Business and Infrastructure Funding Opportunities - December 2020

Welcome to our Business and Infrastructure Funding Opportunities Newsletter where you will find details of grant and funding programs that are available for the Northern Inland Region for businesses and infrastructure projects.

Due to the number of grants that are available, we send two funding opportunities newsletters a month; one for Business and Infrastructure and another for Community Projects and Award Programs. These newsletters are a free service that we provide, and can you can add the Community Funding Opportunities and Awards Programs newsletter to your subscriptions by filling your details into the subscription form in the footer of our website : www.rdani.org.au

We wish you all the best with the Funding Opportunities below and if you are looking for a grant between newsletters, have a look at the grants area of our website which is updated weekly: www.rdani.org.au/our-region/grants-and-funding-opportunities.php

If you need some facts and figures for your applications, a range of data for our region is also available on our website here: www.rdani.org.au/our-region/regional-data.php

Please note the below information is intended as a guide only. Closing dates and other details should be verified using the links provided as they are subject to change by the providers without notice.

Coronavirus (COVID-19), Drought and Bushfire Assistance

To help businesses and individuals affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19) access the available assistance we have created a dedicated Coronavirus Assistance page on our website. This page will be updated as details become available on the recently announced economic stimulus packages from the Australian and NSW Governments.

There is also wide range of assistance available for individuals, businesses and communities that have been affected by the ongoing drought and the recent bushfires. To help you access this support, we have created dedicated Drought Assistance and  Bushfire Assistance pages on our website which are being updated reguarly.

Featured Grants

Manufacturing Modernisation
Closes: 21st of January 2021 - 5:00 pm
Value: $100,000 to $1 Million
Run By: Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources

Round 2 of the Manufacturing Modernisation Fund supports manufacturers by co-funding capital investments and associated reskilling to:

• adopt new technologies
• encourage innovation
• become more productive and competitive in the market and
• create more jobs.

The program aims to support small to medium manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) through:

• investment in transformative manufacturing technology and processes
• jobs growth and a more highly skilled workforce in the manufacturing sector.

Round 2 will run over 3 years (2020-21 to 2022-23) and supports transformative investments in technologies and processes including:

• buying, constructing, installing or commissioning of manufacturing plant and equipment
• integrating production-related software that is directly related to your capital investment
• relevant training and skills development to assist you to integrate the new technology into your business, including upskilling and accreditation in advanced processes
• process design and engineering directly related to your capital investment
• fit-out, alterations and/or extensions to buildings directly related to your capital investment.

The maximum project period is 2 years.

 

Traceability Grants Program
Closes: 21st of January 2021 - 11:00 pm
Value: $20,000 to $3 Million
Run By: Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment

This program provides opportunities for successful applicants to conduct projects that will enhance the supply chain traceability systems and arrangements that support the export of our agricultural commodities.

Traceability is the ability to follow the movement of a product through stages of production, processing and distribution (ISO 22005:2007). Australia’s agricultural traceability systems include all government regulation and industry arrangements that enable tracing of agricultural production and products, back and forward along entire supply chains. At each step in the supply chain, participants should be able to trace one step forward and one step back.

The objectives of the program are to:

• Support industry projects that will enhance our agricultural supply chain traceability systems, including developing and trialing technologies that digitise information flow.
• Provide an advantage for our exporters in overseas markets to assist them in maintaining their competitive edge
• Increase opportunities to export Australian commodities

Closing in December

Regional Airports Program
Closes: 15th of December 2020 - 5:00 pm
Value: $20,000 to $5 Million
Run By: Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications
Aims to improve the safety and accessibility of airports or aerodromes in regional areas of Australia by assisting airport or aerodrome owners/operators to undertake essential works, promoting aviation safety and access for regional communities.

Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Grants - Stream 1
Closes: 18th of December 2020
Value: Up to $30,000
Run By: Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)
This program has two funding streams which, together, will support events, concerts, festivals and visitor attractions in fire affected regions to assist with recovery efforts and encourage international and domestic visitors to come back to the regions.

