Funding for Australian businesses to start or grow their exports in international markets

Overview

EMDG is an eligibility-based, demand-driven program. This means all eligible applicants receive a grant from the available funds. The grant amount depends on the:

• number of eligible applications in the round
• available program budget to be shared among all eligible applicants.

Small to medium exporting businesses can apply for 3 different grants over 8 years (not necessarily consecutively) for eligible promotional activities.

Grants are available in 3 tiers, designed to provide different levels of support to you during different stages of your export journey:

Tier 1: Ready to export

• are ready to export in the grant year
• have not exported before
• have appropriate skills in marketing eligible products in a foreign country.

Grants agreements are offered for up to 2 years.

Tier 2: Exporting and expanding

• exporting eligible products
• seeking to expand export promotion activity for eligible products.

Grant agreements are for up to 3 years.

Tier 3: Exporting, expanding and strategic shift

• exporting eligible products
• seeking to expand export promotion activity
• ready to make a strategic shift in the marketing of eligible products in a foreign country.

Grant agreements are for up to 3 years.

Assistance for industry bodies and alliances extends to training members to become export ready. Representative bodies will continue to have access to financial assistance for promotional activities on behalf of their members in international markets. Grant agreements are for up to 3 years.

We provide the EMDG grant for expenses in one or more of the following categories:

• maintaining a representative in a foreign country
• short trips to a foreign country
• engaging a consultant to undertake research or promotional activities
• short trips within Australia
• foreign buyer visits
• soliciting for business in foreign country
• providing free samples
• producing and providing promotional and advertising material
• intellectual property rights
• if you are a Tier 1 applicant, obtaining export readiness training.

How we decide grant amounts

We decide the final grant amounts after we assess all applications. Grant amounts are determined based on:

• the number of eligible applications received in that round, and
• the total funding available, i.e. the grant pool is spread across all applicants.

The grant amounts in the first round in financial year 2022–23 may be useful as a guide:

• Tier 1 – up to $15,000 per financial year
• Tier 2 – up to $24,600 per financial year
• Tier 3 – up to $36,600 per financial year
• Representative bodies – up to $90,000 per financial year.

Check if you can apply

Eligibility requirements include:

• your turnover for the financial year before the financial year in which the application is made is less than $20 million
• you must be an Australian person as per the EMDG Rules 2021
• you must have an Australian business number (ABN).

EMDG grant funds must be used for:

• promotional activities to market eligible products in foreign countries, or
• for training activities to develop skills in marketing for this purpose.

To be eligible, a product must be of substantially Australian origin and be one of the following:

• goods
• services
• events
• intellectual property or know-how
• software.