Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grant

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Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grant

Funding for Australian businesses to build industrial capabilities that fit with Defence’s Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities.

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What do you get?

A grant of $50,000 to $1 million for up to half the cost of a project that builds capabilities aligned with Defence’s Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities. The maximum grant period is 30 months.

Grant funding is capped at $3 million in a 3-year period per recipient.

Who is this for?

Small to medium sized businesses with an Australian Business Number (ABN). The business must be:

a company incorporated in Australia, or
and incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust.

Other eligibility requirements apply.

How it works

You need to match the grant amount dollar for dollar.

Project activities can include:

buying, leasing, constructing, installing or commissioning of capital equipment including specialist software to enhance cyber security
design, engineering and commissioning activities
workforce training and accreditations.

The initial Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities are listed in the 2018 Defence industrial capability plan and the accompanying fact sheet. Defence reviews the priorities periodically and publishes updates on its website.

Eligibility

What are the eligibility criteria?

To be eligible your business must:

have fewer than 200 employees
have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
be a company incorporated in Australia or be an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust

Also, you must:

provide evidence from your Board (or Chief Executive Officer or equivalent if there is no board) that the project is supported, and that you can complete the project and meet the costs of the project not covered by grant funding
provide an external accountant declaration form that confirms you can fund your share of the project costs

Who is excluded?

You are not eligible to apply if you are:

an individual
a partnership
a trust (but an incorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a trust)
a government body at any level (including government business enterprise)

Applying

Before you apply

Read the grant opportunity guidelines and sample grant agreement. The guidelines provide detailed information on the:

grant opportunity, including grant objectives
eligibility and merit criteria
assessment processes
reporting and acquittal requirements
review mechanisms

How to apply

Complete and submit your grant application through the online portal. If you’re using the portal for the first time you will need to set up an account.

Apply for a Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grant

Make sure you:

meet the eligibility criteria
have evidence that your Board or Chief Executive Officer supports the project and the business can complete it
have an external accountant declaration confirming that your business can fund its share of the costs

Apply now

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What are the merit criteria?

How we assess your application?

Applications are assessed in batches every 8-12 weeks.

We assess your application against the eligibility criteria and then against the merit criteria. Only eligible applications will proceed to the merit assessment stage.

We refer eligible applications to an assessment panel made up of representatives of the CDIC and the Department of Defence. The panel may also seek additional advice from independent technical experts.

The panel will assess your application against the merit criteria and compare it to other eligible applications before recommending which projects to fund.

To be successful an application must score highly against each merit criterion. While we assess all applications against the same merit criteria, we will score your application relative to the project’s size and complexity, and the grant amount requested. The evidence you provide to support your application should be proportional to the size and complexity of your project.

The program delegate will make the final decision.

What happens if your application is unsuccessful?

What happens if your application is successful?

We will email you and include in the email any specific conditions attached to the grant.

Successful applicants must enter into a grant agreement with the Commonwealth. The grant agreement will specify the:

reporting requirements
payment schedule
milestones to receive payments

As part of the grant agreement your business must apply for membership of the Defence Industry Security Program (or be an existing member of the program).

We will make an initial payment on execution of the grant agreement. We will make subsequent payments in arrears as you achieve milestones, based on your actual eligible expenditure. Payments are subject to satisfactory progress on the project.

We set aside 10% of the total grant funding for the final payment. We will pay this when you submit a satisfactory end of project report demonstrating that you have completed any outstanding obligations for the project.

Payments will be made by direct credit into a nominated bank account.

Need help?

13 28 46

Monday – Friday, 8am – 8pm across Australia

CDIC Mellori case study

Time: 0

After accessing a Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority grant, Mellori has improved its lab, bought new test equipment and hired new staff to enhance its electronic warfare capability.

Key documents

Building industrial capability to meet Defence priorities

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