Australian Made calls on businesses to ‘buy Australian’

The Australian Made Campaign is calling on businesses to revisit their procurement policies; after research released today revealed just 20 per cent of Australian companies have a firm policy of buying Australian-made goods wherever possible.

The Roy Morgan research also showed that 34 per cent of companies had neither a policy nor a preference for buying Australian-made goods.

“It is worrying to discover that the portion of companies with ‘buy local’ policies in place is so low,” Australian Made Chief Executive, Ian Harrison, said.

“Perhaps even more concerning is the percentage of businesses with no apparent inclination to reinvest back into the local business community they operate in.”

“At a time when it is clear that consumers, even Government, are placing more importance on buying Australian-made, it is disappointing that businesses are not leading the way,” Mr Harrison said.

The top three reasons given by businesses for not having a clear policy or preference were Price (21%), Lack of availability (20%) and Value (14%).

Mr Harrison said the misconception that Australian products are always more expensive needs to be revisited and put into a broader context than just price.

“We recognise the pressure that many Aussie businesses are under in the marketplace from cheap imports and the need therefore to keep the ‘cost of doing business’ down, but we urge them to consider local sourcing wherever possible,” Mr Harrison said.

“Products made and grown in Australia to our high quality, health and safety standards offer genuine value.”

All consumers looking to find genuine Australian-made or grown products - whether they be individuals, businesses or Government - should visit www.australianmade.com.au. 

Featuring more than 10,000 products from over 1800 Australian manufacturers, processors and producers, the Australian Made website enables visitors to quickly and easily find locally made, grown or caught products. The website only features genuine Aussie products that have been certified to carry the Australian Made, Australian Grown (AMAG) logo – Australia’s only registered country-of-origin trade mark.

Download the complete research report here.