Apply for Tier 1 – ready to export

Use specific checklists, templates and samples for your Tier 1 EMDG application.

EMDG Round 4 opening dates

There are different opening dates for representative bodies and each tier. The times and dates are:

  • Representative bodies – 10am AEDT on 6 November
  • Tier 1 – ready to export – 10am AEDT on 12 November
  • Tier 2 – exporting within existing markets – 10am AEDT on 12 November
  • Tier 3 – exporting to new key markets – 10am AEDT on 12 November.

You must submit your application through the EMDG online portal.

Please check the portal for regular updates on:

  • the progress of grant allocations by tier
  • open or closed status of each tier.

This is a demand-driven grant opportunity. We will assess and award grants to eligible applicants in order of application receipt. Once funding is fully allocated for each tier, we will close the online portal for each tier.

Even if you lodge your application prior to the closure of the online portal, you may not be successful. This is because the grant funding may have been already fully allocated to other grant recipients.

Export readiness requirements

As a Tier 1 applicant, you must show that you are ready to export. To do this, you must complete Austrade-recognised export training and/or our Export Readiness Test. These are listed on our Go Global Toolkit.

You must provide evidence that you have completed at least one of these requirements. If you complete Austrade’s Export Readiness Test, the online application form will reflect this.

Export readiness and EMDG

Watch this video to find out how to become export ready before you apply for a Tier 1 grant.

Speaker 1:

What's the recipe for export success for Australian businesses? A key factor is whether the business was export ready before it began trading internationally. Export readiness is when a business has the capacity, resources, and management skills to launch a product or service in foreign markets and be competitive. Austrade provides a range of support services to help businesses become export ready, and our Go Global Toolkit is a great place to start. It's packed with tips, tools, and information about exporting. Find it on the export.business.gov.au website.

If you want to start exporting, you may be thinking about applying for an Export Market Development Grant or EMDG. This program provides small and medium enterprises with grants for marketing and promotional activities that help create, expand, or diversify to foreign markets. To be considered eligible for a tier one ready to export EMDG grant, you'll need to prove you're export ready. You can choose how you do this. You can either complete an export training course recognised by Austrade, find one that best suits your business from the list in the Go Global Toolkit, or you can do Austrade's free online export readiness test. There's a link to it in the Go Global Toolkit. This test guides you through the critical elements of export readiness, like selecting a market that suits your business, protecting your intellectual property, and creating an export plan. It takes about 30 minutes to do and gives you what you need to know to pass the test.

Of course, you can do both our test and a recognised course because everything you do to build your understanding, capacity, and export readiness will improve your chances of success in the global market. Find out more online.

Prepare to apply checklist

To apply:

  1. Read the EMDG guidelines on the Guidelines and legislation page.
  2. Set up your Digital Identity (myGovID).
  3. Link your Digital Identity to your business in Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM).
  4. Know your organisation’s Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) code. This is the 4-digit code that best describes your main business activity. If you are unsure, the Australian Bureau of Statistics can help you determine your industry classification.
  5. Read the sample application form. The online application form includes guidance on character limits for responses to each question. The maximum is 3,000 characters (about 500 words) for detailed answers.
  6. Prepare your responses for the plan to market questions in the application form.
  7. Complete the Tier 1 mandatory templates. You will need to upload them to your application form when you apply.
  8. Prepare documents to confirm your eligibility. Refer to the EMDG guidelines on the Guidelines and legislation page for the full list. Documents include:
    1. profit and loss statements and balance sheets
    2. evidence of export readiness for Tier 1 where you have completed a recognised export training activity listed on the Go Global toolkit
    3. evidence of tax compliance, such as your notice of assessment or statement of account
    4. bank statements to show, for example, that you can match grant funding with your own funds and you have capacity to spend at least $20,000 on marketing and promotional activities
    5. trust deed including any amendments, if applicable
    6. evidence your product or service is of substantially Australian origin.

For more information about applying for Tier 1:

Plan to market

You are applying to undertake marketing and promotional activities in foreign markets. You must have a high-quality plan to market. You do this by answering a series of questions in the online application form. You cannot upload your plan to market as a separate document.

The plan to market must be unique and specific to your business. It should explain:

  • what specific export marketing and promotion activities you plan to undertake
  • the business goals you want to achieve through your marketing
  • how you will measure export success
  • your planned eligible expenditure for each financial year.

To be considered high-quality, all mandatory questions must be answered with sufficient detail but within a character limit. The maximum is 3,000 characters (about 500 words) per answer. 

We encourage applicants to:

Attachments to online application form

For details of the type and number of documents to be uploaded as attachments to your application, refer to EMDG Round 4: attachments to online application form – Tiers 1, 2, 3 (DOCX 668KB).

Please note all documents must be:

  • uploaded as PDFs not screenshots
  • under 10MB in file size.

Sample documents

If you have difficulty accessing these documents with accessibility tools, please contact emdg.help@austrade.gov.au.

Tax compliance evidence

As per the EMDG guidelines, you must comply with all your obligations under taxation laws during:

  • the current income year, and
  • the previous 2 income years.

Refer to section 13 of the Export Market Development Grants Rules 2021 for further detail.

You must provide the following evidence of your compliance with taxation laws during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years:

  • Business Activity Statement, or
  • Notice of Assessment, or
  • Statement of Account.

If you’re currently on an ATO payment plan, you must mention this in the application form as further evidence of compliance with taxation laws.

If your business has not yet lodged its tax return for the 2023-24 financial year, you must provide evidence of:

  • completed and lodged tax return for the 2022-23 financial year, and
  • the most recent completed and lodged business activity statement (BAS) for the 2023-24 financial year.

Please note that if you are successful to be offered a grant agreement:

  • we may request further evidence of your tax compliance for the current financial year before making a payment
  • you will also be asked to provide evidence of tax compliance with your milestone report/s. 

It is your obligation to comply with Australian Taxation Laws. We recommend you seek:

We do not provide advice on your particular taxation circumstances.

Bank statement and transaction history

The online application form will ask for:

  • a copy of your most recent bank statement (issued in 2024)
  • your bank account transaction history for the month of November 2024.

This shows you can spend at least $20,000 on your proposed marketing and promotional activities each financial year.

Both documents must be uploaded as PDFs (not screenshots). Each document must be under 10MB in file size. Please note these are mandatory attachments to your application.

Mandatory templates and reading

If you have difficulty accessing these documents with accessibility tools, please contact emdg.help@austrade.gov.au.

Ready to apply?

Check on our portal if your EMDG tier is open and, if it is, submit your grant application.

Go to the EMDG online portal

Contact us

Footer content