Investment Opportunities
Investment opportunites in South Australia are expanding rapidly across a diverse range of industry sectors as the State's economy builds the foundations for a dynamic future.
The South Australian defence industry and the mining and energy sector are two stand-out arenas for investors, with both enjoying a spectacular growth surge. Other industry sectors offering exciting investment projects are aviation, services and information and communications technology.
With a substantial range of major projects either underway or in the pipeline, South Australia must be your preferred investment destination.
Resources
South Australia offers significant investment opportunities to support the mineral and energy sectors, including:
• exploration, mining and processing equipment, technology and services;
• project management;
• engineering, procurement and construction management;
• infrastructure and mining design and engineering;
• heavy engineering and fabrication; and
• environmental services.
South Australia has a number of resources developments in progress or in the pipeline, including:
• BHP Billiton’s potential Olympic Dam mine expansion; Environmental Impact Statement has been lodged;
• Alliance Resources' Four Mile mine - at mine development stage;
• PepinNini Mineral's Crocker Well mine, at the mine development stage;
• Curnamona Energy's Oban mine, at the mine development stage;
• Hybrid Energy Australia's FuturGas Project, at the mine development stage;
• Centrex Metal's Wilgerup mine, at the mine development stage; and
• Iluka's Jacinth-Ambrosia mine, at the mine development stage.
South Australia also offers great exploration potential for the discovery of new mineral deposits, and petroleum (oil and gas) and geothermal energy sources.
As at December 2008, South Australia has attracted more than 71% of Australian geothermal licences and 98% of all geothermal investment for the period 2002 to 2008.
Expenditure on mineral exploration in South Australia is at record levels and totalled $268 million for the year ending 31 March 2009.
South Australian expenditure on uranium exploration in 2008 was $94 million, which was 43% of the national share of uranium expenditure.
South Australia is committed to future research and development. Adelaide is home to:
• the new South Australian Centre of Excellence for Geothermal Research, which is a world-class centre that will play a key role in helping to deliver a geothermal energy future for South Australia;
• the headquarters of the Australian Minerals Science Research Institute, which undertakes innovative, collaborative and inter-disciplinary research to address major technical challenges facing the minerals industry and achieve major advances in minerals processing technologies;
• the South Australian Centre for Mineral Exploration Under Cover, at The University of Adelaide, which researches and develops new, specialised techniques to explore mineral deposits with industry focussed applications;
• the Ian Wark Institute, at University of SA, which has a reputation for solving complex industry problems through the application of science and technology;
• the University of Adelaide’s Australian School of Petroleum, the largest petroleum-focussed centre in the southern hemisphere.
Skills and workforce development initiatives include:
• RESA (Resources and Engineering Skills Alliance), an industry-led organisation that promotes, co-ordinates and facilitates services and solutions designed to meet skills shortages identified in the resources sector;
• Trade Schools for the Future, which will deliver high-end, practical trade skills to senior students, preparing the State’s young people for work while they complete their SA Certificate of Education.
To discuss investment opportunities email: investinginsa@state.sa.gov.au
To discover more about South Australia’s mineral and energy resource potential, visit the Department of Primary Industries and Resources SA (PIRSA) website.
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Defence
Significant investment opportunities exist to supply and support a wide range of naval, land and aerospace defence activities in South Australia, including:
• heavy engineering and fabrication;
• electronic military software system design, development and integration;
• electronic warfare, surveillance and communications, combat and mission systems development.
South Australia has major defence projects worth in excess of A$A13 billion, including the:
• Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) shipbuilding contract, by ASC, Defence Materiel Organisation and Royal Australian Navy;
• AP-3C Orion maintenance contract, by Tenix Defence and Australian Aerospace;
• 25-year through-life support contract for Collins Class submarines, by ASC, Defence Materiel Organisation and Royal Australian Navy;
• Customs coast watch surveillance contract, by Surveillance Australia and BAE Systems Australia;
• New hardened and networked army presence, involving 1,200 soldiers, to be established in 2011 by the Department of Defence.
South Australia is committed to the future growth of the defence industry.