Moon to Mars Initiative: Demonstrator Feasibility
Closes: 22nd of December 2020 - 5:00 am
Value: $50,000 to $200,000
Run By: Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
Supports Australian businesses and researchers by assisting industry and research institutions to conduct feasibility activities for space projects.

Restart NSW Fixing Country Roads
Closes: 31st of December 2020
Value: Unspecified
Run By: Transport for NSW
Provides targeted funding for projects on Council managed roads and bridges that provide benefits to the movement of freight. Fixing Country Roads aligns with and complements the Fixing Country Rail program in reducing the cost to market for regional businesses.

Closing in January

Manufacturing Modernisation
Closes: 21st of January 2021 - 5:00 pm
Value: $100,000 to $1 Million
Run By: Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
Supports manufacturers by co-funding capital investments and associated reskilling to adopt new technologies, encourage innovation, become more productive and competitive in the market and create more jobs.

Traceability Grants Program
Closes: 21st of January 2021 - 11:00 pm
Value: $20,000 to $3 Million
Run By: Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
Supports projects that will enhance the supply chain traceability systems and arrangements that support the export of our agricultural commodities.

Closing in February

Mobile Black Spot Program Round 5A
Closes: 10th of February 2021 - 5:00 pm
Value: Up to $34 Million
Run By: Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications
Funding to test a range of different program designs to continue to expand and improve mobile coverage in regional and remote Australia

Closing later and Ongoing

1,000 Jobs Package Grant Funding
Closes: 30th of April 2021 or until 1000 allocations
Value: Up to $56,000 (GST exclusive) over two years
Run By: National Indigenous Australians Agency
Tranche Two provides a subsidy for new jobs for Community Development Program participants in remote Australia to support economic development.

Business Improvement Fund for Residential Aged Care
Closes: 30th of April 2021
Value: Unspecified
Run By: Australian Government Department of Health
Supports providers of residential aged care experiencing financial difficulty, prioritising providers in regional, rural, and remote areas, and small to medium sized providers, with limited access to financial support, that are facing significant financial pressure.

Wine Export Grant
Closes: 1st of May 2021
Value: Up to $25,000
Run By: Wine Australia
Grants for specific wine export promotion activities aimed at supporting small and medium wine businesses to secure new distribution channels in export markets.

Regional Job Creation Fund
Closes: 14th of May 2021 - 5:00 am , or when exhausted
Value: Up to $10 Million
Run By: NSW Department of Regional NSW
Supports existing businesses in regional NSW to grow and encourages interstate or overseas businesses to invest in regional NSW.

Elsa Dixon Aboriginal Employment Grant
Closes: 29th of June 2021
Value: Up to $40,000
Run By: NSW Government
Promoting diversity, innovation and service responsiveness in the NSW workforce, the Elsa Dixon Aboriginal Employment Grant subsidises the salary, development and support costs of Aboriginal employees in public service agencies and local government authorities.

NSW Public Spaces Legacy Program
Opened 1st of September 2020
Closes: 30th of June 2021
Value: Up to $2 Million
Run By: NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment
The program incentivises local councils to accelerate their assessments of development applications (DAs) and rezonings to create new development capacity and meet demand for housing and employment over the next decade.

Jobs Plus Program
Opened15th of December 2020
Closes: 30th of June 2022
Value: Payroll Tax releif for up to four years and support
Run By: NSW Government
Supports companies who want to relocate their head offices to NSW, or expand their jobs footprint in NSW that will create 30 new net jobs.

Moon to Mars Supply Chain Capability Improvement
Closes: 30th of April 2023
Value: $250,000 to $1 Million
Run By: Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
Supports Australian businesses with domestic or international supply chain opportunities by providing grant funds for building their capacity, skills and capabilities.

Advancing Renewables Program
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Unspecified
Run By: Australian Government: Australian Renewable Energy Agency
ARENA’s Advancing Renewables Program supports a broad range of development, demonstration and pre-commercial deployment projects that can deliver affordable and reliable renewable energy for Australian families and businesses.

