Industry Overview

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing in Australia is a high tech industry, and sets the pace for technology innovation/adoption. The industry is valued at approximately $6.05 billion including an estimated record $1.2 billion in exports. The Industry comprises more than 120 companies employing over 11, 500 people. R&D expenditure in 1996 was approximately $254 million making the industry as the nation's largest funded of research. The multiplier effect to local suppliers and technology providers to manufacturing is two to three fold (based on ABS figures).

At present there are currently 8 major pharmaceutical companies actively involved in the Pharmaceutical Focus Group. To date the group has achieved outstanding results which has made them the pace setters for the Pharmaceutical Industry. The group have now formed strong partnerships with the major industry associations, those being the Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association (APMA) and the Australian Self-Medication Industry (ASMI). There is now a greater understanding awareness of recycling issues, legislation and in particular, the workings of the Environmental Protection Authority.

These achievements can be attributed to the collaborative effort of the group and the ability to exchange ideas without any loss of confidentiality or commercially sensitive information being passed on. This type of group environment has allowed for sharing of existing solutions along with jointly developing new solutions and developing a common approach to eliminating/modifying materials & procedures that do not add value to the company.