Updated Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) rules have been tabled in Parliament this week, refocusing and improving this program for Aussie exporters, who contribute to the economy in a number of ways and support higher paying Australian jobs.
The Australian government has been undertaking a review of the EMDG program, which is already known to be one of the most comprehensive and generous programs of its kind globally. It is an important source of support for businesses to start, expand, and diversify their exports into overseas markets.
After extensive business and industry consultation, it was clear that the uncertainty and declining size of EMDG grants significantly reduced the value of the program for exporters. The updated rules will see increased grant sizes so that eligible Australian businesses can access more money to support export market activities.
Austrade administers EMDG for the Government. It is an eligibility-based, demand-driven program. Grants are for eligible promotional activities undertaken by small to medium enterprise (SME) exporters and representative bodies. SME exporters can apply for grants over eight years in total (not necessarily consecutively), while representative bodies have no maximum grant years.
Additional changes include improved eligibility requirements so grants can be allocated to businesses that are ready to start, expand and diversify their exports. This will allow the EMDG to encourage Australian businesses to diversify their trade by allowing Austrade to identify key markets for grant tiers.
Grants are currently available in three tiers: Ready to export; Exporting and expanding; Exporting, expanding and strategic shift.
The changes will give Austrade the ability to show applicants what the maximum grant amounts are up front, giving exporters greater certainty about how much grant funding they will receive if they are successful.
Consistent with other government programs, grants will be awarded to eligible businesses in the order in which applications are assessed, with rounds closing as soon as funds are fully allocated.
EMDG is an eligibility-based, demand-driven program. This means all eligible applicants receive a grant from the available funds. Austrade calculates how much funding will be given to all eligible applications based on the demand in that round. Exporters must match the dollar value of the grant monies they receive. This means they must spend double the grant amount to receive the grant.
For the first time, Austrade will be able to pay eligible businesses part of the grant much sooner after they have been assessed. This will be a significant boost for exporters who have previously had to fund their grant activities out of their own pocket and wait for EMDG payments to arrive later in the grant year or in arrears.
These changes were the result of extensive business and industry consultation and will take effect for the next grant round, which is expected to open later in 2024.
Read this related article from our archives: Boosters for Aussie Exporters
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