Each year hundreds of grants across local, state and federal levels worth billions of dollars are available to businesses.

Ensure you aren’t missing out on programs that could help your business grow, innovate, export, become more energy efficient, recover from disasters, improve the wellbeing of your workforce, and much more.

The Victorian Chamber has a Grant Finder tool available for members to help find and determine eligibility for programs.

Helen Lechte, CEO of Cove Training says: “As a member of The Victorian Chamber I am sent grant updates every day. The information provided allows for me to examine the grants that would best suit Cove Training. This saves me time researching the individual websites.

“It’s a one-stop shop for grants, a fantastic collation of the information useful to me as a business owner.”

The following list is a guide. Many more initiatives target specific sectors and business needs. These can be sourced via Grant Finder, with more details available below.

Business growth

Ready for Growth supports Victorian businesses with high growth potential to access new markets and expand their business, providing help to improve business performance, solve operational challenges or make the right decisions and changes.

Victorian Business Growth Fund supports Victorian SMEs ready to grow their business, but who can’t access the funds or find the right partner to take the next step.

Self-Employment Assistance provides support to people interested in starting their own business or who need help to refocus an existing small business.

Employment and skills

Wage Subsidies provide financial incentives to employers to hire and retain eligible participants in ongoing and sustainable positions.

Apprenticeship Wage Subsidies and Hiring Incentives are available for Australian businesses to help hire, train and keep apprentices.

Wage Subsidy Scheme provides funding for employers who hire job seekers registered with a Disability Employment Service provider to gain skills and experience through employment.

Skills Solutions Partnerships provides a platform for collaboration between government, industry, TAFEs and dual sector universities to design and pilot innovative short training approaches to rapidly address workforce skills gaps in priority sectors.

Regional Hospitality Traineeship provides incentives to regional Victorian hospitality and tourism businesses to take on trainees.

Supported Wage System provides free productivity assessments for employers of people with a disability so they can pay wages to employees based on their productivity.

Launch into Work is for businesses who want to use a pre-employment project to recruit new staff.

Digital Jobs provides businesses with an opportunity to host a digitally trained candidate through a subsidised 12-week internship.

Digital Jobs for Manufacturing provides funding to upskill existing staff in high-demand digital skillsets.

Tax 

The Small Business Income Tax Offset provides unincorporated small businesses with a tax offset.

Backing Business Investment – Accelerated Depreciation allows you to claim depreciation of new business assets at a faster rate in your tax return.

Small Business Technology Investment Boost allows small businesses to claim a 20 per cent bonus deduction on technology expenditure to help digitise their business.

Small Business Skills and Training Boost provides small businesses with a bonus tax deduction to help them train new staff and upskill existing staff.

Innovation

Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Grants provide funding for industry-led research collaborations to help improve the competitiveness, productivity and sustainability of Australian industries.

Landing Pads provide start-ups with a workspace for up to 90 days in a global innovation hub, along with access to coaching, investors, customers, training and networking events.

CSIRO Kick-Start provides matched funding for start-ups and small to medium enterprises to help access CSIRO’s research expertise and capabilities to help grow your business.

Agtech Grants Program supports early-stage AgTech startups across Victoria by providing small amounts of working capital to help startups build capability and move to the next stage of growth.

Industry Growth Program supports innovative small and medium enterprises undertaking commercialisation and/or growth projects within the National Reconstruction Fund priority areas through advisory services and opportunities for matched grant funding.

Energy

Victorian Energy Upgrades provide businesses with discounts on a wide range of energy-saving products and services when accessed through accredited providers.

Advancing Renewables Program provides businesses with funding or finance to develop renewable energy technologies.

On-Farm Action Plan Pilot program provides practical information, tools and services to support farmers to understand and reduce emissions.

Disaster relief

Bushfire Clean-up Program provides free of charge clean-up assistance for the demolition and disposal of all buildings destroyed by this season’s bushfires.

Disaster Assist provides assistance and support to businesses across Australia that have been affected by natural disasters.

Disaster Recovery Payment provides a one-off payment for individuals adversely affected by a major disaster either in Australia or overseas.

Wellbeing

NewAccess for Small Business Owners has been developed by Beyond Blue to give small business owners support during challenging times.

Wellbeing and Mental Health Support for Victorian Small Businesses Providing mental health support to Victorians dealing with the challenges of running a small business to help them navigate through the impacts of COVID-19.

First Nations

Start-Up Finance Package provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander start-ups with access to loans to help new businesses get off the ground.

Business Loan Package is available to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait owned businesses to help them plan their business future.

Invoice Finance provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander owned businesses with cash flow support to grow their business.

Indigenous Advancement Strategy provides funding for organisations to help them undertake projects or activities which promote equal opportunities for Indigenous Australians.

Export

Small Business Export Loan provides small to medium export businesses with loans to cover up to 80 per cent of the costs to secure an export contract or purchase order with an overseas buyer.

Export Finance Australia provides small to medium businesses with Loans, Bonds and Guarantees to help with export requirements.

Global Victoria Intellect Program provides Victorian exporters with the opportunity to gain free market research intelligence.

Other

Many more industry or issues-specific grants and support are available.

For example, the Forestry Transition Fund supports jobs in communities affected by the end of native timber harvesting, while the Timber Supply Chain Resilience Package helps timber product manufacturers impacted by this transition. The Back to Work Scheme provides employers payments to hire and train unemployed people in the Latrobe Valley and retrenched workers from the Hazelwood Power Station.

Grant Finder

Although an essential enabler to support business growth, we know finding grants can be complex and time consuming. The Victorian Chamber Grant Finder is your new single source of truth for business grants in Victoria.

We can help you identify which local, state or federal government grants best suit your business needs.

Use Grant Finder today