Building export capability in defence
This program is open for applications throughout the year. The assessment panel assess batched applications quarterly throughout the year. Below are the dates:
- Batch 5 – all grant applications received from 1 July 2023 to 30 September 2023.
- Batch 6 – all grant applications received from 1 October 2023 to 31 December 2023.
- Batch 7 – all grant applications received from 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2024.
Each batch has approximately up to $1 million per batch.
Defence Global Competitiveness Grant
What do you get?
A grant of $15,000 to $150,000 for up to 50% of the cost of investing in projects that build export capability to build a stronger, more sustainable and globally competitive Australian defence industry. The maximum project period is 12 months.
Who is this for?
Small to medium sized businesses with an Australian business number (ABN). The business must be either:
- a company incorporated in Australia
- an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust
Other eligibility requirements apply.
How it works
You need to contribute 50% of the eligible project value.
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 Defence export strategy defines Australian defence exports as ‘any defence-specific or dual-use goods or services exported by Australian defence industry, including as part of a supply chain, that are intended for a defence or national security end-user’.
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.
You must also provide:
- a project budget (you must use the template provided on business.gov.au)
- a letter of support from each project partner (where applicable)
- 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
- a trust deed (where applicable).
Who is excluded?
You are not eligible to apply if you are:
- an organisation, or your project partner is an organisation, included on the National Redress Scheme’s website on the list of ‘Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme’
- an employer of 100 or more employees that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012)
- 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.
Additional guidance for applicants
The Department of Defence provides a range of grants to support industry. The following guidance is provided by Defence to assist applicants before applying to a Defence industry grant program.
Read the additional guidance for applying to a Defence industry grant program.
Check if you’re ready to apply for a grant
Finding a suitable grant opportunity is just the start of the process to get funding. The application process can take time and effort. Understanding the entire process will help you be grant ready and may improve your chances of getting funding.
Use our checklist to find out what it takes to apply for a grant.
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 Defence Global Competitiveness Grant
Before you apply, 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
Need help?
Let us answer your question via phone, email or live chat. And if we can't help, we'll put you in touch with someone who can.
- Phone:
-
Open Hours:
Monday – Friday, 8am – 8pm across Australia
- Website:
To be competitive you must score highly against all of the merit criteria:
- Merit criterion 1: The extent that your project will help your business to build defence industry export capability (50 points).
- Merit criterion 2: Your capacity, capability and resources to deliver the project (30 points).
- Merit criterion 3: The impact of grant funding (20 points).
Applications are batched and assessed quarterly.
You must address all assessment criteria in your application. We will assess your application based on the weighting given to each criterion.
The application form asks questions that relate to the assessment criteria below. The amount of detail and supporting evidence you provide in your application should be relative to the project size, complexity and grant amount requested. You should provide evidence to support your answers. The application form displays character limits for each response.
We will only consider funding applications that score more than 65% against each assessment criterion, as these represent best value for money.
The program delegate decides which grant applications to approve, taking into account the application assessment and the availability of grant funds. The program delegate will make the final decision.
We will email you outlining the reasons you were unsuccessful and give you an opportunity to discuss the outcome with us.
We'll 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
We'll make an initial payment when the grant agreement is executed. We'll make subsequent payments in arrears after we have received and accepted the required report and based on actual eligible expenditure.
We set aside a minimum of 10% of the total grant funding for the final payment. We'll pay this when you submit a satisfactory final report.
Payments will be made by direct credit into a nominated bank account.
Key documents
Project budget template
xlsx · 0.06 MBWe use cookies to give you a better experience on our website. Learn more about how we use cookies and how you can select your preferences.