Explore Business Grants Available This June
Navigating the world of government grants can feel overwhelming; there's a lot out there, eligibility criteria can be complex, and the application process takes time you may not have. That's why, each month, we do the legwork for you.
Through our partnership with Avant Group, we bring you a curated list of competitive grants your business may be eligible for right now. This month, opportunities are available across manufacturing, innovation, tourism, renewable energy, and the R&D Tax Incentive at both the federal and Victorian state levels.
Here's what's on the table.
Federal grants
CSIRO Kick-Start Program
Got an idea you're trying to prove out, but don't have the research capacity to do it? This one's worth your attention.
The CSIRO Kick-Start Program provides matched funding for start-ups and small SMEs to work directly with CSIRO researchers on development, testing, or feasibility projects. The idea is simple: you bring the business challenge, CSIRO brings the scientific capability, and the program helps cover the cost of the collaboration. It's part of CSIRO's broader commitment to supporting Australian technology businesses in areas of national priority, such as advanced manufacturing, agri-tech, med-tech, and clean energy.
To be eligible, your business needs to have a clearly defined innovation or R&D challenge that CSIRO has the expertise to help with. The program is particularly well-suited to early-stage businesses that need to validate their concept before taking it further.
Who it's for: Start-ups and small SMEs with an active R&D or product development challenge, especially in tech, agri-tech, med-tech, and advanced manufacturing.
Export Finance Australia — Small Business Export Loan
Landing an international contract is a milestone. Being unable to fund the delivery of it is a frustration too many Australian exporters know well.
This is a government-backed loan program, not a traditional grant, but it fills a critical gap for small businesses that have secured export opportunities and need working capital to deliver on them. When your bank says no, Export Finance Australia is often able to step in. The loan is tied to specific export transactions, helping you bridge the gap between upfront costs and incoming payments.
It's worth noting that this program is designed for businesses already operating in international markets. If you're actively exporting and struggling with cash flow around your orders, this could be exactly the support you need.
Who it's for: Small businesses exporting goods or services that have been unable to access sufficient financing from their bank to fulfil an export contract.
Victorian grants
AusNet Energy Resilience Community Fund
Energy resilience has moved from a nice-to-have to a business priority, especially for organisations in areas prone to outages or with high energy costs. This fund supports practical projects that address exactly that.
There are two streams available. The Energy Resilience Grants stream funds infrastructure projects that strengthen a community's ability to maintain power during outages, things like backup power systems, microgrids, and community battery installations. The Energy Education and Literacy Grants stream supports programs that help communities understand their energy use, reduce consumption, and respond safely when outages occur.
Both streams are available to organisations located within AusNet's electricity distribution area in Victoria. Projects need to demonstrate a clear community benefit, so the strongest applications will have measurable outcomes built in from the start.
Who it's for: Businesses, local councils, schools, and community organisations within AusNet's distribution network in Victoria.
Regional Events Fund — Round 6
If your business plans, hosts, or is involved in events outside metropolitan Melbourne, this fund could make a real difference to what's possible.
The Regional Events Fund is Victoria's primary mechanism for growing its regional tourism calendar. It supports events, both established ones looking to scale and newer events with genuine tourism potential that bring visitors in from outside the host region, extend how long they stay, and generate local employment in the process. Round 6 is now open, and the program takes a practical approach: applicants should be ready to demonstrate projected visitor numbers, estimated economic spend, and employment impact. The stronger your data, the stronger your application.
This is one of the more accessible grants for businesses in the events, hospitality, and tourism space, particularly those already attracting out-of-town visitors who could attract more with additional investment.
Who it's for: Event organisers, tourism operators, businesses, and councils running or planning events in regional Victoria that draw visitors from outside the local area.
Victorian Circular Economy Recycling Modernisation Fund
Australia's national waste export ban has reshaped the recycling industry, and many businesses are still catching up. This fund is designed to help them get there.
Sustainability Victoria's Recycling Modernisation Fund provides financial support to businesses, local and state government bodies, social enterprises, and not-for-profits working in the circular economy. The focus is on building capacity to process materials domestically, upgrading equipment and facilities to comply with new regulations, improving the quality of recovered materials so they can actually be used by Australian manufacturers, and ultimately creating more jobs in a sector that's growing rapidly.
If your business handles waste, recycling, or materials recovery and you've been feeling the pressure of new compliance requirements, this could offset a significant portion of the investment needed to adapt.
Who it's for: Businesses and organisations in waste processing, recycling, or materials recovery, particularly those needing to upgrade to meet national waste export regulations or improve output quality for manufacturing.
Victorian Screen Incentive (VSI)
Victoria has quietly become one of the most competitive screen production destinations in the Asia-Pacific and this incentive is a big reason why.
The Victorian Screen Incentive offers grants tied to production spend in Victoria, operating across two streams: Physical Production (feature films, TV series, documentaries) and Digital Games, Animation, Post-Production and Visual Effects. Unlike many grant programs, VSI operates on a rolling basis , there's no fixed round deadline, which gives producers more flexibility when planning their projects.
The headline feature for larger productions is that VSI funding can be stacked with federal screen offsets, making the combined incentive meaningful at scale. Grants are generally paid upon project completion.
Who it's for: Australian and international screen producers, games developers, and VFX studios planning production or post-production activity in Victoria. Both local and international projects are eligible.
Not sure where to start?
The most common reason businesses miss out on grants isn't ineligibility, it's not knowing the opportunity existed, or not having the time to put together a strong application.
That's where we come in. Our team works with businesses across all sectors to identify the right opportunities, assess eligibility, and manage the application process from start to finish. If any of these grants look relevant to your situation, get in touch even an initial conversation can help clarify what's worth pursuing.