In an Australian first, The City is also creating an advanced Innovation Hub for the blue economy to test and develop new marine practices and technologies that could help sustain vibrant blue economies across the globe.

Our research forecasts an exponential growth in Cockburn’s defence sector over the next decade.

Like many industries, there is a genuine skills gap within the defence sector, and it’s expected to grow as demand does. Without hubs like the one we’re proposing, this will only become a bigger issue.
Joining us in the world-class Innovation Hub will be researchers collaborating across four major universities. Specialised registered training organisations will provide training and upskilling, while PhD students from UWA will deliver research opportunities and help bring products to market. Finally, equity investor group Perth Angels and not-for-profits Business Station and Business Foundations are also onboard with a focus on providing business advisory support.

Up to 40 Blue Economy businesses will be guided to bring their ideas into commercial reality, with access to services which will build capacity and capability.

As an advanced research hub for the Blue Economy, Cockburn will test and develop new marine practices and technology.
This Innovation Hub was designed to help the City of Cockburn grow local jobs, all of which will increase the wellbeing and quality of life for our communities.

In 1989, the Bundaberg Tourism Board performed a feasibility study on the establishment of a business incubator and business support organisation in Bundaberg. Two years later, through the work of a visionary group of local business leaders, The Riverside Enterprise Association was established and incorporated as a Not for Profit Association.

After launching and operating Bundaberg’s first business incubator in an old warehouse on the banks of the Burnett River from 1991, the former Wyper Peterson hardware building was purchased and fitted out, and in 2004, our organisation relocated into its current headquarters which comprises a 28-space business incubator, conference centre and business advisory service.

Thirty years on, our organisation now known as Regional Business HQ is one of Australia’s longest continuously running business incubators, and since establishing, we have directly assisted more than 7000 local businesses.

In January of 2019, Regional Business HQ expanded its operations to include The Generator coworking space and innovation hub located above the Bundaberg Post Office. In October of 2019, we further expanded our footprint and opened The Generator Gympie to house our team of business support staff and to provide the Gympie region with a premium coworking facility.

In 2020, we rebranded from our former trading name of Bundaberg Business Enterprise Centre and took on our current name of Regional Business HQ to better reflect the range of services that we offer and the support that we provide to businesses across regional Queensland.

Our organisation maintains it commitment to strengthening business in regional Queensland and to helping create sustainable regional employment by assisting and nurturing new and existing businesses. Our voluntary Board of Directors continue to drive our strategic direction and as we grow our support and assistance for regional business, our team of dedicated and skilled staff work tirelessly to achieve our organisation’s purpose.

CfAT was established in Alice Springs in 1980 to research, design, develop and teach appropriate technologies and deliver technical training to Indigenous people living in remote communities. The organisation works towards sustainable and enterprising communities by delivering appropriate fit-for-purpose technology, including practical project design, technical innovation, infrastructure, and training services.

CSIRO manages national research facilities and scientific infrastructure on behalf of the nation to assist with the delivery of research. The national facilities and specialised laboratories are available to both international and Australian users from industry and research.

Resilient Futures works with organisations to apply the thinking and tools required to leverage disruption.

The Resilient Futures definition of disruption is: the consequences, intended and unintended, of rapid (often exponential) change bought about by digital and physical technologies as well as non-technological change such as social unrest, economic uncertainty, political instability ecological transformation.

Our approach is based on twenty five years of experience in working with organisations around the world. In today’s operating environment, no organisation or industry is or will be untouched by disruption and all organisational leaders must make a choice – see disruption as a tailwind and act to leverage it, or view it as a headwind and fall foul of its consequences.

Resilient Futures can be engaged in a number of ways including training in strategy development, facilitation of strategy development, management coaching and speaking and presentations – all with the objective of applying Strategy in Action to ensure that organisations:

- Be disruption aware and ready
- Embed active strategic capability
- Change ahead of change
- Generate authentic and sustainable value

Strategy in Action (SiA) is the Resilient Futures’ strategy framework used by organisations that are committed to re-setting how they think about and execute strategy – with a specific focus on leveraging disruption.

SiA is specially designed for planning in an age of exponential change where the speed, scale and scope of change is unprecedented and strategy formulation and execution need to be one and the same to ensure agile and timely responses to fast-changing environments. SiA is easy to learn and apply and can be used at a variety of levels within an organisation.

Our Vision is to build a sustainable robotics industry in Australia by supporting the entire robotics ecosystem, from the companies building robots to those researching and developing new robotic technologies, robotics educators and enthusiasts, and the companies looking to adopt robots and robotics-related technologies.

Startup Tablelands is entering its 7th year of operation and in 2021 we are increasing our focus on the powerful combination of technology and consciousness. We are providing various opportunities for everyone in our region to experience and learn about transformational technology that is designed to enhance both external and internal growth.

Startup Tablelands along with the Tablelands Business Hub continues to be THE space for dynamic, enthusiastic and free-thinking people to grow themselves and their entrepreneurial ideas.

Startup Tasmania, Inc. was founded in 2011. The organisation started Tasmania’s first co-working space in the basement of 71 Murray Street, Hobart. Many Tasmanian entrepreneurs found their feet in “the lair”, including Secret Lab, QikID and Grifby, and many more joined us for our regular breakfasts, drinks and mentoring events.

When the basement space became unavailable, a number of our members pulled together and established The Typewriter Factory, initially as individual office spaces with Startup Tasmania as one of the founding tenants. We operated a (much smaller) shared office in The Typewriter Factory for a few months until they expanded into their larger coworking space in the loft. We now use this space regularly for our Hobart events.

More recently we’ve supported the establishment of Cradle Coast Innovation in the North-West, The Catalyst Project in the North, assisted with the organisation of GovHack Tasmania and have organised Tasmania’s part of the inaugural Startup Spring festival.

Work health and safety laws aim to protect the health, safety and welfare of all workers at work. The laws also protect the health and safety of all other people who might be affected by the work.
In every work environment, there are hazards that could cause your workers harm. The word risk describes how likely that harm is to happen and how severe that harm could be.

Some risks are obvious, like the risk of falls from an unmarked ledge, or burns from a hot oven. Other risks are harder to see, like muscle strain from repetitive work activities, or the stress caused by bullying.
A great way to reduce the number of risks in your business is to design your place of work, work tasks and the way you use equipment to be safe. This will mean you’re less likely to introduce risks that then have to be managed.

To protect your workers from injury, all Queensland employers should follow a four-step risk management process. This will help you identify hazards, assess risks, find ways to control those risks, and then make sure those controls keep working.

Following this simple process will help your business meet its responsibilities under work health and safety laws.