The Export Market Development Grant (EMDG)

The Export Market Development Grant (EMDG) program is the Federal Government’s cornerstone export funding program to encourage Australian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to seek promotional opportunities for their goods, services and intellectual property overseas.

New changes mean bigger grants are likely to be available, but not every applicant will receive a grant. 

Available funding

Assistance for Australian SMEs, with turnover between $100k and $20m, by reimbursing up to 50per cent of eligible costs associated with the development of export opportunities. Businesses can access a total of eight grants, up to a maximum of $770,000 in funding.

Austrade will provide up to $104.5m in funding for grant allocations in 2025-26 and $104.5m in 2026-27.

Grant Agreements

Provision of an upfront grant agreement, resulting in increased certainty around how much support will be received for eligible offshore marketing spend – whether you are you spending money to market your goods or services offshore, or to protect your IP.

Round 4 updates

Following the EMDG program revisions and stakeholder consultation, a number of key changes to the program have been made including:

• Applications will be assessed on a first-come-first-served basis until funding is fully allocated. A grant round will close once the available funding is allocated to eligible applicants.
• Round 4 covers a two-year period from 2025-26 to 2026-27. Austrade anticipate being able to offer around 1,900 grants in total across the tiers.
• Austrade now requires applicants to be able to demonstrate the capacity to spend at least $20,000 per financial year on the proposed marketing and promotional activities (exclusive of the grant amount).
• To meet the minimum capacity to spend requirements, applicants need to plan to undertake at least $40,000 in eligible expenditure per financial year on eligible marketing and promotional activities, i.e. $20,000 of their own money, plus the $20,000 minimum grant amount which we understand Austrade plans to provide to applicants at the beginning of the 2025-26 year.
• If the applicant does not meet the minimum grant requirements in the year, they cannot claim the grant.
• Applicants for tiers 1, 2 and 3 need to have been conducting the business under the same ABN for at least two years and there are now also annual turnover requirements for each tier.
• In addition to the eight year limit for applicants applying for tiers 1, 2 and 3, there are now limits on the number of years each tier can be accessed.
• Tier 3 is now focused on supporting companies with entry into a specified list of new markets.
• Grant recipients of Round 4 will be listed on Austrade’s website within 21 days of the date of effect. 

Grant Funding Tiers and key eligibility requirements 

EMDG provides grants for three tiers as well as support for Representative Bodies, with each having its own eligibility requirements and funding allocation. This funding allocation fluctuates per round, dependant on the demand for that period and the pool of funds available from Austrade.

What costs can you claim under EMDG?

Examples of eligible expenditure under the program (subject to meeting all requirements) may include:

• Overseas representative
• Marketing consultants
• Marketing visits
• Trade fairs & seminars
• Promotional and advertising material
• Overseas buyer visits
• Free samples ($15,000 limit)
• Intellectual Property registration offshore
• Marketing training for Tier 1 and Representative Bodies.