Grants to improve safety and accessibility of remote airstrips

The Remote Airstrip Upgrade Program provides grants to enhance the safety and accessibility of aerodromes in remote and very remote areas of Australia. It will provide year round all weather access, particularly where road access is unavailable or unreliable. This will:

• improve the safety of aircraft, operators and passengers
• improve delivery of essential goods and services like food, mail and passenger flights
• support delivery of health care services by the Royal Flying Doctor Service and similar providers
• complement air services delivery to communities subsidised under the Australian Government’s Remote Aviation Access Program (RAAP) through the Remote Air Services Subsidy (RASS) Scheme
• provide access to work and education
• help connect residents of remote communities

The maximum grant amount is $3 million, but we expect most grants will not exceed $1.5 million.

The grant amount will be up to 50% of eligible project costs, unless:

• you are an Indigenous owned and/or operated aerodrome – then we’ll cover up to 100%
• you and a third party are contributing to project costs – then we’ll cover up to 33.3%

What are the eligibility criteria?

To be eligible, you must:

• have an Australian business number (ABN)
• be an owner and/or operator of an existing aerodrome in an area classed as remote or very remote in Australia

You must also be one of the following:

• a company, incorporated in Australia
• an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust
• an Australian local government agency or body (defined in Appendix A of the Grant Opportunity Guidelines)
• an Australian state or territory government agency or body
• a corporate Commonwealth entity
• an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation that is registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006

An eligible organisation may apply on behalf of an aerodrome owner or operator (this excludes Indigenous owned or operated aerodromes seeking 100% of funding). In this case, you’ll be:

• the lead applicant in a joint application
• responsible for the project including administering, reporting and acquitting project expenditure

Check the full eligibility details in the Grant Opportunity Guidelines.

How do you apply?

You should read the grant opportunity guidelines before you apply. The guidelines provide detailed information on the grant opportunity, including granting activity objectives, eligibility and assessment criteria, the assessment processes, reporting and acquittal requirements, and review mechanisms.

To apply, you must submit your application through the online portal. You'll need to set up an account when you first log in to the portal. The portal allows you to apply for and manage a grant or service in a secure online environment.