Atlassian, NSW Govt led taskforce to create Sydney ‘innovation precinct’

Plans for a “technology and innovation precinct” running from Sydney’s Central station to Eveleigh are being drawn up by the New South Wales government and Australian software giant Atlassian.

The initiative is expected to create 10,000 new jobs by 2036, the government said.

Co-working space Fishburners, technology industry body Tech Sydney, representatives from University of Technology Sydney, University of Sydney and Sydney Business Chamber, plus a number of start-up chiefs have also joined the taskforce behind the development project.

The working group will be headed by Jobs for NSW chair, former Telstra CEO David Thodey.

“Sydney and NSW are generating the jobs of the future and this new technology precinct will help turbo-charge our economy,” said NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

“This will cement Sydney as the technology capital of Australia and create more secure jobs. Central to Eveleigh is already home to Australia’s largest cluster of start-up firms. We want to use that as a base to grow new jobs and new businesses,” she added.

Not much detail is available on the precinct, but it will run from the UTS campus on Broadway to Redfern station, close to the Australian Technology Park.

Atlassian co-founder and co-CEO Scott Farquhar said that the precint would create a ‘centre of gravity’ for start-up founders.

“If you look at every successful innovation hub in the world, from Silicon Valley to Tel Aviv, they all have a centre of gravity – a place the start-up community calls home,” Farquhar said.

“I’m delighted that now our tech community will have the same opportunity to point to a map and call it home. Sydney has the potential to be of one of the world’s leading tech cities and the creation of a tech hub sends a very loud signal – not only to the country, but to the rest of the world – that we’re in the race,” he added.

The government, along with Stone and Chalk, Fishburners, Tank Stream Labs and The Studio,in July last yearbacked the Sydney Startup Hub located in York Street near Wynyard Station. It opened in February.