"While other countries are suitably investing in these new trends, some members of the liberal government refuse to look to the future and recognize the mammoth potential impact this industry could have on our economy."

This decision, he said, will have serious and immediate ramifications on Australia's Digital Content Industry.

Participants in the AIMIA TradeStart Program also responded angrily.

Che Metcalfe, founder of Kukan Studio, an Adelaide-based developer of content for mobiles that now exports to Europe, Asia, and North America, said the program had helped budding digital content exporters that were not based in New South Wales or Victoria.

"The program was a major help to us in getting our first export sale and to see it cut like this is outrageous. There will be other companies like ours that will take a lot longer or might not ever make it to international markets without help from these sorts of programs. For an export-focused country like ours, it's a bizarre decision," Metcalfe said.