The Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grant provides funding for Australian businesses to build industrial capabilities, which fit with the Department of Defence’s Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities. This grant is available to small and medium sized businesses with an Australian business number (ABN), if it is a company incorporated in Australia or incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust.
We outline what the grant includes, the eligibility criteria, and the projects covered, along with the list of Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities.
What does the Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grant include?
A grant of between $50,000 and $1 million is available for up to 50 per cent of the cost of projects that build capabilities aligned with the Department of Defence’s Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities. The maximum grant period is 30 months, with funding capped at $3 million per recipient.
The grant program is open for applications throughout the year, with the assessment panel assessing batched applications regularly throughout the year. Each batch of applications has approximately $3.2 million of grant funding. The dates for each of the batches are outlined below:
- Batch 1 – all grant applications received up until 16 September 2022
- Batch 2 – all grant applications received from 17 September 2022 to 31 January 2023
- Batch 3 – all grant applications received from 1 February to 30 April 2023.
What are the eligibility criteria?
To be eligible for the Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grant, your business must:
- Have fewer than 200 employees
- Have an Australian business number (ABN)
- Be a company incorporated in Australia, or incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust.
In addition to the above eligibility criteria, you must provide:
- Evidence from your Board - or Chief Executive Officer or equivalent if there is no board - that the project is supported, that you can complete the project, and that you can meet the project costs not covered by grant funding
- An external accountant declaration form confirming you can fund your share of the project costs.
You are not eligible to apply if you are:
- An individual or a partnership
- A trust, but an incorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a trust
- A government body at any level, including government business enterprise.
What project activities are covered?
The project activities covered by the Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grant include the buying, leasing, constructing, installing, or commissioning of capital equipment – including specialist software to enhance cyber security.
As they relate to the above activities, these project activities can also include:
- Design, engineering, and commissioning activities
- Workforce training and accreditations.
What are the Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities?
The Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities are as follows:
- Advanced signal processing capability
- Aerospace platform deeper maintenance and structural integrity
- Collins class submarine maintenance and technology upgrade
- Combat clothing survivability and signature reduction technologies
- Continuous shipbuilding program - including rolling submarine acquisition
- Enhanced active phased array and passive radar capability
- Information warfare and cyber capabilities
- Land combat and protected vehicles and technology upgrades
- Munitions and small arms research, design, development, and manufacture
- Precision guided munitions, hypersonic weapons, and integrated air and missile defence systems
- Robotics, autonomous systems, and artificial intelligence
- Space
- Surveillance and intelligence
- Test, evaluation, certification, and systems assurance.
BDO Comment
BDO can assist you in determining your business’s eligibility for the Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grant. If you have any questions or would like to apply, please get in contact with our BDO Government Grants and Incentives team.