AgBiz Drought Loans
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Up to $500,000
Run By: Australian Government Regional Investment Corporation
A concessional loan if your small business is currently or has been supplying goods or services relating to primary production to farm businesses in an affected area.

Australian Government's Youth Jobs PaTH
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Up to $11,000
Run By: Australian Government Job Active
Helps employers find and recruit the right young person for their business by facilitating trials and providing a wage subsidy of up to $10,000 if you hire them.

Black Spot Program
Closes: Ongoing
Run By: Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications
By funding measures such as traffic signals and roundabouts at dangerous locations, the programme reduces the risk of road crashes.

CSIRO Kick-Start
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Up to $50,000 matched funding
Run By: CSIRO
CSIRO Kick-Start is a new initiative for innovative Australian start-ups and small SMEs, providing funding support and access to CSIRO’s research expertise and capabilities to help grow and develop their business. The program offers eligible businesses access to dollar-matched funding of $10,000-$50,000 to undertake the following research activities with CSIRO:
Research into a new idea with commercial potential.
Development of a novel or improved product or process.
Test a novel product or material developed by the company.

Defence Global Competitiveness Grants
Closes: Ongoing
Value: $15,000 to $150,000
Run By: Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
The Defence Global Competitiveness Grants will help Australian SMEs to invest in projects that build export capability to build a stronger, more sustainable and globally competitive Australian defence industry.

Dreamstarter - Grants for Growth
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Unspecified
Run By: ING
Dreamstarter Grants for Growth provides ING Dreamstarter Alumni with access to funding to accelerate the growth of their businesses and increase their positive social impact. 

Drought Loans
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Up to $2 Million
Run By: Australian Government Regional Investment Corporation
Concessional loan to help farm businesses in the agriculture, horticulture, pastoral, apiculture, or aquaculture industryto prepare for, manage through, and recover from drought.

Drought Relief Heavy Vehicle Access Program
Closes: Unknown
Value: Up to $300,000 per Local Government Area
Run By: NSW Roads and Maritime Services
This program has been established to contribute to the cost of maintenance and minor improvements on council roads and roadsides, where those improvements will contribute to heavy vehicle access, in support of the drought relief freight task.

English Family Foundation - Ingnitor Fund
Closes: Applications are ongoing
Value: Up to $100,000
Run By: English Family Foundation
Under this grant program the foundation are seeking to support Australian social enterprise changemakers who are finding new and innovative solutions to tackle the most pressing issues within their local communities and who are now looking to build capacity to overcome the challenges of taking their concept to scale to be impact investment ready.

Export Market Development Grants
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Up to $150,000
Run By: Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)
An Australian Government financial assistance program for aspiring and current exporters in a wide range of industries.

Farm Investment Loans
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Up to $2 Million
Run By: Australian Government Regional Investment Corporation
You can apply for this loan if you solely or mainly sell products into supply chains that are interstate or outside Australia, or plan to in the future.

Get Connected Listing for Tourism Businesses
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Website Listing
Run By: Destination NSW
Provides tourism operators with the opportunity to showcase your tourism products on Destination NSW’s consumer websites for free.

Impact Investment Ready Growth Grant
Closes: Ongoing rounds through the year
Value: Up to $140,000
Run By: Impact Investing Australia
Provides impact businesses and mission-driven organisations with grants for business, financial, legal and other capacity building support from providers to secure investment.

Incubator Support - Expert-In-Residence
Closes: Applications are ongoing
Value: $5,000 to $100,000
Run By: Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
Provides business incubators with grants to access top quality research, managerial and technical talent through incoming and outgoing secondments of national or international experts. 

Incubator Support - New & Existing Incubators
Closes: Applications are ongoing
Value: $26,000 to $500,000
Run By: Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
Provides new and existing business incubators with grants of up to $500,000 to assist Australian start-ups develop the capabilities required to succeed in international markets.

