2017–18 Activity Statement—Economy

Creating jobs in a strong economy is a priority of the Queensland Government. Private sector investment and attracting international and domestic markets will result in sustainable ongoing employment opportunities. The Government’s Advance Queensland agenda is working to support Queensland industry and businesses, and transition to the economy of the future. All Queenslanders will have a role in the growth and sustainability of the economy and the Queensland Government is committed to helping local businesses thrive and supporting an inclusive workforce.

In 2017–18, the Queensland Government:

Attracting international and domestic trade and investment

• continued implementation of the Advancing Trade and Investment: Queensland Trade and Investment Strategy 2017–2022, including delivery of:
• a strategic engagement and client management service
• showcase events for Queensland businesses at major international events like Food and Hotel Asia in Singapore and Aged Care Industry Expo in Guangzhou, China
• expansion of Trade and Investment Queensland’s (TIQ) international offices in Indonesia with a move to larger premises and increased staff in the Singapore office to take advantage of export opportunities in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region
• establishment of a business consortium focused on the export of Queensland’s capabilities in aged care services to China
• delivered the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018), forecast to result in a $2 billion boost to Queensland’s Gross State Product, a tourism benefit of $870 million before, during and after the Commonwealth Games as well as supporting a further $488 million in exports and investment
• through delivering GC2018, supported in excess of 30,000 full-time, part-time and temporary jobs, of which, there are approximately 16,000 full-time equivalent jobs
• delivered the Trade 2018 business and investment program through collaboration between TIQ, Office of Commonwealth Games and City of Gold Coast to forge new international and domestic partnerships
• Trade 2018 delivered 32 events and attracted more than 2500 attendances, with 38 international delegations from more than 25 countries attending the 14-day program held in conjunction with GC 2018
• continued implementation of the Advancing Tourism Strategy 2016–2020 to drive tourism growth in partnership with industry, with all actions on track for delivery
• delivered the annual DestinationQ tourism forum in Brisbane in November 2017, with the theme of ‘competitiveness from collaboration’ in the tourism sector, as well as regional DestinationQ events in Bundaberg, Gladstone and Toowoomba
• secured new and expanded airline services into Queensland, with over two million additional seats secured since February 2015, supporting approximately $1.8 billion in additional overnight visitor expenditure
• launched the new ‘Find your perfect next’ marketing campaign, reviving the nostalgic platform ‘Beautiful One Day, Perfect the Next’ with a stronger conversion focus to encourage consumers to book a Queensland holiday
• facilitated a record year of growth in cruise shipping, supporting $1 billion in economic benefit across multiple coastal destinations
• reached significant contractual milestone with the exchange of bank guarantee and development lease between Destination Brisbane Consortium and the State
• received strong interest from local and international firms seeking to create a world-class and visionary Global Tourism Hub in the Tropical North
• secured major events such as the TV WEEK Logie Awards, NRL Magic Round and Battle of Brisbane I and II, generating increased visitation and overnight visitor expenditure to Queensland
• supported growth of Queensland’s $4.37 billion international education and training industry through implementation of 36 initiatives under the International Education and Training Strategy to Advance Queensland 2016–2026 (IET Strategy)
• delivered two rounds of the $1.2 million per annum IET Partnership Fund to consortia delivering initiatives aligned to the IET Strategy
• twenty-nine projects were funded and matched with additional funding by the sector and local government
• completed the first stage of the $10 million Transport and Tourism Connections Program, with all 18 projects in use by the end of June 2018
• launched the Agriculture and Food Research, Development and Extension 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan on 24 May 2018
• the Roadmap, which presents a whole-of-government overview of Queensland’s agriculture and food sector’s research, development and extension priorities and will support Queensland’s agri-industries to remain at the forefront nationally and internationally, and continue to attract investment funding
• approved six applications as part of the Growing Queensland’s Food Exports pilot program, which supports Queensland’s food businesses by providing grants of matched funding to build business capability to take advantage of export opportunities
• coordinated the whole-of-government presence (working with Beef Australia Limited) to deliver Beef Week 2018, which was attended by more than 100,000 visitors, including 1200 international delegates and investors

