How Might Innovation and IP Enable Australia's Circular Economy Transition - Angela Dahlke,

A Just Energy Transition: Law, Economics, and Public Policy
A QUT Symposium — QUT Energy Transition Centre
Venue: GP-C-405, QUT Gardens Point Campus
Friday, 21 November 2025

5. How Might Innovation and Intellectual Property Enable Australia's Circular Economy Transition
Angela Dahlke, Manager of Industry Engagement, QUT's Office of Industry Engagement and Technology Transfer

Abstract

Australia's shift to a circular economy is both a necessity and an opportunity - yet less than 4% of our economy is currently "circular." Moving away from the entrenched "take-make-waste" model is critical to reducing environmental harm, preserving biodiversity, and unlocking the productive potential of materials.

Intellectual property (IP) sits at the heart of this transition. It can accelerate innovation - or act as a barrier - depending on how rights are managed and shared. With the right legal frameworks, collaborative models, and technology transfer mechanisms, IP can:

· Incentivise creativity and problem-solving while supporting consumer rights to repair.
· Enable resource pooling and IP sharing for wider access and fair benefit distribution.
· Promote design for durability, repair, and reuse, aligned with circular business models.
· Facilitate efficient technology transfer from research to real-world application, sustaining R&D incentives while accelerating impact.
· Combat greenwashing and strengthen consumer trust through certification and transparency.

This presentation will explore practical strategies for leveraging IP as an enabler of Australia's circular economy transition - at the scale and speed required to deliver economic, environmental, and social benefits. It will consider insights from the Productivity Commission's inquiry into the circular economy, review key IP rights (patents, copyright, designs, trade marks, and trade secrets), and highlight emerging approaches such as rights-to-repair, collaborative IP pools, open innovation platforms, and certification trade marks.

Biography

Angela Dahlke is Manager of Industry Engagement at QUT's Office of Industry Engagement and Technology Transfer, where she connects research expertise with industry needs to drive innovation and impact. A registered patent and trade marks attorney with a background spanning science, law, and business, Angela brings a systems-thinking approach to solving complex challenges and creating new value. Her experience spans R&D, entrepreneurship, innovation, intellectual property practice, technology transfer, industry engagement, consulting, and social enterprise.
Her work focuses on enabling innovation ecosystems through strategic partnerships, commercialization, spinouts, and IP management - delivering economic, social, and environmental benefits. Angela has co-created innovation networks and hotspots, led CE innovation initiatives, and co-founded an award-winning STEM program to empower and provide school students with pathways to positive impacts - notwithstanding the complexity of challenges we face. She is a passionate about catalysing connections, collaborations, entrepreneurial thinking, and innovation for impact and the circular economy transition.