What is the aim of the TCF SBP and what funding is available?

The Textile, Clothing and Footwear Small Business Program (TCF SBP) aims to transform the business enterprise culture of established TCF small businesses and boost their capacity to be innovative. A maximum of $50,000 is available for a particular project.

The program is a competitive, merit-based grants program. Funding for the program ends in June 2016, with $2.5 million available each year of the program. AusIndustry calls for grant applications in annual selection rounds.

Who is it for?

It is open to any eligible established TCF small business or to a consortium that includes an eligible TCF small business.

It must be undertaking eligible TCF activities as defined by the TCF Post-2005 Strategic Investment Program (SIP) Scheme.

For example, a TCF business that manufactures, or designs for manufacture, in Australia is eligible to apply for funding under the program. However, a business that solely imports products made overseas, or only undertakes retail activities, is not eligible.

What is the program objective?

The objective of the program is to improve the business enterprise culture of established TCF small businesses that have not received assistance under any of the TCF Strategic Investment Program (SIP), TCF Post-2005 (SIP) or the Clothing and Household Textile Building Innovative Capability (CHT BIC) Schemes.

What is ‘business enterprise culture’?

Business enterprise culture refers to the processes, nature and style of a business. It describes to what extent the values, attitudes and norms within a business are entrepreneurial.

Entrepreneurial behaviour can be reflected in any or all of a business’ management, production (including design), communication, financial and decision-making processes. A business with a strong enterprise culture typically:

• emphasises initiative, self-reliance and creativity
• focuses on maximising commercial returns on products and services
• is skilled at securing and maintaining a competitive market edge
• generates and manages change largely from within, and
• demonstrates goals of financial growth and expansion (emphasises growth).

What are the eligibility criteria?

To be eligible for a grant, the TCF small business should meet the following criteria:

• Have fewer than 20 employees.
• Have not received funding from the TCF (SIP), TCF Post-2005 (SIP) or the CHT (BIC) Schemes, or be entitled to receive funding under the CHT (BIC) Scheme at the time the decision that the applicant is eligible for the grant is made.
• Have had a turnover of not less than $100,000 in the previous year, and must be solvent and not under any administrative arrangements.
• Must make a cash contribution to the project of no less than 25% of eligible project expenditure. This contribution should not  have come from a Commonwealth, State or Territory Government subsidy.
• The project must be aimed at improving the business enterprise culture of the TCF small business.

Applications that do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be assessed against the merit criteria.

What are the merit criteria?

Applications that meet the eligibility criteria will compete on merit against all other applications, for that round, from across Australia.

The merit criteria are:

• Whether the project’s outcome will meet program objectives, assessed by how the project will:
• contribute to the TCF small business’ willingness and ability to take risks
• contribute to the TCF small business becoming more creative
• improve the flexibility or adaptability of the TCF small business, and
• contribute to the growth strategy of the TCF small business.
• Value for money and commitment. Describe why the small business has a need for government funding and demonstrate your level of commitment to the project, including the level of time and resources that will be contributed to the project.
• Whether the project is capable of being commenced and completed within a 12 month period commencing with the execution of the funding agreement.

What grants are available?

A maximum of $50,000 is available for a particular project. The maximum applies to any project, regardless of its size or the cash contribution made by the applicant.

Expert Assistance

Contact us on 03 9005 6789 to see how we can make your bid competitive.

What is the Innovation Investment Fund?

The Australian Government’s Innovation Investment Fund is a venture capital program that supports 10 year innovation funds to develop high growth Australian companies to become globally competitive by commercialising the outcomes of Australia’s strong research capability. The Australian Government has supported venture capital through its IIF program since 1998. Over the three rounds the program has licensed 16 fund managers and has supported more than 100 new companies.

Innovation Investment Fund Round 3 Tranche 4 is the final Tranche. The Australian Government will commit up to A$100 million to be matched at least 1:1 with private sector capital.

What are the objectives of the fund?

The Innovation Investment Fund Round 3 objectives are to:

• develop fund managers with experience in the early stage venture capital industry
• by addressing capital constraints and management constraints, encourage the development of new companies that are commercialising research and development
• establish, in the medium term, a ‘revolving’ or self-funding scheme
• develop a self-sustaining, early stage venture capital industry in Australia.

What are the merit criteria?

Competitive assessment of Innovation Investment Fund applications is against the following merit criteria:

The fund’s proposed committed capital:

• the proposed size of the fund
• the ratio of privately sourced capital to Commonwealth program capital (subject to the Commonwealth program capital not exceeding a 1:1 ratio to the privately sourced capital and the Commonwealth program capital being no more than $100 million)
• the fund’s proposed investors and the amount of capital to be committed by each
• the amount of capital, if any, to be committed by the proposed key personnel of the fund manager

The applicant’s proposed investment strategy:

• the extent to which the fund’s proposed investment strategy is consistent with the objectives of the IIF program, including the establishment and management of a balanced portfolio of investments in early stage companies
• the number and the size of investments the fund proposes to make and the proposed investment sector by activity
• the level and structure of management fees proposed

The experience of the applicant’s investment team:

• whether the applicant has a balanced management team including relevantly qualified and skilled personnel
• the applicant’s capacity and experience in early stage equity investing giving particular attention to realising returns from investments, sourcing investment opportunities and managing an investment portfolio
• whether the applicant has an understanding of and experience in dealing with issues related to Australian and international investments, products, services and markets
• whether the proposed applicant has effective strategies to contribute to training and developing of Australian based staff in all aspects of making venture capital investments in early stage companies

Deadline

Applications for Innovation Investment Fund tranche four close on Monday 2 July 2012.