Advancing Queensland industry

• accelerated the Queensland Government’s Advance Queensland program, backing over 3600 Queensland innovators across the state whose projects will drive over 12,500 jobs
• through Jobs Queensland, more than 15 major reports, workforce plans and research reports have been delivered including:
• 13 Regional tourism workforce plans which were developed in partnership with regional tourism organisations and local industry
• Queensland Advancing Manufacturing Skills: A Skills, Training and Workforce Development Strategy for the Manufacturing Industry in Queensland
• Ipswich Manufacturing Workforce Report and Action Plan to support manufacturing in the Ipswich region
• won a national bid to host the Australian Government’s first Defence Cooperative Research Centre for Trusted Autonomous Systems
• invested nearly $15 million in 14 innovative, high-growth Queensland businesses through the Advance Queensland Business Development Fund, building on existing investments in 13 companies and helping to grow local jobs while supporting the growth of angel and venture capital investment available in Queensland
• launched the Queensland Drones Strategy, the first of its kind in Australia, to attract national and international investment, increase industry and workforce capability, increase research and development, support community-friendly drone policies and improve government service delivery
• released the Advance Queensland Screen Industry 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan outlining the state’s vision to be a globally recognised commercial and creative leader in the screen industry, creating jobs of the future, boosting our economy, and enriching the community with diverse content
• secured Boeing’s largest autonomous systems development program outside the United States through the Advance Queensland Platform Technology program and the Advance Queensland Industry Attraction Fund (AQIAF)
• Boeing Defence Australia will expand its existing research and development program in Queensland through the development of advanced autonomous platform technologies for unmanned systems
• the project is expected to directly support more than 131 highly technical jobs for Queenslanders over three years
• released the Queensland exploration program 2018, which will make more than 44,300 square kilometres of land for resource exploration available by competitive tender over the next 18 months
• the program comprises two releases of coal areas totalling more than 1100 square kilometres and three releases of petroleum and gas exploration land totalling 43,200 square kilometres, supporting private sector investment in Queensland’s $56 billion resources industry
• awarded six resource companies a total of more than 1000 square kilometres of land across Queensland, through competitive tender processes, to undertake exploration for coal and petroleum and gas
• attracted Rheinmetall Defence Australia to establish its Australia-New Zealand Headquarters and Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence, that will deliver the $5.2 billion LAND 400 Phase 2 contract
• the facility in Ipswich is expected to support at least 450 full-time equivalent jobs in the first 10 years and contribute more than $1 billion to Queensland’s economy over the life of the project
• increased funding for AQIAF to $105 million, encouraging industry to relocate, establish or expand their operations in Queensland to help generate jobs, increase investment and drive economic growth
• in 2017–18, AQIAF supported six projects resulting in 530 jobs and $180 million in capital expenditure
• launched the Defence and Aerospace 10-year roadmaps and action plans and the $2 million Biomedical Assistance Fund, delivering the Biomedical Launchpad program and launching the Queensland $1.5 million Biomedical Voucher Program
• initiated the reform of the Biodiscovery Act 2004 to contemporise frameworks for research, innovation and commercialisation in Queensland
• continued delivery of the $17.1 million strategic partnership agreement with Data61, which provides key development opportunities across Queensland Government, industries and the state’s innovation ecosystem by leveraging the intellectual capital and digital capabilities of both Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Data61
• co-funded QUT to engage Massachusetts Institute of Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Bootcamp (MIT Bootcamp) to run its week-long program to learn how to build innovation-driven ventures
• co-funded UQ to engage HYPE Sports Innovation to run its global sportstech program, HYPE SPIN Accelerator, a 15-week program offering sportstech startups webinars and mentoring from industry experts and a global pitch event
• supported the Life Sciences commercialisation and development through facilitating major events such as BIO Conference in the USA and the AusBiotech conference
• engaged nearly 5000 people across 24 events during the 2018 Myriad festival
• attracted over 35 international startups to Queensland from all around the world including London, New York, California and Silicon Valley, as well as Spain, Chile, Canada, Switzerland and New Zealand, through the Hot DesQ program
• led the Rural Jobs and Skills Alliance, collecting industry intelligence and providing market performance feedback and advice to Queensland Government and Australian Government agencies in the employment, training and skills space
• the Queensland Agriculture Workforce Network also made contact with over 4000 farm business owners and employees and over 5000 potential new employees, as well as influencing in excess of 1000 positive employment and training outcomes

