Businesses support Australian-made to ease supply chain pressure

The insights, compiled from information from 760 SMEs in Q3, revealed business owners believe supply chain issues have eased in Q3, although around one in four (26 per cent) still report they were a significant issue for their business in the past three months. This is down from 31 per cent in Q2.

The report also indicated fewer business owners (24 per cent) believe supply chains will remain a significant issue in the next 12 months, down from 31 per cent in Q2.

NAB executive for business metro, Michael Saadie, said investing in Australian-based manufacturing was one way to address supply chain issues.

“Since the pandemic, most of us have experienced a shortage of our favourite items at the supermarket, department stores and online retailers — this is the tail-end of wider global supply chain issues worsened by natural disasters, increased freight costs and ongoing global conflict,” Mr Saadie said.

“Although global supply chains are improving, greater investment in local manufacturing facilities opens up a lot of opportunities — it means reducing reliance on overseas suppliers while also stimulating the local economy through valuable jobs.”

The research revealed the construction, accommodation, and hospitality sectors were most likely to increase their use of Australian-based suppliers, with almost seven in 10 saying they would be very or extremely likely to source locally.

By state, South Australian businesses were most likely to increase their use of local suppliers (64 per cent) followed by Queensland (53 per cent) and NSW (51 per cent).

Encouragingly, for those considering establishing new manufacturing operations in Australia, over four in 10 SMEs (44 per cent) said they were very or extremely likely to support new local start-ups.