The Australian State and Territory governments offer a wide range of grants, incentives and special loans to small/medium enterprise businesses.
Some of the common grants that are helping businesses create new activities that are issued by the Australian government include:
- Industry Skills Fund – this fund primarily targets small and medium enterprises including micro businesses (0 to 4 employees) which plan to upskill and reskill their workforces to better position themselves for growth opportunities. Large businesses are also eligible for the fund; however they will be required to make a higher contribution to the costs of training. Grants that are available for approved training are:
| No. of FTE Employees | Govt Grant % | Govt Grant % if in * Northern Australia | |
| Micro Businesses | 0-4 | 75% | 75% |
| Small Businesses | 5-19 | 66% | 75% |
| Medium Businesses | 20-199 | 50% | 75% |
| Large Businesses | 200 + | 25% | 50% |
* Northern Australia is defined as the area north of the Tropic of Capricorn, in Queensland and Western Australia and the whole of the Northern Territory.
Extra funding has been supplied by the Northern Australia Development Fund.
- Business Growth Grant – the Business Growth Grant is administered by the Entrepreneurs Program which is offering the business evaluation process and the Business Growth Grant to eligible Australian small/medium sized companies and incorporated trustees acting as trustees of a trust to assist them to transform and reach their potential. Eligible businesses are companies which operate in the following sectors:
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Food & Agribusiness
- Medical Technologies and Pharmaceutics
- Mining Equipment, Technology and Service
- Oil, Gas and Energy Resources
- and can include any of the enabling technologies and services that are providing services to one of the prime industry groups:
- Freight & Logistics
- Infrastructure Related Construction & Services
- Information and Communications Technologies
- Digital Technologies and Professional Services – primarily scientific areas
In the first instance a company receives a visit from a business advisor for a free business evaluation. Based on that evaluation, the eligibility of the company for the grant will be determined. Grants are a maximum of $20,000 on a 50/50 basis.
The grant funding is able to be used on activities which will contribute to improvements in the operations of the business.
- Accelerating Commercialisation is a grant targeted at entrepreneurs, researchers, inventors and start-ups to assist with addressing the challenges associated with commercialising novel intellectual property in the form of new products, processes and services. Grants of up to $1M are available on a 50/50 basis for the commercialisation process. On the 17th August 2016, the government announced that 20 companies had been offered Commercialisation Grants worth a total of $11.3M. Some of these products, processes or services include:
- a safer, cheaper and more efficient outdoor grain storage solution for the agricultural industry
- recycling technology for fats, oils and greases from restaurants that will save money and reduce pollution
- a lighter, stronger and more flexible concrete product
- an anti-theft automated security system for the retail fuel industry
- a cheaper, faster and safer decontamination process for mine drainage
- smaller, cheaper and more patient friendly MRI technology used for medical diagnostics
- a 3D printed medical device for jaw joint replacements that reduces surgery risks and improves patient quality of life
- insect and termite proof expansion joint foam for the building industry, combining a two-step process into a single product
ESS BIZGRANTS has a special webinar featuring Graham Bell, Northern Australian Tourism Industry Grant Business Adviser on Wednesday 28th September 2016 commencing at 12-noon AEST. He will talk about the Northern Australian Tourism Industry Grant which is available to operating “tourism” businesses situated in northern Australia irrespective of where the owners of that business are located.
Eligible activities could be conducted in the following businesses:
- accommodation
- cafes, restaurants and take away services
- clubs, pubs, taverns and bars
- passenger transport
- tour operators’ services
- cultural services
- sports and recreation services
- retail trade
or a related business where a significant percentage of customers are tourists.
Details of these grants and hundreds of additional grants are all included within ESS BIZGRANTS, accessible at www.essbizgrants.com.au
Peter Towers, Director, ESS BIZGrants
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