Tech firm Imdex hopeful review led by Tesla chair will help supercharge Australia’s dated R&D settings

The boss of a mining tech firm has welcomed a national review led by Tesla chair Robyn Denholm into research and development, warning Australia has fallen behind due to a lack of sector support. Paul House, managing director at Imdex, said Australia had historically boasted a “fabulous reputation” in R&D, as well as an innovation mindset, and a “can-do” attitude. ‘Historically’ being the operative word, he thinks a recent national review into the political frameworks and programs cradling new ideas in Australia, couldn’t have come any sooner. “If you look at any major policy infrastructure that supports how far the world has moved over the last two decades, you’re really going, ‘we’ve fallen behind’,” he said. “When we were last contemporary was probably last century.” “I think that this review is timely in helping us understand . . . what do we need to do to be comparable, or even better, get ahead of the curve and be really contemporary and leading edge.” Launched in December 2024 the review will be led by Robyn Denholm, the Sydney-born Australian businesswoman keeping tech billionaire Elon Musk in check as chair of Tesla. Ms Denholm and the panel will work to find ways to maximise existing and drive new investment into R&D, “strengthen linkages” between research and industry and overall ramp up Australia’s “R&D intensity”. “While we excel at producing world class research, it is now imperative to focus on development and commercialisation to realise the full impact of our efforts,” Ms Denholm said of the panel launch. “My objective for this review is to unlock the immense potential of Australian research by turning it into tangible outcomes that deliver both economic and societal benefits.” Mr House, who runs $1.3 billion Balcatta-based Imdex, said there was generally more cash and resources available for earlier stage “start-ups” but less so for “scale-ups” — businesses that are growing off the back of their idea and trying expand further. “The challenge is, once you’ve developed a good idea, is putting that idea in harm’s way,” he said. “And to put a good idea in harm’s way, you need a customer that is willing to take that risk of interrupting their core operations and trying something out, and that’s a risk that they may have limited incentive to take.” He spoke highly of the State Government’s $28 million Australian Automation and Robotics Precinct in the northern suburb of Neerabup, where Imdex has been able to trial out and showcase its own drill blasting system without always have to trek to a mine site. The 51 hectare facility, which opened in November, includes co-working spaces, warehousing, labs, meeting rooms and seven ‘test beds’ for trailing out equipment. The space is largely geared up towards catering automation, remote operation and robotic systems used in the mining industry, giving companies space to prove up their invention ready for a big customer like BHP or Rio Tinto. Broadly, Mr House said a lack of further support for growing businesses in Australia meant being bought out was their only option for growth. “What’s happening is that M&A activity is saying ‘we can scale you up and we’re going to do that offshore’, because the environment doesn’t exist here to support those companies going the next step in their life cycle within the Australian context,” he said. “I think that’s a great loss to Australia as a nation.” The reviewing panel, which also includes Australian neuroscientist and academic Ian Chubb, leading burns specialist Fiona Wood, and start-up director Kate Cornick, will publicly consult on a discussion paper and make recommendations to the Federal Government.