Standards Australia Announce New Distribution Partner

Standards Australia has entered into a new distribution agreement with Techstreet, a Clarivate Analytics company, in a move that is expected to drive down the price of Australian Standards and improve access for Australian businesses.

The agreement will see Techstreet become an additional distributor of Standards Australia’s content, including Australian Standards and other technical documents such as ISO and IEC materials. Users will be able to access Standards Australia content through a new web-store and through a subscription service to Techstreet Enterprise.

Standards Australia say the agreement will “deliver greater access to content supporting innovation, safety and compliance in industries and communities across Australia.”

Since 2003, Standards Australia has had an exclusive distribution arrangement with SAI Global. Earlier this year, Standards Australia announced that any extended distribution agreement with SAI Global would be “non-exclusive”.

The announcement was considered a win for Australian businesses – in the hopes that increased competition and consumer choice would drive down the price of Standards.

SIA Chief Executive David Clarke, who actively lobbied for an end to the 15-year monopoly distribution arrangement, welcomed the announcement at the time.

“Standards are an important tool for Australian businesses in many ways, they play a vital role in understanding health and safety responsibilities and implementing good health and safety practice. The price of standards has been increasingly prohibitive and one of the key reasons has been the distribution monopoly.”

Standards Australia’s Chairman, Richard Brooks said the organisation explored a number of Australian and global publishers and distributors before appointing Techstreet as a new partner.

“This is an exciting step in improving access to Australian Standards, while allowing our organisation to build internal capability and develop external partnerships to deliver new methods of distribution.”

“Ultimately, improving how we distribute our content ensures we serve our public purpose – to help industries work safely, sustainably and more effectively.”

Techstreet Vice President, Todd Fegan, said the company was excited to provide easier access to users of Standards Australia’s content.

“For many years, Techstreet has been a trusted provider of industry codes and standards. We will continue our commitment to enhance our online library of engineering standards and related documents to create ongoing value for our customers.”

Specific details regarding the arrangement are expected in the coming weeks.