Apply for Tier 1 – ready to export

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

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.
  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.

Plan to market

You are applying to undertake marketing and promotional activities in foreign markets. You must have a high-quality plan to market.

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 completed with sufficient detail. Plan to market samples are below.

Sample documents

Mandatory templates and reading

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