Hidden
Middles

Rich, but not complex.

Australia is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Yet its exports rest on a few strengths, mining and agriculture above all, and it makes a narrower range of products than most economies of its size. Broadening the industrial base is now a national priority.

Big firms and startups get most of the attention.

Big firms are visible by their size and have a seat at the table when industry policy is made. Innovation policy has focused on startups and founders. But most large Australian firms are miners, banks, retailers or the local arms of foreign companies, and few startups survive long enough to build capability here.

"SME", a label too wide to be useful.

Everything smaller than a big firm is called an SME. For policy and research this is too wide a category. It puts a small service business in the same group as an established mid-sized firm that carries critical capabilities. The label does not help. And research, for its part, has stayed with the same three groups: big firms, SMEs and startups.

We think a particular kind of firm can help broaden Australia's industrial base.

Established mid-sized manufacturers. Firms with 20 to 199 people, ten or more years in production, their own plant in Australia, and their own decisions. They hold a large share of the country's manufacturing capability, and they carry it from one industry into another as the market allows.

We call them Hidden Middles.

They are overlooked in policy, in research, and in the statistics, which record each of them under a single industry no matter how many they serve.

A long-term study of these firms, in five dimensions.

How they grow. How they innovate. How they attract and keep talent. How they are led. How they go international.

We start with growth and innovation, through interviews with manufacturers in Victoria, and extend to other states from there.

Our aim is to show what these firms do, why it matters for Australia's economy, and how policy can see them and support them.