Industry Research and Development Act 1986 Directions in respect of Concessional Loans for the Commercialisation of Technological Innovation (Cth)

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

INDUSTRY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACT 1986

DIRECTIONS IN RESPECT OF CONCESSIONAL LOANS FOR THE COMMERCIALISATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION

I, PETER COOK, Minister of State for Industry, Science and Technology, pursuant to Section 20 of the Industry Research and Development Act 1986 HEREBY DIRECT that in assessing an application for a Concessional Loan for the Commercialisation of Technological Innovation, the Industry Research and Development Board shall:

1.         have regard to the Commonwealth Government’s industry development             policy   objectives, including the objectives of these loans to:

1.a.      encourage successful innovation in small companies by supporting the                timely commercialisation of internationally competitive goods,    services and systems;

1.b.      increase the level of research and development that is commercialised                within Australia.

Eligibility Criteria

2.         consider only such applicants where the Board is satisfied that:

2.a.      the project involves early commercialisation of technological    innovations of goods, systems or services and is limited to the    following activities, including related market research:

-           product/process design;

-           trial production runs including tooling up costs;

-           regulations and standards compliance;

-           protection of core intellectual property;

-           trial and demonstration activities; and

-           product documentation.

2.b.      the applicant company/group employs less than 100 persons; and

2.c.      the project is directed to the commercialisation of internationally    competitive goods, systems or services; and

2.d.      the results of the project will be exploited for the benefit of Australia;                 and

2.e.      each loan will not exceed 50% of eligible project costs; and

2.f.       the project would not proceed satisfactorily without loan support; and

2.g.      applicants have been unable to obtain sufficient funding for the    project from financial institutions.

Relative Merit Criteria

3.         for those applications that meet the eligibility criteria, support only those that       demonstrate a high order of relative merit with particular regard to the          following factors:

Primary Factors:

3.a.      management capability;

3.b.      market need, growth and size;

3.c.      market competitiveness/dynamism;

3.d.      technical and production synergy;

3.e.      the national benefits that will accrue from the project;

Secondary Factors:

3.f.       project personnel expertise/capability;

3.g.      technical risk;

3.h.      product/process uniqueness/superiority; and

3.i.       relative price.

Concessional Loan Guidelines

4.         complete payment of the loan to the applicant within three years of the date        agreement;

5.         in the absence of early repayment of the loan and interest accrued, require                     that all loan and interest repayments will be made in six equal instalments,           commencing 42 months after the date of agreement, at six monthly intervals or        alternative arrangements agreed by the Board in the event that loan        repayments under these provisions were not met; and

6.         set the interest rate for loan repayments at 40% of the Commonwealth Bank      Loan Reference Rate or such other rate as the Industry Research and          Development Board may decide. Once established the interest rate will be             fixed throughout the term of the loan, with interest accruing daily after 36            months has elapsed from the date of agreement.

Dated this 6^th day of July 1994

Peter Cook

Minister of State for

Industry, Science and Technology