Funding to support development of Australia’s defence policy and strategy

You can apply if you:

• have an Australian business number (ABN)
• are registered for the Goods and Services Tax (GST)
• have an account with an Australian financial institution
• have an established board, informed by a skills matrix for board positions
• are an incorporated organisation in Australia.

Additional eligibility requirements:

In addition to the eligibility criteria, we can only accept your application where you agree to:

• comply with the recommendations under the Varghese review where relevant to your organisation, including:
  • providing the Commonwealth with board observer status
  • policies governing the transparency and appropriateness of corporate, philanthropic and foreign funding
• comply with Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality and National Agreement on Closing the Gap
• provide all mandatory attachments specified in section 7.1 of the grant opportunity guidelines, including:
  • complying with formatting requirements, file-size restrictions, and word and page limits as specified.

You can’t apply if you are:

• an organisation or sole-trader based outside Australia
• already receiving operating funding for strategic policy work from the Commonwealth, between 1 July 2027 and 30 June 2032
• an organisation, or your project partner is an organisation, included on the National Redress Scheme’s 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
• an unincorporated association
• a trust (however, an incorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a trust)
• a Commonwealth, state, territory or local government body (including government business enterprises and material entities) except a Commonwealth company which is in the Corporations Act 2001
• a non-corporate Commonwealth entity.

You must complete your project by 30 June 2032.

This grant is for operating funding. To be eligible, the majority of the activities you deliver under this grant must be:

• directly related to supporting the Australian Defence Force (ADF), or other defence purposes that inform and shape defence strategic policy
• directed toward the annual national security policy research priorities set by the Secretaries’ Committee on National Security, and published by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
• undertaken in Australia (although some activities may be undertaken overseas).

Eligible activities must have a clear and direct link to the grant opportunity objectives and outcomes.

Eligible activities include:

• broadening strategic policy debate, including engagement outside metropolitan locations
• enabling two-way exchanges and secondments, subject to operational requirements
• professional development of Defence personnel (military and civilian).

You can use this grant funding for:

• grant research costs (e.g. data acquisition, analytical tools, research assistance, and salaries directly related to eligible grant activities)
• grant event costs (e.g. facility hire, equipment hire or catering)
• communication costs (e.g. digital or physical publications and media)
• operating expenses directly related to the grant, which may be applied towards corporate costs, including:
  • office rental and lease expenses
  • essential office equipment
  • supplier expenses
  • utility expenses
  • ICT and website maintenance costs
  • legal and audit expenses
• expenses on corporate overheads, including employee expenses for finance, human resources, IT, publications, fellowship and internship programs, executive management and oversight, and administration
• travel cost at the lowest, reasonable economy-class fare of the day, for domestic or international travel, unless medical evidence is provided to the Program Delegate to support deviation from this requirement. In addition, accommodation and other reasonable travel expenses must align with the Australian Taxation Office Taxation Determination rates. If any travel funded by the grant is undertaken at a higher class, the Grantee is to cover the difference in cost
• the cost of independent audits of project expenditure up to a maximum of 1% of total eligible project expenditure.