Business Events Grant

If your business is thinking of attending a business event (exhibition, conference or convention) in 2021, as either a buyer or seller, you may be able to get matched funding, of between $10,000 to $250,000 from the Australian Government under the Business Events Grant program.

Key Criteria

The key criteria of the Business Events Grant program include:

• The business event(s) must be an event approved by Austrade. You can find a list of these events at https://www.austrade.gov.au/Australian/Tourism/Tourism-and-business/Grants/business-events-exhibitor-grants-program.  Note Austrade is still reviewing events and I expect more approved events will be added to this list by mid March 2021.
• You must have Australian Business Number (ABN) and be one of the following entities; an individual (sole trader); a partnership; a company, incorporated in Australia; an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust; or an Industry Association promoting the selling or buying of a product or service on behalf of its members.
• Attendance at the event(s) will assist your business to do one or more of the following:
  • develop your marketplace diversification (particularly to the domestic market).
  • improve supply chain value and resilience for the Australian economy.
  • enhance your ability to pivot to new markets.
  • support Australia’s regional economy.
• You must be planning to spend at least $20,000 in eligible expenditure on the event(s) (refer below). Note if you were thinking of spending between $10,000 and $20,000 and would miss out on the grant, it might make sense to plan to spend more.  For example, if you were planning to spend $12,000, it would cost you $12,000 with no grant.  But if you spent $20,000, it would only cost you $10,000 after the grant.  This is one case where it may pay to spend more.

Note you can apply for multiple events per application.

If you meet the criteria, the government will match your spending up to a maximum of $250,000.  So, if you spend $25,000, the government will pay $12,500 and you only need to fund $12,500.

Eligible Expenditure

Under the Business Events Grant program, you can be either an exhibitor or a delegate participating at an event.

For exhibitors, eligible expenditure items may include:

• hire of the exhibition space and cost of associated delegates (up to a maximum of 10 delegates)
• sponsorship of an event up to a maximum of $10,000.
• event and display set up costs
• promotional material directly related to exhibiting at the event
• digital promotion
• 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)
• reasonable cost of accommodation and transportation.

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.

Timing

Applications for the Business Events Grant program close on 30 March 2021.   But the government has only allocated a fixed amount of money for this and if they allocate all the money before 30 March 2021, applications will close.

What next?

If you are already thinking of exhibiting or attending business or industry events in 2021, you should download the list of approved events today and see if that event(s) is approved.  If they are, think about how much you were planning to spend on those events.  If you were considering spending at least $10,000 on the event(s), then it may be worthwhile to apply for this grant.

If you were not thinking of exhibiting or attending business or industry events in 2021, you should still download the list of approved events today and see if there are any approved events that may be worthwhile to attend.

How to Apply

Go to https://www.business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/business-events-grants#at-a-glance to see the full details of the Business Events Grant program and how to apply.

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