Previous Innovation Investment Fund Recipients

• Carnegie Innovation Fund (CIF) – The fund’s focus is on early-stage Australian companies driving innovation in product and process development in the life sciences, information technology and other sectors. The principals of the Carnegie Innovation Fund have long and proven track records in business and in the venture industry. Among the fund’s principals is Mark Carnegie, whose investing track record and contribution to the development of the venture capital industry in Australia rank among the most significant in the country. The Carnegie Innovation Fund has committed capital to allow it, together with the Australian Government, to expeditiously close on a fund of $40 million.
• MRCF IIF Partnership - The Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF) was established in July 2007 as a seed/early-stage fund supporting the commercialisation of innovations developed within Australia’s medical research institutes and research hospitals. The MRCF started with operational grant support from the Victorian and NSW Governments and eight of the leading medical research institutes from those states as members. In the short period since establishment, the MRCF has seen membership grow to 27 medical research institutes and their associated research hospitals, spanning Victoria, NSW, Western Australia and Queensland. More recently, the Departments of Health in Western Australia and Queensland have also joined the MRCF collaboration.
  The MRCF IIF will ensure that there is sufficient capital to provide seed funding for approximately fifteen newly formed companies to commercialise innovations emanating from the Member Institutes. In addition, the MRCF IIF will provide sufficient follow on capital to support the most promising companies, following the seed investment, to a stage where they can be partnered or attract capital from the more traditional venture capital sources. The existing Investors have committed to supporting the MRCF IIF and will provide the $20 million of required matching private capital.
• Southern Cross Fund No. 2 - Australian-US early stage fund in the IT, telecommunications, materials and clean technology sectors.
  Southern Cross’s major strength lies in the way it has structured its business model for venture investing, with experienced people based in Silicon Valley, Sydney and Brisbane. This fund will have strong formalised international linkages. Southern Cross is committed to building a self sustaining Australian venture capital industry which is why they have integrated their business into Silicon Valley, in order to facilitate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capitalisation and divestment.
  Southern Cross has a strong commitment to work with domestic investees, both getting them investor ready and then through the expansion stage optimising exit value. The fund’s US presence is a critical success factor for executing this strategy.
• Start-up Australia Fund – Start-up Australia is a leading Australian venture capital company specialising in the bioscience sector. Since it was established in 1997 it has provided institutional investors with attractive investment returns by investing in Australian companies developing products for global bioscience markets.
  The Start-up Australia Fund intends to invest in early stage companies developing products for global pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic, animal health, agricultural technology, food, energy and environmental markets.

Innovation Investment Fund Case Studies

The Australian Government’s venture capital programs support new innovation funds and fund managers with expertise in early-stage venture capital investing. The programs co-invest with private sector investors in innovation funds to assist early-stage companies to commercialise the outcomes of Australia’s strong research capability.

• Looksmart is an internet search engine company supported by IIF fund manager AMWIN Management Pty Ltd. Their $2.2 million investment returned $245 million to investors; a staggering 111 times the original investment.
• SEEK is one of the largest online jobseeker sites in Australia and New Zealand. Venture capital investment by the IIF fund manager AMWIN Management Pty Ltd contributed to its early growth strategy. From a revenue base of less than $1 million in 1999 it successfully listed in April 2005 with a market capitalisation of $600 million.
• QRxPharma, a Four Hats Capital investment, has a product pipeline in the fields of pain management and neurodegenerative diseases. Its stock exchange debut made it the largest life-sciences initial public offering in Australia.
• Pharmaxis is a drug discovery company focused on treatments for autoimmune diseases. IIF fund manager GBS Venture Partners Ltd was a seed venture capital investor in Pharmaxis in 1999. Its value grew from $1.4 million at investment to more than $635 million to date.
• Alchemia listed on the Australian Stock Exchange 2003 after the biotechnology company received venture capital investments from four IIF fund managers: Start-up Australia Ventures Pty Ltd, GBS Venture Partners Ltd, AMWIN Management Pty Ltd, and, Coates Myer and Company Pty Ltd. Alchemia is awaiting approval from the United States’ Food and Drug Administration to begin sales of its first product, a treatment for deep-vein thrombosis.

