A NEW national manufacturing strategy for Australian fashion and textiles has received the qualified support of the nation’s peak wool grower body, WoolProducers Australia.
The Australian Fashion Council and R.M.Williams last Thursday launched the National Manufacturing Strategy for Australian Fashion and Textiles 2026-2036 at Parliament House in Canberra.
The AFC described the strategy as the first coordinated national roadmap to rebuild targeted domestic manufacturing capability across Australia’s textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) sector.
The strategy includes strengthening of domestic manufacturing to capture value onshore, including co-investment in new tech, rebuilding first stage processing and innovating in circular manufacturing and fibre-to-fibre recycling, and increased public procurement.
The AFC roadmap also advocates for building a globally competitive premium sector – traceable, sustainable — Australian-made identification and promotion, and creating new skilled pathways, including protecting women’s contribution and participation.
WoolProducers Australia chief executive officer Jo Hall said the AFC’s National Manufacturing Strategy dovetails very nicely into a number of key focus areas of WoolProducers, namely the ‘Ensuring a sustainable future for Australia’s wool supply chain’ project.
Ms Hall said the wool supply chain project was delivered by Deloitte Access Economics and funded through the Commonwealth Government’s Agricultural Trade and Market Access Cooperation (ATMAC) Program, and our Wool Procurement Guidelines policy, which urges the Australian government to use Australian wool in government buildings.
“WoolProducers have been keen to see the recommendations of the Phase One and Two reports for the ‘Ensuring a sustainable future for Australia’s wool supply chain’ project, and have been able to progress a number of the overseas recommendations particularly in Vietnam through AusHub, and will start to pursue Bangladesh and India more vigorously through resourcing from Austrade’s Trade Diversification Network (TDN), of which we were selected as a member, under the Accessing New Markets Initiative (ANMI).”
Ms Hall said the AFC’s National Manufacturing Strategy supports the findings from the supply chain Phase one work, looking at domestic early-stage wool processing.
“We look forward to working with the AFC to pursue this.”
The fashion council said independent modelling by RMIT University and RPS have projected that full implementation of the AFC strategy’s coordinated policy platform will grow TCF manufacturing value added from $2.6 billion to $2.9 billion by 2030/31, delivering a cumulative $1.4 billion economic dividend over five years. The strategy is also projected to create more than 1,000 new skilled jobs and $864 million in additional wages, with approximately half of those jobs are projected to be filled by women.
At present, TCF manufacturing already employs more than 27,000 Australians — 58 percent women –(compared to 28 per cent in other manufacturing industries), and 41pc from culturally and linguistically diverse communities – and pays over $1.4 billion in wages annually. Strengthening this base will increase the competitiveness of Australia’s $28 billion fashion and textile industry, which employs nearly 500,000 Australians across the broader value chain, the AFC said.
The strategy will be led by the Australian Fashion Council and measured through a two-stage assessment framework.
Implementation review (to 2029): This phase will assess progress in establishing the core architecture underpinning the Strategy, including procurement reform, national capability mapping, skills recognition pilots, shared manufacturing infrastructure and governance arrangements to coordinate delivery.
Strategic outcomes review (to 2036): This phase will assess progress against the Strategy’s long-term ambition – a competitive, technology-enabled and domestically anchored manufacturing sector with a sustainable workforce pipeline and globally recognised market position.
Australian Fashion Council executive chair Marianne Perkovic said the strategy sets out a clear roadmap for rebuilding a globally competitive Australian fashion and textile manufacturing sector.
“Australia already has exceptional design talent, advanced manufacturing capability and globally recognised brands.
“With the right coordination across industry, skills and procurement policy, we have a real opportunity to strengthen sovereign capability, create skilled jobs and position Australia as a leader in premium manufacturing.”
She said Australia is the world’s largest exporter of greasy wool and a globally significant cotton producer.
“Yet we export raw fibre and import finished goods at multiples of the original value.
“Re-establishing fibre processing and spinning capability restores the missing link in our value chain. Building the next generation of capability to capture this value – capability that is advanced, technology-enabled and circular – will also require stronger demand signals,” Ms Perkovic said.
“Strategic public procurement can help anchor that demand and support the growth of Australia’s domestic manufacturing capability.”
AFC general manager Samantha Delgos said R.M.Williams has manufactured in Adelaide for more than 90 years.
“We employ skilled craftspeople, invest in apprentices and continue to modernise production while competing globally.
“What’s needed now is to activate a flywheel: demand enables investment in skills, skills enable advanced manufacturing, and technology allows Australian manufacturers to scale while maintaining quality.”
R.M.Williams chief operating officer Tara Moses said the strategy is a serious economic blueprint for communities, supporting skilled jobs, strengthening regional manufacturing, and creating clearer pathways for women into trades and long-term manufacturing careers.
“It presents a coordinated, cross-portfolio agenda that connects procurement, skills and industry capability.
“As Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Friends group, I’m committed to supporting the sector to turn this plan into long-term coordinated action,” she said.
Parliamentary Friends of Australian Fashion & Textiles co-chair Matt Burnell, MP, said the strategy’s launch at Parliament House marked an important moment for Australia’s fashion and textile industry.
“To showcase the capability already operating in Australia, AFC members from across the manufacturing sector presented a cross-section of domestic production.
“The showcase featured R.M.Williams, Bianca Spender, Bond-Eye Australia, Clothing the Gaps, ABMT, Sylvia P, Waverley Mills, Silver Fleece and Stewart Heaton & Clothing.”
The AFC and R.M.Williams also produced a short film titled ‘Made Here, Worn Everywhere’ profiling AFC members including Australian Defence Apparel, The Social Outfit, Maara Collective, Citizen Wolf, Waverley Mills and Silver Fleece highlighting the diversity of manufacturing already taking place across Australia.
The full strategy can be viewed on the Australian Fashion Council’s website.