Grant Funding in Australia: Jun – Oct ‘21 Highlights

TOP 5 LARGEST AWARD AMOUNTS

1. Funding to Screen Australia (Screen Australia): $281,816,000

2. Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Programme (Multiple Recipients): $203,276,628

3. Maintenance of core international aviation workforce and operational capability (2021-25) (QANTAS Airways Ltd.): $191,840,000

4. Escaping Violence Payment (Uniting Victoria and Tasmania Ltd.): $151,800,000

5. Natural Hazards and Disaster Resilience Research Centre: $93,500,000 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Limited)

It’s worth noting that many of these values represent aggregate award amounts (e.g., Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Program – 42,704 awards).
These awards were under several different funding arrangements (i.e., open competitive, closed non-competitive, open-restricted, etc.). To find out more about grant categories, check out our grant bites.

FEDERAL FUNDING: TECHNOLOGY PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

Let’s take a closer look at some technology focused/centred projects that received federal funding:

ARC Training Centre for Behavioural Insights for Technology Adoption (BITA)

• Funder: Australian Research Council (ARC)

• Funding Program: Industrial Transformation Training Centres

• Recipient: Queensland University of Technology (QUT)

• Funding Amount: $4,282,859

• Project: The Centre for Behavioural Insights for Technology Adoption will boost national productivity by identifying, designing and evaluating solutions that address these barriers. By uniting industry and government with world-leading interdisciplinary researchers, the Centre will build transformative capability in people, data and solutions and support Australian organisations to achieve higher returns on technology investment.

Turning mineral waste to carbon sink – a low cost carbon storage technology

• Funder: Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources

• Funding Program: Carbon Capture Use and Storage Development Fund

• Recipient: BORAL LIMITED

• Funding Amount: $2,640,000

• Project: This pilot project will develop a local low–cost value adding carbon storage technology where the captured carbon is utilised to improve the quality of recycled concrete, masonry, and steel slag aggregates, thereby adding to their market value. The relatively low capital and operation costs, abundance of selected waste materials, and the financial return potential due to increased value of processed aggregates are key drivers for adoption of this technology.

Crowd Canvas – Mobile Technology Engagement Platform

• Funder: Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources

• Funding Program: Entrepreneurs’ Programme – Accelerating Commercialisation

• Recipient: FORTY FIRST FLOOR PTY LTD

• Funding Amount: $319,000

• Project: Forty First Floor Pty Ltd has developed the Crowd Canvas event technology system for the event entertainment industry. The solution will transform audience smartphones into active dynamic pixels that can be activated to complete complex audio/visual light and sound spectacles mapped across stadium sized crowds all synchronised to on stage performances. Accelerating
Commercialisation support will be used to help Forty First Floor Pty Ltd commercialise this system and achieve rapid national and international adoption for worldwide major events.

Evaluating crash risk and risky road use using LiDAR based perception technology

• Funder: Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications

• Funding Program: Road Safety Innovation Fund – Round 2

• Recipient: Omni-Aware Holdings Pty Ltd

• Funding Amount: $311,434

• Project: Use LiDar sensing along with intelligent processing developed and demonstrated in Australia to deliver road safety analysis and insights of a detail and confidence level beyond that possible with camera or radar-based technologies.

PRIMARY CARE RURAL INNOVATIVE MULTIDISCIPLINARY MODELS ROUNDS 2 AND 3

Category: Healthcare; Innovation

Overview: The purpose of the Primary Care Rural Innovative

Multidisciplinary Models (PRIMM) Grant Opportunity Grant Opportunity is to consult on and design feasible solutions to address specific Primary Health care service issues within local rural communities and regions.

Funder: Australian Government – Department of Health

Funding Available: Up to $400,000 (total pool – $2.4 million)

Eligibility: To be eligible, you must:

• Have an Australian Business Number (ABN)

• Be registered for the purposes of GST

• Have an account with an Australian financial institution; and be one of the following entity types: a company incorporated in Australia, a company incorporated by guarantee, an incorporated association, a partnership, a joint (consortium) application with a lead organisation, a registered charity or not-for-profit organisation, an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006.

Deadline: Round 3 opening in early 2022

More Information: Grant Connect Website – GOID5102.

SKILLING AUSTRALIA’S DEFENCE INDUSTRY GRANTS PROGRAM

Category: Education; Defence; Workforce Development

Overview: Skilling Australia’s Defence Industry Grants provide SMEs servicing the defence sector with upskilling and training opportunities to build skills capacity and capability to meet current or future Defence needs.

Funder: Australian Government – Department of Defence

Funding Available: $5,000 – $500,000 (total pool – $39 million)

Eligibility: To be eligible, you must:

• Have an Australian Business Number (ABN)

• Be non-income tax exempt (unless you are a defence industry association training your own staff or facilitating training to businesses you are representing) and be one of the following entities: an entity, incorporated in Australia, an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust.

The Department will only accept applications from:

• SMEs with less than 200 employees that currently service, or intend to service, the defence industry sector and meet one of the following requirements: have a current Defence contract, be currently tendering or preparing to tender for a Defence contract, be a current subcontractor to a Defence prime or contracted through the Prime’s supply chain to deliver on Defence projects, Defence industry associations for training their own staff or for facilitating training to businesses they are representing.

Deadline: Ongoing until funding is exhausted

More Information: Business.gov website

ACCELERATING COMMERCIALISATION GRANTS

Category: Manufacturing

Overview: These grants provide small and medium businesses, entrepreneurs, and researchers with access to expert advice and funding to help get a novel product, process, or service to market.

This program provides expert guidance and support to help you commercialise novel products, processes and services and find a commercialisation solution that is right for you. Applicants must receive Commercialisation Guidance before applying for an Accelerating Commercialisation Grant.

Funder: Australian Government – Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources

Funding Available: $50,000 – $1 million (up to 50% of eligible project expenditure)

Eligibility: Before you can apply for an Accelerating Commercialisation cash Grant you must have received Commercialisation Guidance under the program.

You must:

• Be non-tax exempt

• Be registered for GST

• Be one of the following entities:

• A company incorporated in Australia and a trading corporation, where your trading activities:

• Form a sufficiently significant proportion of the corporation’s overall activities as to merit it being described as a trading corporation

• Are a substantial and not merely peripheral activity of the corporation

• A Research Commercialisation Entity or Eligible Partner Entity as defined in the grant opportunity guidelines

• Be undertaking an eligible project

• Have the ownership, access or beneficial use of any intellectual property you need to undertake the commercialisation project

• Provide evidence of your ability to fund at least 50 per cent of eligible project expenditure, such as funding strategy and a bank statement or loan agreement. You must also provide an Accountant Declaration that confirms your ability to fund the project meet the turnover test

Deadline: Ongoing or until funding is exhausted

More Information: Business.gov Website

For more funding opportunities, check out our FUNDED magazine.