Business Events Grant – Now open
13 January, 2021
The Business Events program provides delegates, including buyers and sellers, with financial support to attend and participate at exhibitions, conferences and conventions. Grants from $10,000 per entity up to $250,000 entity in matched funding (50%). This program is targeted at businesses and/or industry associations promoting at events on behalf of members.
Open date: 04 Jan 2021 12:00 PM AEDT. The grant funding will only cover eligible expenditure incurred from the application open date to the program end date.
Close date: Applicants assessed ongoing, all applications must be received by 30 Mar 2021 05:00 PM AEDT.
This program is demand driven and will be open until all funding has been allocated.
Funding is to support the sustainability of events in government priority areas and to cover the cancellation costs that may occur to planned events due to COVID-19 outbreaks. If an event is cancelled due to COVID-19, the non-refundable costs allocated will be entirely met by the Australian Government, up to the value of the grant provided, for the event that was cancelled.
The focus of the program is to support the promotion of Australian business capability, including to a domestic audience, bolster supply chain resilience, enhance industry match making opportunities and Australian product and service value add. Events will need to have a trade element that brings together buyers and sellers, and demonstrate an alignment with a priority sector such as mining; food and agribusiness; clean energy; tourism; defence; digital technologies and media.
Approved events are listed on the Schedule of Approved Business Events on the Austrade program website. The Schedule of Approved Business Events will be updated from time to time as new events will be added once approved. It is therefore important that you check the list at the time you submit your application. Current approved events include (but are not limited to):
- Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Event (AIME)
- Northern Australia Food Futures Conference
- B2B Expo 2021-Small Business Connections Summit
- Australasian Hotel Industry Conference and Exhibition
- Defence Industry Security Summit 2021
- Land Forces
- Open Pit Operators 2021
- 2021 Bowen Basin Symposium
- MEA Clean Energy Conference 2021
- Avalon Airshow
- National Cleantech Conference & Exhibition
Applicants may apply for funding to cover exhibition and delegate expenses. For exhibitors, eligible expenditure items may include:
- hire of the exhibition space and cost of associated delegates as part of the event conference package for exhibition hire (up to a maximum of 10 delegates)
- sponsorship of an event up to a maximum of $10,000.
- event and display set up costs, including the design, manufacture and shipping of exhibits and expenses related to running a COVID safe exhibit
- promotional material, including program collateral, directly related to exhibiting at the event
- digital promotion, including the setup, display and design of audio visual material up to a maximum of 50 per cent of the non-collateral eligible project costs
- catering for networking activities as part of exhibiting at a pre-approved event
- contractor/s costs associated with exhibiting at a pre-approved event.
For delegates eligible expenditure items may include:
- up to four delegate registration/s if you are a nominated buyer and seller participating in an event (defined by the Schedule of Approved Business Events)
- domestic travel limited to the reasonable cost of accommodation and transportation required to conduct agreed project and collaboration activities in Australia. The reimbursement will be in line with the Australian Government accommodation and domestic air travel rates for economy travel (see Appendix 3 of the guidelines).
