Accelerating Trade Grant Program 2024-25 (Australia)

The program has been established as part of the Tasmanian Government’s Tasmanian Trade Strategy 2019- 2025.

The program will be administered by the Department of State Growth on behalf of the Crown in the Right of Tasmania.

Funding Information

• Tasmanian businesses can be approved for a maximum of $10,000 in grant funding in any one financial year (based on submission date). Applications for funding beyond this amount will not be considered. Multiple applications can be submitted, but the maximum approved grant amount is capped per applicant, per financial year.

Eligible Expenditure

• The program provides a reimbursement of up to 50 per cent of approved project costs up to the maximum grant amount. Projects must be targeting markets outside Tasmania. Examples of eligible expenditure includes but is not limited to the following.
  • Promotional activities, materials and supporting services
    • Campaigns in television, print and/or magazine media
    • Website design/re-design where it identifiably relates to attracting a new market/audience (for example: language translation, culturally appropriate images)
    • Online promotions, including social media campaigns.
    • Printed brochures or pamphlets.
    • Digital productions such as promotional videos, or multimedia presentations.
    • Cost of samples, being products given away for promotional or marketing purposes. Samples are to be priced at the wholesale cost (maximum grant funding for this expense item is $1,000)
    • Freight for samples (maximum grant funding for this expense item is $350, freight of stock to be sold is not eligible)
    • Attending trade exhibitions and promotions including exhibition stand or promotional space fees, hire of exhibition equipment and infrastructure and freighting promotional items to and from exhibitions or promotions (person-specific costs such as trade show entry or workshop registration are capped to one person per application)
  • Market research and business matching services
    • Commissioning specific market research (purchase of general, industry-wide research may not be eligible)
    • Commissioning business matching services (for example: using a third party to identify and engage with contacts in eligible markets that can import, purchase, distribute or support your product or service locally)
    • Study/Market research tours – including in-market research of competitors, customers, and potential customers, and gaining understanding of market and business culture and practices. A detailed itinerary and scope of work is required. Tours facilitated by industry bodies or other organisations (e.g. Austrade) will be more strongly favoured over self-guided or bespoke tours, which are unlikely to be approved.
  • Inbound buyer visits to Tasmania
    • Costs incurred with interstate or international buyers visiting Tasmania, including airfares, accommodation, and meals. Grant funding for this expense item is capped at $5,000.
  • Travel to an off-island market
    • Economy airfares for Tasmanian-based employees, relevant to the project and detailed in the application, for one person only. If alternative classes are booked, economy airfares will be calculated as 33 per cent of the cost of business class flights, or 10 per cent of first-class flights.
  • On-ground expenditure – per day allowance
    • $350 for one person, per night spent outside Tasmania to support accommodation, meals, beverages and transport (car hire, taxis, Ubers etc) when completing the approved activity. This is paid as an allowance with no proof of expenditure required (other than a travel/flight itinerary or tickets) and is included in the $10,000 maximum grant amount.
    • No additional costs are payable for on-ground expenditure outside of the allowance.
    • The maximum number of nights away that can be claimed for on-ground expenses is seven ($2,450)

Eligibility Criteria

• Businesses should submit their applications at least three weeks in advance of the project commencing.
• To be eligible for the grant applicants must:
  • be a Tasmanian business that is able to demonstrate that their products or services are produced, transformed or value-added in Tasmania, and are, or are intended to be, despatched from Tasmania.
  • have an active Australian Business Number (ABN) and be registered for GST.
  • have annual sales turnover greater than $150,000 in at least one of the two last full financial years, or in the current financial year-to-date (unless approved through an expression of interest process (or similar) to take part in Tasmanian Government-facilitated events such as trade missions, trade shows etc)
  • have annual sales that have never exceeded $10 million (unless approved through an expression of interest process (or similar) to take part in Tasmanian Government-facilitated events, such as trade missions, trade shows etc, or can present an exceptional business case for funding, with highly likely and significant trade outcomes)
  • be able to demonstrate the necessary capabilities, resources and capacity to undertake the trade development activity.

For more information, visit Department of State Growth.