Backing Business in the Bush Fund – Australia

Objectives

• Objectives of the fund Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Queensland currently face a tight labour market and rising cost environment. To help address these challenges that can disproportionately affect SMEs in regional areas, the fund is targeted at established SMEs in regional Queensland employing between 5 and 199 employees and is focused on helping them to grow, improve productivity, and sustain or increase employment and/or enhance skills. The objectives of the fund are to:
  • increase productivity, long-term commercial sustainability, and competitiveness of regional Queensland businesses to capitalise on domestic and export growth opportunities
  • support businesses and industries to further adapt to economic change with sustained or increased employment and/or upskilling opportunities
  • increase private sector investment in regional Queensland to assist projects to be built
  • support businesses to adopt technology and/or practices to improve environmental sustainability

Funding Information

• Queensland Treasury is delivering the fund through a competitive round of funding. Funding will be between $500,000 and $2 million per project and be no more than 50 per cent of the project’s total eligible capital expenditure.

Eligible Industries and Sectors

• The fund focuses on supporting projects in traditional industries and sectors defined as follows:
  • value adding to agriculture, forestry, and fishing products
  • the mining equipment, technology, and services (METS) sector
  • transport and logistics
  • manufacturing products for use in or in connection with:
    • the mining industry
    • processing minerals
    • agriculture
    • forestry
    • fisheries
    • processing produce of a primary industry
    • transport
    • defence

Eligibility Criteria

• A consortium can submit an application for the fund. An organisation must be appointed as the lead Applicant and satisfy the eligibility criteria.
• The lead applicant is authorised to act on behalf of. and bind each member, of the consortium. And, if the application is successful, enter into the funding agreement and be ultimately responsible for delivering the project.
• The application must include a letter of support from each organisation involved in the application.
• Consortium partners are not required to have an ABN.
• Ineligible applicants (except for those subject to any insolvency) can form part of a consortium but are not able to be the lead applicant.
• Consortium members may seek funding for only one project.

For more information, visit Queensland Government.