Australia's venture capital industry : past performance, present structure and future prospects

A brief history of the Australian venture capital (VC) industry to April 2001 precedes critique of the current industry framework. This focuses on two questions: What has history taught us? and How well does the Australian VC industry enable entrepreneurship in the Australian economy? The answers embrace suggestions for better encouragement of entrepreneurship through research-based VC industry enhancement. A positive prognosis is based on a case history. A knowledgeable private citizen significantly influenced the passage of legislation vital to the industry. This success indicates the practical importance that a future program of structured research might have for the development of venture capital and entrepreneurship in Australia.