Australian governments at all levels have identified the opportunity to broaden the economy through the support of entrepreneurial activity within knowledge-intensive business sectors. Many such enterprises were in an early, start-up phase. While much of this activity was initially focused in the capital cities, government regional support schemes were also introduced. A particular feature of many of those schemes was an uncharacteristic willingness by government to become involved in the direct financial and other firm-specific support for small, largely untested companies. It is recognised that these sectors require different models of government support. Further, it would be naïve to believe that simple input–output relationships fully reflect the value of such economic and regional development programs. Nevertheless, given that many of these schemes have been in operation for some years, it is reasonable to ask if this type of government support, that particularly targets those start-up level firms, is well placed. This paper represents the first publication from wider PhD and other investigations into these areas. Surprisingly perhaps, the research has found no truly comprehensive, longitudinal studies on the impact of such schemes anywhere in Australia. However, the recent emergence of significant research from elsewhere in the OECD now questions many of the underlying assumptions that have driven these types of initiatives as regional economic development tools. This paper, based on those studies and consultation with key informants, concludes that some reappraisal and re-alignment of these types of programs in Australia is now both timely and opportune.
