The Export Markets Development Grant is an eligibility-based grant program, meaning that your business must meet all eligibility criteria to be offered a grant. Learn more about the requirements and application process here.
The EMDG is an Australian Government program designed to help businesses grow through export promotion. It is essentially a cash rebate scheme administered to encourage businesses to expand their markets to any country overseas (except New Zealand). The scheme entitles a business to a 50% reimbursement of relevant expenses, with up to $150,000 available per year.
What is the EMDG Grant?
While many will see it as the big next step in the evolution of their business, it can be incredibly difficult to begin promoting your products overseas. This is because it is a costly undertaking and something that few small businesses will be able to afford. This is where the EMDG grant comes in, designed to assist these businesses in this process by providing financial aid to eligible companies looking to attract interest offshore. It helps small businesses to promote their products offshore, and also benefits Australia as a nation.
The EMDG grant is designed to support businesses both small and mid-sized, so it offers grants divided into three separate tiers. Regardless of what stage you are in with the promotion of your business overseas, you can benefit from the grant.
Tier 1: Ready to export
- are ready to export in the grant year
- have not exported before
- Can prove they have appropriate skills in marketing eligible products in a foreign country.
- Grants agreements are offered for up to 2 years.
Tier 2: Exporting and expanding
- exporting eligible products
- seeking to expand export promotion activity for eligible products.
- Grant agreements are for up to 3 years.
Tier 3: Exporting, expanding, and strategic shift
- exporting eligible products
- seeking to expand export promotion activity
- ready to make a strategic shift in the marketing of eligible products in a foreign country.
- Grant agreements are for up to 3 years.
Who is eligible for the grant
On a surface level, eligibility requirements include:
- your turnover for the financial year before the financial year in which the application is made is less than $20 million
- you must be an Australian person as per the EMDG Rules
- you must have an Australian Business Number.
Though there are more specific requirements, including that you must be an eligible person under the EMDG Rules, by being one of the following:
- an individual whose principal place of residence is in Australia
- a body incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001
- an association, or cooperative, incorporated under an Australian law
- a partnership was formed in Australia with at least half the partners being Australian persons
- a trust that is Australian
- a body corporate established for a public purpose under Australian law
- a representative body.
At the time of signing a grant agreement, you must not:
- have any outstanding disqualifying convictions
- be under insolvency administration
the EMDG grant must be used to assist with the process of promoting your business to other countries, or in service of training teams on how to promote the business in this way
There are detailed descriptions of what count as eligible products available in the EMDG Act Division 4 and the EMDG Rules Part 3, however, listed below are some examples of what are considered to be eligible products
To be considered an eligible product, your product must be of Australian origin and be:
- goods
- services
- events
- intellectual property or know-how
- software
How to apply
Before applying, take the time to read through all of the guidelines included in the EMDG Rules and the EMDG Act, make sure that you are eligible for the grant, and understand the full process of applying for the grant before taking any steps. There is also a sample application available that you can read through for help understanding the process. These documents may be found on the Austrade website.
To apply you must:
- complete the online grant application form via the link found on the Austrade website
- provide all the information requested
- address and meet all eligibility criteria
- include all necessary attachments
- submit your online application by the closing date
As with any application, it is your responsibility to ensure that it is completed correctly and accurately. Providing incorrect information is a serious offense and will result in your application being excluded from further consideration. If you have any concerns while completing your claim, hiring an external team to provide business advisory services can ensure that you are filling in all the information correctly.
If you believe that your business may be eligible for the EMDG grant, take some time to do research and learn more about the application process, and consider looking into business advisory services for additional assistance if you need it.
