priorities into the future.

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