ASEAN-Australia Centre 2025-26 Grants Program

For the 2025-26 grants opportunity, the Centre welcomes applications in line with the Centre’s mission and pillars in the following streams:

• Stream 1 - Creative industry initiatives to facilitate professional and creative exchanges, residencies and collaborations between Australia and the region, including, but not limited to, Australian artists with Southeast Asian heritage, and First Nations artists.
• Stream 2 - Projects that involve Australians of Southeast Asian heritage to advance engagement with Southeast Asia and increase awareness of the value diaspora brings to this engagement, including projects that promote and support engagement in business, higher education, science, sport and civil society. 
• Stream 3 - Research (by private or public institutions) aimed at supporting Australian companies’ access to and understanding of trade and investment opportunities in Southeast Asia with a particular focus on projects that: 
  • investigate new strategies for Australian companies to engage with, export to and invest in Southeast Asia,
  • disseminate case studies or research on resilient supply chains, trade diversification, skills exchange, or emerging sectors where Australia and Southeast Asia can collaborate for mutual benefit and
  • draw on public and private data sources to measure and analyse the position of Australian companies in the region (including relative to likeminded countries), and present those findings publicly. 

The intended outcomes of the grant opportunity are to:

• build business, cultural and community links between Southeast Asia and Australia.

To be eligible you must:

• have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
• if an individual, be a permanent resident or citizen of Australia
• have an account with an Australian financial institution;
• be located in Australia, an ASEAN Member State or Timor-Leste

and be one of the following entity types:

• a company incorporated in Australia
• a company incorporated by guarantee
• an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust
• an incorporated association
• a partnership
• a joint (consortia) application with a lead organisation1  
• a registered charity or not-for-profit organisation.  Please refer to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission registry
• a publicly funded research organisation
• an individual
• an Australian local government body
• an Australian state or territory government body
• an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006

and be willing to provide or develop child protection guidelines that meets the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Child Protection Policy for your project if it involves people under the age of 18 years.

Applications from consortia are acceptable, provided you have a lead applicant who is the main driver of the project and is eligible as per the list above.

Individuals who intend the grant to be administered by a university should apply on behalf of the university.