The ‘Australian Made, Australian Grown’ logo reached its 30th year in use on Australian product labels, attracting formal recognition by the Prime Minister in Canberra this week.
The logo, which helps businesses promote and consumers identify genuine Australian products and produce, was launched in 1986 by then-Prime Minister Bob Hawke.
This week current Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was the guest speaker at a major business dinner in Canberra, to formally recognise the logo’s anniversary.
The logo is now used by more than 2600 business and appears on more than 16,000 products sold in Australia and around the world.
Over the past three decades the logo has achieved some important milestones, including the introduction of the ‘Australian Grown’ descriptor in 2007 and the incorporation of the logo this year into the Government’s new food labelling scheme, which will see it on the labels of nearly all Australian food products by the time the new scheme becomes compulsory on 1 July 2018.
The logo helps establish an immediate connection to Australia, and is is universally recognised (98 per cent) and trusted (89 per cent). It also features heavily in export markets particularly throughout Asia where consumers are interested in Australia’s enviable reputation for safety and quality.
Australian Made Campaign Limited chief executive Ian Harrison said the logo continued to play a pivotal role.
“The logo has been helping establish that immediate connection between Australia and its products for 30 years,” Mr Harrison said.
“It has been great for business and great for consumers.”
“Manufacturing products and growing produce locally still underpins our community. Buying Australian means reinvesting in that community and this helps to create employment opportunities and wealth.”