The $15 million Insulation Industry Assistance Package provides financial assistance for ceiling insulation businesses including manufacturers, distributors, importers and installers who were adversely affected by the termination of the Home Insulation Program. Cash payments to assist with the cost of inventory will be made in respect of a proportion of the eligible ceiling insulation stock holding dollar value held by successful applicants at 30 April 2010. The maximum assistance payment for any one company is $500,000. Applications close on Friday 4 June 2010.

Revised guidelines for the Australian Government's Enhanced Project By-law Scheme (EPBS) will ensure Australian businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, using the scheme will get the maximum possible benefit from it. The EPBS provides tariff duty concessions on eligible capital goods for major investment projects across different industries.

The Robots are Coming! The robotics revolution in Australian industry is the topic for The Warren Centre 2010 Innovation Lecture series in June. Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte is recognised as an innovative researcher in robotics and is creating an Australian robotics industry. The series starts in Sydney and visits Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide.

Applications for the 48th Australian Export Awards are now open in most states and territories, with the Northern Territory and South Australian awards to open in early June. To enter the Australian Export Awards you will need to enter through your local State or Territory program.

The Shout Out for Climate Change competition gives Australian students of all ages a creative platform to inform, engage and inspire others to discover more about climate change and take action. The competition closes at 5pm AEST 10 September 2010.

Small Business Online service providers want to hear from small businesses, including home-based ones, that need free or low-cost skills development and/or training and mentoring to maximise their business online. There are 47 service providers across Australia.

Bob Herbert has been appointed as Australia's first Water Supplier Advocate. His role is to find, refine and promote opportunities for local industry in the water sector that otherwise may have been missed. Expenditure on current water infrastructure projects is around $11.7 billion, with another $7 billion planned. Click here for more on the Supplier Advocate Program.

Recent AusIndustry announcements and project highlights

As part of AusIndustry's commitment to ongoing improvement in service delivery, the 2010 AusIndustry customer satisfaction surveys are being conducted. The surveys will be conducted confidentially, on AusIndustry's behalf, by ORIMA Research. Customers will be randomly sampled from across AusIndustry programs for the cross-product survey, and specific surveys will be conducted for the following programs:

• Green Building Fund
• Small Business Advisory Services (including the Business Enterprise Centres initiative)
• Climate Ready

While participation is voluntary, AusIndustry values the survey feedback from its customers and uses it in the development of delivery improvement strategies and the AusIndustry Business Plan.

The Australian Government's Re-tooling for Climate Change offers dollar-for-dollar grants from $10,000 to $500,000 to help small and medium-sized Australian manufacturers improve the energy and water efficiency of their production processes. There were 22 businesses nationally to receive the latest RCC grants, totalling $5.5 million. They included a food manufacturer that will use funds to replace existing boilers with a high-efficiency, low-emissions boiler; an electroplating firm that will implement a custom-built water recycling system; and an innovative sailboat hardware business that will introduce advanced production processes to reduce energy use and water consumption.

An artificial heart, a new ‘Smartbrake' for cars, the world's first diesel-powered helicopter system and a novel grey water treatment process are among the latest innovative products to receive support under the Commercialising Emerging Technologies (COMET) program. The latest round of funding had almost $3.4 million granted to 48 projects. COMET is closed for applications. The Government is now accepting applications under the new, $196 million Commercialisation Australia initiative. CA is providing hands-on assistance to help innovative businesses and researchers turn their ideas into dollars through a range of tailored assistance measures. These measures include funding to access specialised advice and services.

The Australian Government's Green Building Fund reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by helping building owners to retro-fit commercial office buildings. Under the latest round, 39 commercial office buildings around Australia will have their greenhouse gas emissions cut by 30,000 tonnes a year as a result of the grants. Another element of the Clean Business Australia initiative is the Re-tooling for Climate Change program.

Austchilli grows and supplies ingredients, including fresh produce and purees, for major supermarkets and multinational sauce, meal and beverage manufacturers around the world. They are registered for the Australian Government's R&D Tax Concession, meaning they can claim back 125 per cent of their relevant expenses when lodging their company tax return. Austchilli recently featured in the onfood online magazine. The R&D Tax Concession will be replaced by the R&D Tax Credit, which comes into effect on 1 July 2010.