Future Made in Australia tsar to headline 2024 Awards


James Riley
Editorial Director

The federal government’s Future Made in Australia tsar Senator Tim Ayres will deliver the opening keynote address at the 2024 InnovationAus Awards for Excellence, a reflection of the awards’ deep tech focus.

Senator Ayres was appointed to the newly created role as part of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’ ministerial reshuffle in July. The Future Made in Australia agenda is a central pillar of the Albanese Government’s policy program and is situated within the Prime Minister’s portfolio.

The 2024 InnovationAus Awards for Excellence puts a spotlight on Australia’s most innovative companies and inspiring entrepreneurs. The Awards, across 12 categories, will be announced at a black-tie gala dinner on Wednesday October 30 at The Venue in Sydney’s Alexandria. You can reserve you seats at this special event here.

And returning as host for the InnovationAus Awards for a second year is local biomedical engineer and neuroscientist Dr Christina Maher.

Dr Maher has worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Brain and Mind Centre and sessional academic at Sydney University and is applying computational modelling and AI to clinical and brain data from MRIs and wearables to understand conditions like epilepsy and multiple sclerosis.

Senator Tim Ayres and Dr Christina Maher

Senator Ayres has been given a central co-ordination role in delivering “the biggest pre-manufacturing package in Australian history” which includes a $7 billion minerals production tax credit, $6.7 billion tax credit for green hydrogen production and $1.3 billion for round two of the Hydrogen Headstart program.

It also includes several billion more in additional funding for ARENA, support and incentives for battery production, solar cell commercialisation and manufacturing.

Moving the coordination of these programs into the Mr Albanese portfolio is itself significant, with Senator Ayres’ coordination role bringing with it the political weight of Prime Minister’s imprimatur.

“Australia must build the industrial capability to solve national challenges and bring economic weight, technological capacity, investment and trade to contribute to our partners solving their key national challenges,” Senator Ayres told the launch of The Industry Papers last month.

“To give our people the skills and education required to navigate the challenges, but also to contribute to solving national challenges. To lift national productivity. [And] to harness all our capacity, our national institutions, our people, firms and industry to make Australia more resilient in a more contested world,” he said.

The InnovationAus Awards for Excellence bring together a full room of 500 people from across the different part of the innovation system – from entrepreneurs and researchers to venture capitalists and policymakers.

It is a night of serious networking, with an emphasis on fun. It is also an opportunity to honour the individuals and companies doing great things for Australia.

The InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence are supported by: Australian Computer Society, Investment NSW, Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Technology Council of Australia, TechnologyOne, National Artificial Intelligence Centre, CSIRO’s ON Innovation Program, Reason Group, Q-CTRL, University of New South Wales, South by South West Sydney and IP Australia.

Looking for brand exposure in front of Australia’s tech ecosystem? Purchase a table of 10 for the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence and have your logo displayed on screens across the venue and in the event program as a table sponsor.

Protecting your great ideas with intellectual property (IP) rights can lead to lasting benefits for your growing business. IP refers to creations of the mind, such as a brand, logo, invention, design or artistic work. Head to the IP Australia website to find out more about IP, and how it might help your business.

Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.

Leave a Comment

Related stories