Australia Lean Global Expansion

Introduction

Australia is a common first market that US technology companies consider as part of a global expansion assessment. Australia is culturally, politically and economically very similar to the US which helps to provide a soft landing pad. The Australian economy has a high GDP per capita rate to support advanced industry across many sectors. This advanced economy, transparent regulation, strong talent, high technology adoption and an english speaking population all support Australia as a global expansion option.

Advanced Economy

Australia, a population of only 25 million, boasts an economy that is the world’s 12th largest economy in 2021, up two places from 2019, according to the International Monetary Fund. Australia’s GDP will be around A$2 trillion (US$1.5 trillion). Australia is home to just 0.3% of the world’s population, but accounts for 1.6% of the global economy. The Australian economy is dominated by its service sector, comprising 62.7% of the GDP and employing 78.8% of the labour force.

Transparent Regulation

In Australia, regulation is made at the federal level as well as by the states and territories, in the form of legislation and subordinate legislation and at a local government level as regulations and by-laws. Australian government websites such as Austrade, ATO, ASIC, FairWork and state portals provide clear and easy to use information. When comparing with many other global countries, Australia ranks amongst the highest in terms of government technology sophistication.

Strong Talent

Australia’s labour force is one of the most educated, multicultural and multilingual in the world. Australian workers are highly skilled, thanks to an excellent education system, quality scientific research institutions, and availability of specialised training services. Australia ranks well for its educational system, scientific research institutions and ready availability of skilled labour.  It has a culturally diverse workforce where almost 30 per cent of workers were born overseas. There is a multicultural population, where 2.1 million Australians speak an Asian language and 1.3 million speak a European language.

Technology Adoption

Australia had over three quarters of a million (772,100) technology workers in 2019. The technology workforce has increased at a faster rate than other parts of the economy.  Digital workers are fundamental to Australia’s ability to access the economic and social benefits of the digital economy. According to a report by Deloitte, one estimate is that ICT subdivisions generated over $56 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the Australian economy in 2019 (CIIER, 2020). Australians are eager and accustomed to adopting new technologies that foreign companies can bring to market.

English Speaking

When companies consider a global expansion an often overlooked decision is the complexity of navigating local language barriers. The macroeconomic indicators of growth rate or population size can be tempting when deciding a strategy. Companies choose Australia as a petri dish to first learn about the complexities of a new market expansion, new regulations and time zone differences without the added complexity of language. A common strategy is to first land in Australia as a regional hub before beginning to expand to more complex Asian markets such as China, Thailand or Korea.