Federal Geelong Transition Authority secures $290M for next tranche

The National Reconstruction Fund has approved $290 million for the next tranche of Geelong Transition Authority programs, extending the economic diversification investment that has supported Geelong's transition from automotive manufacturing dependency to the diversified advanced manufacturing, health, education, and creative industries economy that now characterises the region.

The Geelong Transition Authority was established following the closure of Ford's Geelong engine plant in 2016 and the Alcoa Point Henry smelter in 2014, and has deployed more than $800 million in economic development funding over the past decade in partnerships with businesses, educational institutions, and infrastructure programs that have reshaped the city's economic profile.

Jobs and Industry Minister Ed Husic said the new funding tranche reflected the program's demonstrated effectiveness, noting that Geelong's employment rate had reached its highest level in the post-automotive era and that the quality of the new jobs — in advanced manufacturing, health services, and the knowledge economy — was higher than the automotive jobs that had been lost. "This is what a just transition looks like when government, industry, and community work together," the minister said.

The new funding will concentrate on the opportunities that Geelong's advanced manufacturing ecosystem has created — particularly in carbon fibre composites, medical devices, and clean energy manufacturing — where the combination of Carbon Nexus's research capability and the skilled manufacturing workforce that has been developed since the automotive closures creates a genuine competitive advantage for businesses choosing Geelong as a manufacturing location.

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