Dedicated business infrastructure includes:
• Techport Australia – Osborne Maritime Precinct, the new defence industrial precinct developed to support the AWD construction project, located at Osborne in Adelaide’s outer west;
• Technology Park – housing high-technology focussed companies (with space available for additional investment) and located at Mawson Lakes in Adelaide’s outer north;
• Edinburgh Parks Defence Precinct, housing defence research and manufacturing organisations and defence companies involved in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, located at Edinburgh Parks in Adelaide’s outer north;
• Woomera Test and Evaluation Range – a 127,000 square kilometre range well placed to play a leading role in the global satellite-launch industry, equipment testing and evaluation, and military training activities, located about 500 kilometres north-west of Adelaide.
Research and Development initiatives include:
• Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) - the largest defence research facility in Australia, it houses the Systems Sciences and Information Sciences laboratories and is the centre of the Department of Defence’s innovation capability;
• Centre of Excellence in Defence and Industry Systems Capability (CEDISC) - aims to foster defence and industry capability in software and systems engineering, systems integration, process improvement and capability maturity;
• Centre for Sensor Signal and Information Processing (CSSIP) - researches distributed sensor and information processing, situation awareness, sensor signal processing, image analysis and area surveillance technology;
• Cooperative Research Centre for Enterprise Distributed Systems Technology – (DSTC) focusses on national information technology needs;
• Proof and Experiment Establishment (P&EE) at Port Wakefield – offers the full range of weapon system proof and trial methodologies;
• Aerospace Operational Support Group (AOSG) at RAAF Edinburgh – conducts electromagnetic compatibility testing, electronic warfare (EW) development, and systems engineering and development;
• Air Warfare Destroyer Systems Centre at Norwood – the location for the Air Warfare Destroyer Alliance and manages the design schedule, budgets and work breakdown structures of the project; includes representatives from the Alliance Partners – the Commonwealth, the shipbuilder ASC, the systems integrator Raytheon and the ship designer, the Spanish company Navantia;
• Centre of Expertise in Photonics at the University of Adelaide – a high-tech, world-leading research centre focussed on the design, fabrication, development and application of soft glass microstructured optical fibres for defence applications;
• Institute for Telecommunications Research (ITR) – one of Australia's foremost research organisations specialising in technology for digital wireless communications, including both fixed and mobile satellite and terrestrial radio services.
To discover how South Australia can help you establish or expand your operation, email us at investinginsa@state.sa.gov.au
To discover more about South Australia’s defence potential, visit the Defence SA website.
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ICT
South Australia’s ICT industry offers a range of investment opportunities across the following key areas:
• defence software and systems integration
• film and digital content
• software development
• telecommunications
• electronics
• IT services
South Australia’s ICT industry continues to grow in both size and capability, particularly as a result of South Australian-based companies winning large defence software and systems integration projects.
South Australia is home to several leading ICT research and development organisations, including:
• Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO)
• Centre of Expertise in Photonics
• Institute for Telecommunications Research
• South Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing
• Centre of Excellence in Defence and Industry Systems Capability (CEDISC).
South Australia’s existing ICT-related tertiary education sector has been boosted by leading US university Carnegie Mellon establishing campuses of its Heinz School and Entertainment Technology Centre in South Australia.
For a statistical overview of the South Australian ICT industry please see the ICT & Electronics Industry Industry Profile.
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Education
South Australia’s international education sector is thriving. Significant opportunities exist for education providers in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) and English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) sectors to provide education to international and local students.
The State target is to double the State’s share of the national international student market (62,000 students) by 2014.
For providers South Australia offers:
• international student numbers that have been growing consistently higher than the national average over the past six years – (more than 27,700 international students across all levels of education in 2008);
• an international student population that recognises Adelaide as a better location than Sydney and Melbourne (better quality of education, safer and lower living costs);
• about 40 Registered Training Organisation’s accredited for education delivery to international students;
• Adelaide is recognised as having the lowest set-up and operational costs for business amongst Australia’s capital cities;
• availability and access to competitively priced commercial space in Adelaide's central business district or suburbs of Adelaide;
• a supportive quality accreditation Agency, the Department of Further Education Employment Science and Technology (DFEEST), part of the South Australian State Government, to provide accreditation as a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) and for the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS); and
• an alternative accreditation pathway through the National Audit Registration Authority (NARA) for suitable applicants.
Education is now South Australia’s fourth-largest export, cementing Adelaide’s position as an internationally recognised education centre and Australia’s ‘learning city’.
