Somewhow we've lost a workforce of 1 million

By MEREDITH BOOTH 24jan06

MORE than one million Australians working and living overseas are being ignored by businesses seeking export expertise, ExpatriateConnect managing partner Scott Gillespie says.

A further two to three million Australians who had returned from overseas experiences were a "latent skill base that's really under-appreciated".

Mr Gillespie and Business SA international trade officer Simon Firth are hoping to boost South Australia's clout in export markets with the ExpatriateConnect program.

Supported by the State Government and the Australian Institute for Commercialisation, the program has 3000 expatriates in 20 countries on its database.

The free online matching service, which has been operating as a pilot program for the past 18 months, aims to connect expatriates and those who have been overseas, with Australian-based organisations seeking international business expertise. 

Mr Firth said the Adelaide-based program was now evaluating SA company profiles and liaising with 38 chambers of commerce to see how it could be used to support overseas trade missions.

He said the service hoped to work in step, rather than compete with, export organisations such as Austrade and the chambers of commerce.

While Australians living overseas could be used to "beach-head" potential export business, people who had returned to Australia were also a great source of expertise.

"There are a group of people who have returned to Australia with significant skills but have, for some reason, been ignored," Mr Gillespie said.

While networks grew the longer an expatriate lived and worked overseas, "every day you're away you lose your network here", he said.

Returning home to Australia was like walking into a "valley of death" for some as anyone outside close family and friends was not interested in their skills.

The task of ExpatriateConnect was to match those people - such as a British-based logistics expert who returned to Australia after 30 years to spend time with his grandchildren - with companies which could be coached with their expertise.

Mr Gillespie said the program had also has been running in Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania and had about 10 success stories to its credit so far.

It planned to target emerging export markets such as India, China and Brazil and focus on industries in the information, communication and technologies, biotechnology, manufacturing and water-based industries.