Supporting local business

• released the Queensland Government’s first Open Data Policy Statement to enable increased access to government data which will help foster greater ingenuity and create jobs
• delivered 46 Digital Business Workshops to 717 participants in response to the 1700 Digital Scorecard assessments completed by businesses to help improve the digital capability of their organisation and become more competitive in the global economy
• delivered the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 in response to concerns that, in some cases, subcontractors were not getting paid for their work
• introduced Project Bank Accounts as a safeguard to enable timely payments to subcontractors for Queensland Government building projects (excluding engineering projects) valued between $1 million and $10 million on 1 March 2018
• implemented the new Buy Queensland Procurement Policy, to use the government’s procurement spend to support jobs, regional growth and innovation, and achieve the economic, environmental and social objectives of the government
• announced the expansion of Brisbane’s startup hub, the Precinct, which will continue to support Brisbane’s growing startup sector and provide a space for international innovators and investor organisations at the Precinct to work with local startups
• provided business support information and advice to 591 innovative businesses across Queensland through the delivery of 36 Innovate Queensland events comprising of 29 workshops; two industry collaboration events and five events aimed at addressing government challenges
• provided business support information and advice to 830 innovative business people who logged onto 20 live Innovate Queensland webinars and a further 1736 people who viewed the webinars on YouTube
• assisted 79 innovation startups and established businesses to advance commercialisation of their innovations through the Innovate Queensland, My Innovation Advisor service
• supported Queensland businesses with understanding how to approach winning customers, attracting investment and applying for grant through a series of Innovate Queensland webinars that are linked to the Advance Queensland website
• opened the second round of Made in Queensland to award up to another $20 million in grant funding to support existing jobs and create new jobs in Queensland manufacturing businesses and in the state’s supply chains and growing Queensland’s economy
• continued the Arts Business Innovation Fund to strengthen the financial capacity of small to medium arts businesses through a grant and zero interest loan facility to implement business development initiatives for new markets and revenue streams
• awarded six grants of the Sport Science Challenge to recipients to work with sporting and industry partners to refine their high-tech sporting innovations to become ready for market to enhance the competitiveness of our elite athletes and to encourage Queenslanders to participate in sport and exercise
• supported jobs, industry and business development through the government procurement policy for vessels to support Queensland-made including $3 million high speed barge contract with a Brisbane-based company
• allocated $6.5 million to 1106 grant recipients under the Advancing Small Business Queensland Strategy 2016–20 grants programs
• delivered 501 mentoring sessions to Queensland small businesses, connecting them with business experts to gain insights and guidance on business challenges and opportunities
• delivered another highly successful Queensland Small Business Week with 175 events held across Queensland for over 7500 participants
• celebrated 100 Faces of Queensland Small Business showcasing the amazing depth and inspirational stories of Queensland small businesses
• ensured Queensland small business issues relating to growth, sustainability, employment and regulation were raised at the Queensland Small Business Advisory Council and its dedicated Better Regulation Taskforce subcommittee
• presented the Better Regulation Taskforce’s Industry Review Report 2017, with recommendations on reform activities for streamlining regulation to make it easier to do business, to the Queensland Government for consideration
• continued to give Queensland small business a voice at the state and national level with a dedicated advocate for the state’s small business community, through the Queensland Small Business Champion
• strengthened the communication lines between government and Queensland’s small business community through the Queensland Government’s ‘Regulator Rally’ events, hosted by the Small Business Champion and involving regulators from all three levels of government
• delivered to Queensland businesses 1763 services from 14 departments and three government bodies on the Business Queensland website, growing its customer base by a further 1.2 million customers
• continued to support small businesses impacted by severe weather events through delivery of the Tourism and Small Business Recovery Package, including small business grants, dedicated recovery workshops, mentoring and provision of mental health counselling services

