Milestone reports and payments

EMDG grantees must submit a milestone report for assessment. Your grant agreement will specify:

• when milestone reports are due
• details and evidence you need to provide in your milestone report.

To help complete your milestone report, read the example EMDG online milestone report. You can find the relevant one for you on your grant round page.

You must submit a milestone report for the financial year. This is regardless of the amount you spent. Even if you have not spent any money, you must submit a report.

Payments

The timing of your payments is set out in your grant agreement. We may pay a proportion of your grant funding before you start your grant activity.

We will make payments to the bank account you nominated in your grant agreement.

When to expect payments

Each grant agreement determines the timing of your payments. Grant agreements:

• set out a reporting and payment schedule
• describe how you can seek a payment
• include the maximum grant amount that you would be eligible to receive.

This is provided you:

• undertake eligible promotional activities
• provide export training, if you are representative body providing export training
• incur eligible expenditure.

The amount in your grant agreement is the maximum you will receive. We may pay your grant in full or in part:

• after execution of your grant agreement at the commencement of the relevant grant financial year, or
• after assessment of a satisfactory milestone report.

Your grant agreement will include a payment breakdown.

You cannot request a change to the payment breakdown.

Round 4 payments

Round 4 grantees will be paid from the funding allocated to EMDG in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 financial years. This means you will receive your grant payments in the year of the grant activity.

The grant agreement outlines your payment and reporting schedule.

Payment timing is set out in your grant agreement. We may pay a proportion of your grant funding before you start your grant activity subject to the risk assessment.  Risk assessment is a matter for Austrade.

If the payment schedule of your grant agreement includes an initial payment at the start of the grant year, you can expect to receive your initial payment of $20,000 from July 2025.

To receive another payment up to the limit of your maximum grant amount outlined in the grant agreement during the grant activity year, you must submit a milestone report with eligible expenditure.

Eligibility for milestone payments

You won’t get a payment until we:

• accept your milestone report
• assess your milestone report as eligible.

Please keep good records for all eligible expenditure in case an assessor asks you for them. We conduct random audits to ensure integrity and absence of fraud.

We will only make milestone payments if:

• you meet the eligibility requirements in the relevant grant guidelines and grant agreement
• your expenses are eligible expenses relating to an eligible product
• you meet your commitments under your grant agreement relevant to your grant type (Tier 1, 2 or 3 or representative body).

So we can assess your milestone report, you need to show us that you:

• completed your planned activities
• met the goals identified in your plan to market
• can report your export sales and employment so we can assess the program’s effectiveness.

Record keeping for eligible expenses

You need to document evidence for eligible expenses you incur for your grant agreement. Your grant agreement will specify what evidence you need to provide with your milestone report.

We may ask you for further evidence such as:

• supporting documents
• invoices and payment details for expenses
• invoices for export earnings.

We may contact your overseas representative, in person or by phone. This is to confirm details of any activities they conducted on your behalf.

Read the guide EMDG milestone reports - How to input eligible expenses (DOCX 1.08MB).

Matched funding

You must match the dollar value of the grant you receive. This means you must show your spending on eligible expenses for double your grant amount.

The amount in your grant agreement is the maximum grant you will receive per financial year.

• If you spend more than double, you won’t get more grant money.
• If you spend less than double, as a Round 1-3 grantee, you will only get an amount equal to the amount you contributed.
• If you spend less than double, as a Round 4 grantee, and provided it is at least $20,000, you will only get an amount equal to the amount you contributed. This means that if you spend less than $20,000 you will not receive the grant payment. If you receive your minimum payment of $20,000 at the start of the grant year but do not spend it, you will be required to repay it.

You cannot use funding from other Commonwealth, state, territory or local government sources to fund your share of eligible expenditure or matched contribution.

Nominated bank account

You, as the grantee, must own or manage the bank account in your grant agreement. Please check your bank account details are correct. Errors will delay payments.

Read about how to change your account details in your grant agreement.

Submit a milestone report

Submit your report using the EMDG online portal.

You must submit your milestone report even when you have not incurred any expenditure.

We assess milestone reports and, if eligible, make payments.

We assess milestone reports in the order we receive them. The earlier you submit your report, the earlier you are likely to receive your payment.

Online portal open for milestone report submissions 

The EMDG online portal is open for milestone report submissions.

We expect milestone reports from Rounds 1, 2, and 3 grantees. This is for eligible expenditure incurred in the 2023–24 and 2024-25 financial years.

Deadlines for milestone report submissions

Please note that milestone reports for expenditure incurred in the:

• 2023-24 financial year must be submitted by 31 May 2025
• 2024-25 financial year must be submitted by 31 August 2025.

Round 4 milestone report deadlines

• 2025-26 financial year must be submitted by 15 June 2026
• 2026-27 financial year must be submitted by 15 June 2027.

The milestone reports are due just prior to the end of the financial year. This ensures Austrade receives them in the year of the program appropriation and grant activity. This is important so we can process payments and payment accruals.

For more information, go to Grant rounds.