INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
An unusual feature of the industry is the level of private ownership and the level of family ownership within that. In excess of 90% of all registered businesses are privately owned and within that, the majority is family businesses.

CSR Ltd is the only one local manufacturer of raw glass and has float glass manufacturing plants in Melbourne and Sydney and a Patterned Glass manufacturing plant, also located in Sydney. The float plants normally produce glass in thickness from 2.1mm (used for motor vehicles) up to 12mm. The plants also produce tinted glass (bronze , grey and green ) and specialty glasses for laminating, toughening and mirror. Because of the nature of production, the patterned plant produces opaque/patterned glasses where the transmission of light rather than allowing vision is the requirement. Many shower screens use patterned glass incorporating a wire mesh designed to hold the glass together should it be fractured by heavy impact.

A large quantity of glass is also imported into the country in both raw form and as further processed products such as laminates, mirror, double glazed units, toughened glass.

DISTRIBUTION
While patterned glass is distributed using timber cases, the initial distribution of float glass is characterized by container loads (20 tonnes) where participating distributors have the physical and financial resources to hold larger stocks of glass and re-distribute in smaller quantities.

GLASS PROCESSING
The industry is also characterized by a large number of processors – businesses which take raw glass (or partly processed glass) and continue to process the glass in some way in order to provide an added value product. As an example, a distributor may send a piece of cut and edgeworked glass to a toughener in order to provide an installer with a finished toughened product where safety or additional strength is an issue.

INSTALLATION
Installers represent a large part of the retail segment of the market, and many of these firms are small (less than 10 people) and family or operator-owned. This particular segment represents a very attractive entry into business ownership as capital requirements are relatively small.

PRODUCT SEGMENTS
The major product segments are represented by untreated (annealed) glass, safety glass (such as laminates and toughened glass), decorative glass (such as splashbacks), performance glasses (such as coated glasses, insulating glass units/double glazing) and mirror products. In addition to an extraordinarily wide range of windows, major end uses include such items as doors, shower screens, splashbacks, balustrades, partitions, shopfronts, entranceways, atriums and a wide range of furniture items.

INDUSTRY BODY
The Australian glass & Glazing Association (AGGA) is the body representing the industry. It includes regulations, standards, a voice to the government and promotion of the industry within its charter. For all regional issues, there is an AGGA office in each State. One of the key state initiatives is the creation of accredited glaziers, where experienced and properly qualified glaziers undergo an industry-underwritten testing program to ensure that customers gain maximum protection from the risk of inappropriate or illegal glazing and to ensure that all requirements of the Australian standard and the Building Code of Australia are met.