The NSW Government has announced a $260 million investment in a national-first shared-use research facility to be built on the doorstep of the new Western Sydney International Airport.
The full-scale Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility (AMRF) will be modelled on examples of successful precincts overseas (such as the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield UK), bringing together businesses, engineers, and researchers to prove out new technologies, scale up and commercialise.
Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade and Minister for Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the AMRF is expected to be operational in 2026.
“Western Sydney has one of the largest concentrations of manufacturing businesses in Australia. The AMRF will allow manufacturers from Western Sydney the support to transition to new ways of doing business, creating the high value components for the next generation of space, aerospace, defence and medical technologies,” Mr Ayres said.
“It will mean more jobs and more investment in Western Sydney. But even more importantly, it puts Western Sydney at the centre of some of the biggest global industrial trends of this century.”
Treasurer Matt Kean said the facility would “change the face of manufacturing in Australia” on the doorstep of the new International Airport.
“The high-tech machines we are purchasing will give businesses and researchers in Western Sydney access to some of the most advanced manufacturing technologies in the world,” he added.
“This investment will return dividends for the taxpayers of NSW through private investment and premium jobs as the new city and industries grow together.”
According to the NSW Government’s statement, the Western Parkland City Authority will also be releasing the first of a $23 million package of tenders for advanced manufacturing equipment to be installed in the pilot of the AMRF due to open in 2023.
The first tender package, released this week by the Western Parkland City Authority, is for precision additive manufacturing equipment to be used in the aerospace, defence, automotive, and medical industries.