Inclusive participation

• continued implementation of the Advancing Women in Business and Advancing Indigenous Business initiatives with targeted support delivered through programs, grants, events, mentoring and education opportunities
• launched the first Women in Manufacturing series of promotion and networking events in March 2018
• 212 people attended these events by 30 June and 90% of attendees were women and girls
• partnered with industry to secure employment and training opportunities for Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people seeking jobs, facilitating 1551 job placements
• continued to implement the Moving Ahead strategy, a whole-of-government strategy to increase economic participation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders
• continued to strengthen Queensland Government procurement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses, with $216 million secured by 391 Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses in the first three quarters of 2017–18
• commenced the implementation of the Queensland Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Procurement Policy (QIPP) that aims to increase Queensland Government spend with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses by 3% of addressable spend by 2022
• maintained the Black Business Finder, the Queensland Government’s online Indigenous business directory that lists over 600 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suppliers to assist government buyers in achieving outcomes towards the QIPP
• brokered 605 employment opportunities, 56 trainees and approximately $6 million in contracts with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suppliers from 137 projects completed outside discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and Cape York, supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander economic participation outcomes to the value of approximately $18.25 million
• delivered 11 declared Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander projects under the Queensland Government Building and Training Policy, resulting in 151 employment opportunities and over $2.85 million of procurement from 32 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses
• enabled 563 jobs for Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people through the strategic integrated capital works program, of which 86 were apprentices or trainees
• continued to deliver the Enterprise Queensland Indigenous Program (EQuIP), which supports the development of a sustainable, growing and diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business sector across Queensland, to engage fully in government and industry procurement supply chains and trade in the broader community marketplace
• a total of 55 projects have been funded by EQuIP since it began in June 2016 with an estimated 250 businesses receiving assistance
• implemented the GC2018 Reconciliation Action Plan, a historic first for an event of its kind including initiatives to develop the capacity of, and partnerships with, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and support employment, training and procurement outcomes
• delivered two workshops through the Innovate Queensland program targeted at traditional owners on North Stradbroke Island and a workshop targeted at Far North Queensland traditional owners, to assist businesses to understand and implement business skills and collaborate with researchers and other businesses
• hosted an online Innovate Queensland Indigenous Entrepreneurship webinar which 58 people attended
• through All Abilities Queensland, worked closely with the Public Service Commission and other departments to plan for meeting the Queensland Government’s inclusive employment target that people with disability will comprise 8% of the Queensland Public Service workforce by 2022
• commenced delivery of the Housing Construction Jobs Program, as part of the Queensland Housing Strategy 2017–2027, to increase supply of social and affordable housing, drive local job creation and economic growth, including the commencement of construction of 786 social rental homes
• launched the Multicultural Queensland Ambassador program to empower 80 corporations, institutions and organisations to strengthen cultural capability, promote cultural diversity and inclusion, and harness the business and economic benefits of diversity
• allocated $200 million to 65 Councils outside SEQ through the 2017–19 Works for Queensland program to undertake job-creating maintenance and minor infrastructure projects
• helped unemployed people get into employment by providing job seeker discounts to reduce public transport fares
• as at 30 June 2018, this has resulted in savings of over $1.5 million, over 1.2 million trips at an average saving of $1.24 per trip
• implemented the Regional Skills Investment Strategy (RSIS), partnering with selected regions to identify current and emerging jobs, and design tailored solutions to be delivered under the Annual VET Investment Plan, in support of the supply of skilled local people to meet skill demand
• as at 30 June 2018, nine RSIS projects totalling $3.15 million have been approved
• project locations are Townsville, Whitsunday, Mackay, Central Highlands, Central Western Queensland, Bundaberg, Fraser Coast, Ipswich and Southern Downs
• implemented the Regional Skills Adjustment Strategy (RSAS), investing in regions facing economic uncertainty, and supporting individuals to gain the foundation, employability and technical skills needed to transition to jobs in demand
• to date eight RSAS projects totalling $6.1 million have been approved.