Industry Growth Centres Initiative: Initial Impact Evaluation

In 2019 the Department of Industry, Science and Resources engaged ACIL Allen to conduct an evaluation of the Industry Growth Centres Initiative (IGCI) and its impact on Australian industries. The Commonwealth Government released the report on 22 November 2022. 

 Up to the time of the report, the Government had invested $305 million in the IGCI.

The report reviewed IGCI's original policy rationale and concluded that there is an ongoing need for policy intervention which supports industries to become more innovative, collaborative, commercial, export-focused and highly skilled.

 The evaluation found that the IGCI supported Australian industries to become more competitive, resilient and sustainable. The use of an industry-led approach to support industry sectors was sound and consistent with other top performing OECD nations such as the UK, the Netherlands and Sweden.The IGCI was valued and had significant potential to deliver long-term value.The GCs were starting to deliver impact and this was expected to increase in the future.

However, the IGCI’s funding envelope was small relative to that of comparable international programs, such as the UK Catapults on which they were modelled.