Operating context

Environment

Australians' intellectual property is an important economic asset. IP Australia plays a critical role in supporting the government's vision for economic growth, productivity, and job creation. The IP system builds prosperity for Australians, by facilitating creativity and innovation, and fostering a secure environment for investment, research and development and trade.

Improving Australia's productivity performance is a key priority for the government. As a government regulator, IP Australia has a critical role in contributing to lifting productivity by ensuring that our regulatory approach is adaptive, proportionate and balances risk mitigation with innovation and growth.

In exchange for protection, IP rights encourage the sharing of original ideas. The growth of AI technologies presents both opportunities and challenges. We are observing a shift away from an environment where innovative outcomes were once scarce, to a world where there may be an abundance of novel content produced by AI systems. We are exploring how AI is affecting IP rights, including whether the IP system is fit for purpose and appropriately balanced.

Embracing new technologies benefits both our internal operations and the customer experience. We continue to explore AI and ADM to improve IP rights administration. By adhering to government policies, including the Policy for the Responsible Use of AI in Government and the National Framework for the Assurance of AI in Government, we aim to enhance the customer experience and improve our processes. Our risk-based governance framework assesses AI and ADM on a case-by-case basis, managing risks with appropriate guardrails. This ensures the ethical and responsible implementation of any AI and ADM tools that deliver tangible benefits.

Last year we observed an increase in scam and malicious activity targeting users of the IP system. As stewards of the system, it is vital that our customers have confidence in the integrity of the infrastructure and the services we provide. We will continue our efforts to monitor, detect and where possible disrupt or prevent scam activities that may impact our customers. This includes strengthening our efforts to educate and raise awareness of scams through direct engagement with stakeholders such as the attorney profession, identifying and monitoring for trends in scam activity so we can respond quickly, and referring matters to appropriate authorities, including the Australian Federal Police.

As a cost recovered agency, we charge fees for our IP rights services in accordance with the Australian Government Charging Framework. As a regulator, we adopt a stewardship approach, taking actions to reduce compliance costs for business without compromising standards, and in turn ensuring our fees are transparent and recover the efficient costs associated with administering the IP rights system in Australia. Economic conditions can impact business activity associated with IP rights, and in turn, our financial sustainability. We are continually assessing our internal efficiency and performance to ensure that our services align with stakeholder expectations and are effective, responsive and financially sustainable.

Cooperation

In administering the Australian IP system, we need to connect with stakeholders at home and overseas. These connections help us shape the IP system in Australia's national interests. Our performance measures demonstrate our performance against the 3 principles of regulator best practice, in line with the Australian Government’s expectations for regulator performance.

IP Australia plays an essential role in providing advice to government on the development of IP policy and legislation. We work in conjunction with the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) which coordinates whole-of-government IP policy. This includes the cross-government IP Policy Group, which plays a central role in coordinating IP policy and strategies to support commercialisation of IP. We work with the Attorney-General's Department, which coordinates copyright policy, and other organisations and relevant government agencies to support growth in industries such as health, computing, agriculture, design and research commercialisation. We strive to work across government to deliver on priority and transformational work, including contributing to the Australian Government’s Closing the Gap commitments.

Australia's national economic and security agenda depends on strong and resilient industries that develop critical and innovative technologies. These technologies produce profits, provide sustainable and well-paid jobs, and secure many sectors including Australia's cyber, defence, space and clean energy capabilities. We use our data capability and IP expertise with analytics and economic insight to support productivity growth by helping researchers, businesses and policymakers make these industries more robust, resilient and globally competitive.

We contribute to Australia's system of trade and relationships with trading partners. We support the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in negotiating IP chapters in Free Trade Agreements. We also provide support and training to other IP offices, including through the WIPO Funds-in-Trust program, which receives funding from DFAT's Aid for Trade program. These activities help to create consistency for Australian exporters who can have increased confidence that their IP is protected in international markets.

Capability

Strategic policy and international engagement

Our Strategic Policy and International Committee is responsible for the governance of our strategic policy and international engagement. Our ongoing efforts include helping small and medium enterprises and exporters to make the most of their ideas in domestic and foreign markets; to ensure that our laws are suitable for their needs; and to use our influence to shape international IP developments proactively and in response to a changing global context. This work contributes to achievement of Strategic Objective 1.3 Increase our reputation, influence and contribution to the IP eco-system.

Investment, ICT and property

Our Investment, ICT and Property Committee (IIPC) oversees a rolling 10-year investment plan for capital budget prioritisation and implementation. As a cost-recovered agency, this helps us to be disciplined in our investment approach and gives us a forward view of where IP Australia is focusing on capability development through using our cost-recovered cash reserves. The committee also has oversight of the ICT Strategy, guiding how we work with technology to enable an enhanced user experience, provide secure, seamless, and interconnected services and systems. This work contributes to the achievement of Strategic Objective 3.1 Create and continually improve capabilities that meet the current and future needs of the IP rights system. A new ICT Strategy will be released during 2025 and cover the period of this Strategic Corporate Plan.

Data and information

Effective use of data and information is integral to our work, informing evidence-based decision making. Our Data, Information and Analytics Strategy 2023–2026 sets out 4 pillars where we will focus our continuous efforts to enhance culture where data is an asset, improve the quality and management of our data governance, enhance the way we discover, use and share data, and safely experiment on our data to foster innovation. The Strategy is governed by the Information and Data Committee. This work contributes to the achievement of Strategic Objectives 3.1 Create and continually improve capabilities that meet the current and future needs of the IP rights system, 3.2 Build a workplace culture that is customer centric, empowered, inclusive and risk-engaging, and 4.2 Create innovative contemporary digital and data-driven customer services and staff experiences.

People Strategy

We are a high-performing organisation that delivers excellent results for our customers and stakeholders. We will continue to invest in our people, as they are our most important asset. Our People Strategy 2024–2027 focuses on the key areas of flexibility, innovation, capability uplift, connection, belonging and integrity. The People Strategy outlines actions and initiatives that enable our high-performing culture. It is overseen by the People Strategy Committee, which is responsible for the governance of people matters, and shows our commitment to enhancing our performance and capability to ensure a more capable, multi-disciplinary and thriving organisation. We operate in line with the Strategic Commissioning Framework. Our core work is done in-house in most cases, and any outsourcing of core work is minimal and aligns with the limited circumstances permitted under the framework. This work underpins the achievement of all of our Strategic Objectives and directly contributes to Strategic Objective 3.1 Create and continually improve capabilities that meet the current and future needs of the IP rights system, and 3.2 Build a workplace culture that is customer centric, empowered, inclusive and risk engaging.

Innovation

We are committed to facilitating, promoting, and protecting innovation as a part of our ongoing operations. We take a portfolio approach to innovation to ensure we consider the strategic priorities of the agency and the needs of our customers and stakeholders. Our Innovation Framework supports our innovation efforts and embeds innovation in our governance, operational practices, and capability framework. The framework guides us to test and challenge assumptions to achieve a world-leading IP system. This approach is governed through various boards, including the Executive Board and its committees and contributes to the achievement of Strategic Objective 4.1 Increase innovation and adaptiveness in our stewardship of the IP rights system.