Indigenous Business Australia
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Financial support and advice
Run By: Indigenous Business Australia
IBA assists Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to access the skills, knowledge and resources required to start and grow viable and sustainable businesses.

Innovation Connections
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Up to $50,000
Run By: AusIndustry
Provides small and medium sized businesses with access to expert technology advice to address technology and knowledge gaps, and collaborate with the research sector in developing new ideas with commercial potential.

Jobs for NSW
Closes: Ongoing
Run By: NSW Department of Industry
Jobs for NSW is a private sector-led and NSW Government-backed initiative which aims to make the NSW economy as competitive as possible and therefore help create new jobs across the State. 

Landing Pads for Start Ups
Closes: Unspecified
Value: Support
Run By: Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)
Assists market-ready scaleups take their business globalby providing an operational base and customised support for their overseas expansion goals.

New Air Combat Capability - Industry Support Program (NACC-ISP)
Closes: Ongoing until funding expended - Expected to close soon
Value: Matched up to $1 Million
Run By: Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
Provides Australian businesses and research organisations with matched funding of up to $1 million for Projects to help them enter export markets, secure domestic contracts and upskill their staff so they can win work with the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program.

New Enterprise Incentive Scheme
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Income Assistance and Advice
Run By: Australian Government Department of Employment
NEIS is a program delivered by a network of 21 providers who provide individualised help for job seekers to become self-employed business owners.

Newsagents Assistance Fund
Closes: Unspecified
Value: Up to $10,000
Run By: NSW Fair Trading
The Newsagents Assistance Fund assists eligible agents to update their NSW Lotteries retail image and fit-out to align with the NSW Lotteries brand.

On-farm Natural Resource Management Grants
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Unspecified matched
Run By: NSW Government Local Land Services - Nothern Tablelands
Funding is avaliable to develop projects on-farm and we would like landholders to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to help us identify and support their natural resource priorities.

Regional Investment Attraction - Investment Concierge
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Support
Run By: NSW Government
Grants and interest-free loans targeted at offsetting government levies and duties, such as payroll tax, to eligible businesses that want to invest and grow in regional NSW, which will lead to new jobs.

Regional Skills Relocation Grant
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Up to $10,000 per worker
Run By: NSW Government Department of Regional NSW
Support for the costs of relocating skilled staff from metropolitan centres around Australia to Regional NSW.

Restart
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Up to $10,000
Run By: Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment
Restart is a financial incentive of up to $10,000 (GST inclusive) to encourage businesses to hire and retain mature age employees who are 50 years of age and over.

Safe and Secure Water Program
Closes: Ongoing until expended
Value: No minimum or maximum, $1 Billion total pool
Run By: NSW Government
Co-funds eligible water and sewerage projects that deliver economic growth in regional NSW through improvements to public health, water security, environmental outcomes and/or social benefits.

SMART Projects and Supply Chains
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Tailored advice
Run By: Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
Provides access to a skilled advisor who will work with you to develop an improvement plan for an identified supply chain opportunity and support you as you implement the plan.

Tradex Scheme
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Varies based on the the goods imported
Run By: Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
The Tradex Scheme provides an upfront exemption from Customs duty and GST for eligible goods imported to Australia that are then exported within one year or other approved period.

Wine Tourism and Cellar Door Grant
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Up to $100,000
Run By: Wine Australia
Support for producers who add value by encouraging visitors to wine regions by providing access an annual grant reflective of their eligible physical cellar door sales.

Entrepreneurs’ Infrastructure Programme
Closes: Ongoing
Run By: Australian Government
The Programme aims to improve the capabilities of small to medium enterprises to become more competitive and grow. The Programme is now accepting applications for Business Evaluations, and Business Growth Grants under the Business Management stream.

Bushfire Cleanup Program
Closes: Unknown
Value: Physical Works
Run By: Service NSW

Business Connect
Closes: Ongoing
Value: Advice and Support
Run By: NSW Government
A dedicated and personalised NSW Government program that provides trusted advice to help you start or grow your small business.