We are delivering an mRNA manufacturing facility, the first in the southern hemisphere.
This will bolster Victoria’s capacity to produce life-saving vaccines and build on and support the resurgence of Victoria as a manufacturing hub. And we’re helping to establish Victoria’s very own rapid diagnostics manufacturing facility too.
This facility will produce up to 50 million COVID-19 rapid antigen tests every year and create more than 70 local jobs for Victorians, protecting us from global supply shortages and opening new export markets for our state.
Supporting Victorian industry
The Victorian Industry Fund prioritises areas that are strategically important to Victoria’s economic recovery, generating new investment and jobs for Victorians. The $120 million fund will also support the advancement of domestic manufacturing, in addition to other high priority sectors for the state.
This includes a new $40 million Victorian Industry Investment Fund to provide grants to support rapidly growing businesses, including supply chains that underpin economic resilience.
A further $40 million will be provided for targeted financial incentives to attract business investment into Victoria, in line with the Victorian Government’s International Investment Strategy.
We’re also delivering $20 million for an equity investment pilot fund that will attract young, highly-innovative companies looking to grow in areas that align with Victoria’s priority strengths, such as medical technology, creating more jobs right across our state.
The $7 million Low-Carbon Manufacturing Grant Program will help Victorian manufacturers compete globally for renewable energy components, supporting Victoria’s transition to net zero and all the jobs this will create.
We’re also boosting training, with $4.5 million for 300 Digital Jobs for Manufacturing internships to help train, support and prepare the Victorian workers who will support these industries.
Funding of $1.5 million is provided for the Defence Science Institute to support defence research and development in Victoria.
The $2.6 million Defence Industry Workforce Development program delivers additional internship programs to train Victorians to leverage opportunities in the defence manufacturing industry.
Another key step in further developing an advanced manufacturing capability is $1.5 million in funding to explore the co-location of the CSIRO agrifood research and development capability with AgriBio at La Trobe University.
Media release
Reviewed 03 May 2022