New grant opportunities available
Posted on November 24th, 2020
Various grants and funding opportunities are currently open to businesses, organisations or individuals to support eligible activities, assist expansion or job opportunities.
Read more about the Women’s Leadership and Development Program Project Grants, Austrade’s Business Events Grants Program and the Australian Business Growth Fund below.
Women’s Leadership and Development Program (WLDP) Project Grants
About the Grant:
The objective of the WLDP is to improve outcomes for Australian women in 6 key focus areas:
- women’s job creation
- women’s economic security
- women’s workforce participation
- women’s leadership
- women’s safety; and
- international engagement.
The Australian Government funds the WLDP to deliver a range of projects specifically for Australian women. It contributes to the achievement of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Outcome 1, Program 1.1 Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Additional funding over 2020–21 to 2023–24 was announced in the 2020–21 Budget as part of the Women’s Economic Security Statement to expand the WLDP and introduce a new Women’s Job Creation priority area. The Women’s Job Creation priority area will focus on projects that address women’s unemployment and set Australian women up for future jobs.
The expanded WLDP further builds on the government’s Our Plan to Support Australian Women. It complements the Australian Government’s JobMaker Plan to support the re‑opening, recovery and reform of Australia’s economy.
The Community Grants Hub administers the WLDP on behalf of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet according to Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines 2017 (CGRGs).
Link to grant documents (you may need to register to access) – https://www.grants.gov.au/Go/Show?GoUuid=99e26c68-5de9-4805-aa26-ad4a118851e8
Expressions of interest open for Austrade’s Business Events Grants Program
The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) is calling on business event owners to register expressions of interest (EOI) to take part in the Federal Government’s $50 million Business Events Grants program.
The program will allow eligible businesses to apply for grants of up $250,000 to cover up to 50 per cent of the cost of participating in approved business to business events in Australia in 2021.
Business to business event owners are encouraged to submit an EOI by 11.59pm 30 November to be considered for inclusion in the schedule of approved events when the program opens for grant applications from eligible businesses in mid-December.
For more information on the Business Events Grants program, including eligibility criteria for event owners, frequently asked questions and the EOI form, visit the Austrade website. All enquiries should be directed to Austrade, which is managing the EOI process, via BEgrants@austrade.gov.au or on 1800 048 155.
Read more on Austrade’s website – https://www.austrade.gov.au/Australian/Tourism/Tourism-and-business/Grants/business-events-exhibitor-grants-program
Launch of the Australian Business Growth Fund
Australian Business Growth Fund launched — With an initial investment pool of $540 million the fund will soon engage with small and medium enterprises (SME) with annual revenue between $2 million and $100 million and a track record of growth and profitability. It will offer long-term equity capital investments between $5 million and $15 million to support innovation, expansion and new job opportunities in the SME sector.
The Government is making an investment of $100 million and partnering with other financial institutions to provide equity funding to SMEs through the BGF. The major banks including ANZ, CBA, NAB, and Westpac have also each committed $100 million to the BGF. HSBC and Macquarie have also committed $20 million each in support of the BGF.
Established Australian businesses will be eligible to apply for long-term equity capital investments between $5 million and $15 million, where they have generated annual revenue between $2 million and $100 million and can demonstrate three years of revenue growth and profitability, allowing for the impact of COVID-19 on recent business performance.
Following the appointment of the CEO, it is anticipated that the BGF will shortly begin engaging with SMEs that are seeking patient equity investment in their business to enable them to grow and expand.
Read the media release – https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/josh-frydenberg-2018/media-releases/launch-australian-business-growth-fund