To discover how South Australia can help you establish your operations, email us at investinginsa@state.sa.gov.au
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Cleantech
With around 58% of the nation’s wind capacity and around 33% of the nation’s grid-connected solar photovoltaic capacity, South Australian businesses and research institutions are at the forefront of the Cleantech sector.
Opportunities exist for companies involved in areas such as:
• wind power - South Australia has nine wind farms and two more under construction, which brings the total to 11 wind farms with a total of 867.75 MW. Investments of more than $1.87 billion in the wind sector reinforce the State's reputation as an international leader in hosting and supporting renewable energy.
• solar power – the South Australian Government is supporting key developments in solar power, such as:
• Australia’s largest off-grid solar power station in Coober Pedy;
• Umuwa Solar Power Station – the State and Federal governments are supporting an upgrade of Umuwa to help boost annual electricity output from 335 MWH to 715 MWH;
• Adelaide Showgrounds – 1,000 kilowatts of solar panels will be installed at the Adelaide Showgrounds which will be the largest rooftop installation in Australia.
• Airport – the State Government invested $1 million in solar-powering the Adelaide Airport.
• geothermal - South Australia has more than $700 million in potential geothermal – or hot rocks - investment forecast during the period 2002 to 2013. This represents more than 70% of all geothermal activity throughout Australia in that 11-year term.
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Services
Services is the largest and fastest-growing sector in the South Australian economy, contributing $37.4 billion to Gross Value Added in 2007-08.
South Australia’s service sector is also highly innovative, spending $218 million on research and development in 2006-07, which equates to 26.2% of the State total.
With its rapidly expanding mining, defence and environmental sectors, South Australia offers excellent business and investment opportunities for companies providing professional services to local and international markets.
Companies operating in South Australia’s services sector offer world-class technical, business and professional expertise. Opportunities exist in some of the State’s most significant service industries, including:
• scientific research
• architecture, engineering and technical services
• accountancy and legal services
• computer systems design
• marketing and business management services
• business process outsourcing
• management and other consulting related services
• employment services.
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Aviation
Most of South Australia’s aerospace and aviation activities are based around Adelaide and Parafield Airports and RAAF Edinburgh.
South Australia hosts the Australian Defence Force’s aerospace and maritime surveillance operations at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Edinburgh, and the world’s largest test facility for long-range missiles and rockets, the 127,000 square kilometre Woomera defence and commercial test, evaluation and training range.
It is also the base for National Air Support, which provides civilian maritime surveillance for the Coastwatch border protection program. Adelaide is also Australia’s preferred location for pilot training, servicing Qantas, JAL Express, China Airlines, Emirates, Cathay Pacific and Vietnam Airlines.
Adelaide is the world’s third-most cost-competitive city for aerospace product manufacturing.
From this competitive platform, South Australia supports many complementary aviation businesses, including large-value defence projects such as the A$1 billion Tenix AP-3C Orion upgrade contract.
Our aerospace and aviation industry offers aircraft maintenance and leasing and pilot flight training, and specialises in developing and installing aviation systems.
Opportunities include:
• additional domestic and international flight services, utilising the new Adelaide Airport terminal;
• expanded pilot training facilities;
• aircraft maintenance, modification and component overhauls;
• the development of projects with leading aerospace companies including BAE Systems, Raytheon, National Jet Systems, RLM, Saab Systems and Tenix Aviation.
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Assistance
The Department of Trade and Economic Development (DTED) provides a full range of assistance and services to companies planning to locate or expand an operation in South Australia.
DTED offers:
• tailor-made information and investment packages, and practical advice in relation to an investment project;
• assistance in arranging visiting programs for new investors to explore suitable locations and investment partners;
• introductions to relevant government authorities, utility providers, and professional service providers including property, recruitment, relocation and training companies;
• support in identifying and introducing suitable local companies such as suppliers, service providers and technology partners;
• a coordinated approach for the delivery of major investment projects, including government development assessment and other regulatory requirements; and facilitating specific project needs such as infrastructure, access to utilities, business partners, migration and training;
• dedicated account managers for investing companies.
To discover how South Australia can help you establish or expand your operation, email us at investinginsa@state.sa.gov.au
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