Vic Power Start | Growing Australia’s medtech manufacturing sector
27 March 2025
Yesterday BioMelbourne CEO and AMMA Lead, Karen Parr, spoke at the CEDA Vic Power breakfast briefing, taking the opportunity to highlight how what we’ve heard clearly and consistently from industry to date is two-fold. Firstly, that if we had more procurement opportunities we would make more here; and secondly, that we need a cultural change where we, as a country, recognise and champion our manufacturers’ excellence. These concepts have been woven into AMMA's strategic plan and we’re co-developing a capability uplift program to help local SMEs secure tenders in the health sector, while we advance our broader advocacy efforts.
Timely to this topic, was the announcement of the Federal Government's $20 million investment in the "Buy Australian" campaign, which aligns closely with AMMA’s vision to promote the value of locally-made products. Whilst supportive of this direction, there is immense potential in extending it more broadly to the health sector. Systemic procurement incentives prioritising locally manufactured health technologies could create a powerful pull mechanism, stimulating innovation, strengthening sovereign capability, and driving meaningful growth in Australia’s medtech industry.
Thank you to the CEDA team, Dr Andreas Fouras, Founder and CEO of 4DMedical, and discussion facilitator Prof Vishaal Kishore (Director, Applied Innovation, RMIT University) for a highly engaging session with CEDA's broad community of thought leaders.