The Printing Industry Working Group, originally founded when the Rudd government took power in 2007, has increased momentum thanks to dedicated resources given by government and an expanded spread of industry groups, spanning PIAA, GAMAA, GASAA and the AMWU.

The group is helped along by a secretariat provided by government, sourced from within the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

A statement sent out yesterday said: “The group is very aware of the state of the industry and seeks to undertake some ‘grass roots’ actions to assist the industry to establish a sound understanding of the status of the industry and actions that may assist those in the industry to survive and even thrive in the drastically changing printing and communications industry.”

The group used a meeting on 22 July to release a list of its priorities.

Issues include: producing “reliable industry data” to show the state of the print; “the development of business improvement tools and responsible exit planning “; the carbon tax; and the creation of a tool to compare print’s environmental footprint against electronic media channels.

The group’s chairman, Southern Colour NSW managing director Scott Telfer, told ProPrint that the group had a new lease on life, having met three times since late last year and another meeting planned for November. “There is a lot more momentum and a lot more traction across all industry sectors.

“We need to harness all these resources. This is why this group is important: it is the only chance for all the participants to sit around a table and throw things on the table that are meaningful. There is no other forum within our industry that can do this.”

He said the message to printers was that “we are here and we are being proactive”.

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter