About GEN in Australia

GEN began operating in Australia in 2008 with the launch of its flagship initiative, Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). GEW in Australia saw rapid growth in these early years. In 2012, Matt Barrie, the founder of Freelancer.com officially opened the national campaign with the formal support of then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard. During this period, GEN partnered with the FRANK Team, which organized a series of GEW events focused on technology entrepreneurship.

The success of the annual campaign quickly spread and in a few years GEW had more than 500 events taking place across all of Australia's states and territories. During this period, GEN mapped the ecosystem and began tracking the Australia's entrepreneurial development. This led GEN to develop programs that build capacity, capability, and connectivity for everyone in the Australian innovation ecosystem.

Building on a decade of work, GEN hosted the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) in Australia for the first time when the event took place in the city of Melbourne. With more 4,000 delegates from 200 countries, participants included entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers and entrepreneurship development experts. GEC Melbourne 2023 featured groundbreaking discussions on the AI and space technology sectors, and overcoming capital flow bottlenecks. Speakers included Mick Fanning and Kelly Slater, who with other experts discussed the mix of policy and programs that are growing entrepreneurship beyond Melbourne and Sydney in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra-Queanbeyan, Gold Coast, Newcastle-Maitland, and Perth.

The Congress led GEN to establish a national affiliate, GEN Australia, which focuses on supporting those who enable innovation and entrepreneurship. GEN Australia works with governments, universities, incubators, service providers, and industry peak bodies to align challenges, develop strategies, conduct research and measure impact. It builds communities of practice aimed at:

• Providing clarity and understanding;
• Developing connection and connectivity;
• Building capability and capacity;
• Collaborating for purpose; and
• Advocating and promoting sound policy.

This is best achieved through collective impact and aligned effort.