Expert Assistance

If you require assistance with completing your Innovation Investment Fund grant. Contact us on 03 9005 6789 to see how we can assist your application to be more competitive

The inventions that were awarded funding include five health-related projects that could manage chronic stress, create drugs with fewer side effects, produce healthier foods, combat hearing loss and enhance micro-scale blood storage.

Sydney-based Ai-Media has been granted more than $1.7 million for technology that allows live speech to be streamed as text to iPads, tablets or laptops. This will help provide people who are deaf or hearing impaired access to employment and education opportunities.

Funding was also granted to an invention that could produce biological drugs to fight pain, cancer and inflammatory diseases in cats, dogs and horses.

The latest Commercialisation Australia grants also supported a Northern Territory invention that will increase the payload of road trains.

Seven information and communications technology (ICT) projects won support, including a mobile phone application that operates like a hotel key to open rooms.

Since its launch less than two years ago, Commercialisation Australia has assisted 177 innovators with funding of $71.7 million.

Recipient List

About

The Tasmanian Innovation and Investment Fund (TIIF) is a merit-based grants program announced by the Prime Minister on 3rd of October 2011 in recognition of the broad impacts of the restructuring of the forestry sector across Tasmania.

The Tasmanian Innovation and Investment Fund (TIIF) forms part of the Australian Government’s broader response to regional employment challenges.

The Tasmanian Innovation and Investment Fund (TIIF) will provide support for new investment that creates sustainable job opportunities in Tasmania. The Tasmanian Innovation and Investment Fund (TIIF) purpose is to support innovative job creation projects that strengthen Tasmania’s regional economy and employment base, particularly in areas affected by the restructuring of the forestry sector.

Up to $1M for capital projects for Tasmanian Manufacturers

The Tasmanian Innovation and Investment Fund (TIIF) will encourage applications for projects that generate high quality, skilled jobs.

The Tasmanian Innovation and Investment Fund (TIIF) will provide up to $8 million in grant funding during the 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 financial years. There is a minimum grant amount of $50,000 for all proposals. There is no maximum funding limit within the total grant funding available under the TIIF

What projects are eligible?

The Tasmanian Innovation and Investment Fund (TIIF) will support innovative projects that strengthen Tasmania’s economic and employment base. Eligible projects will involve activities that generate new investment and create sustainable job opportunities in Tasmania.

For the purposes of the Tasmanian Innovation and Investment Fund (TIIF) ‘Tasmania’ is defined as the whole of Tasmania.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they have committed funding to the project, exclusive of in-kind contributions and free of other government funding, and which is at least equal to the amount of grant funding sought. Grant funding will not be provided for retrospective activities. Joint applications are acceptable, provided they have a principal applicant who is both the primary project proponent and an eligible applicant.

Project funding must be expended by 30 June 2014 when the Tasmanian Innovation and Investment Fund (TIIF) closes. Where projects continue after 30 June 2014, the applicant must demonstrate that the final stages can be carried out without any further grant funding.

Ineligible Expenditure

The following activities would not qualify for funding under the TIIF:

1. Research or scoping activities; and
2. Activities that occur prior to the date that the applicant and the Commonwealth execute a funding agreement.

The above list of ineligible activities is not comprehensive. The Program Delegate may, prior to the announcement of a funding round, issue guidance setting out types of expenditure that are ineligible for funding under the TIIF.

Who can apply?

Applicants must be incorporated and trading or financial activities must be a substantial part of the activities of the corporation. All applicants are required to have an Australian Business Number and be registered for the GST.

The following are not eligible to apply:

• Individuals;
• Commonwealth, State and Local Government agencies and bodies (including government business enterprises); or
• Entities that do not comply with State or Commonwealth law, such as Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999.

More Information

The TIIF closes at 5pm AEST on 14 December 2011.

Expert Assistance

In the last 5 years we have assisted multiple companies achieve over $100 M in infrastructure funding. Our job is to make your application competitive. Typically we can assist with demonstrating:

•  the level of net economic benefit the proposed project will bring to Tasmania (We know how many jobs you will need per $ of grant)
• your ability to successfully undertake the project
• your ability to provide matching funding for the project

If you think you are eligible for this grant. Call us on 03 9005 6789 to discuss how we can maximise your chances of securing this funding

Nine inventions will recieve $3.7 million in the latest round of Commercialisation Australia funding.

The inventions include three clean technology projects that could produce oil from recycled tyres, provide low-cost grey water treatment, and increase fuel efficiency in cars.

Five information and communications technology (ICT) inventions will also be supported through the grant funding, including a web platform that will help sporting organisations, and networking software to enhance online games.

Since its launch less than two years ago, Commercialisation Australia has assisted 154 innovators with funding of $61.6 million and expert advice from its national Case Manager network.

About

The Illawarra Region Innovation and Investment Fund (IRIIF) supports the Illawarra region by stimulating investment and diversifying the economic and employment base.

The Illawarra Region Innovation and Investment Fund is a competitive merit-based grants program jointly announced by the Australian and NSW Governments in response to the restructure of BlueScope Steel Limited at Port Kembla in the Illawarra Region.

For the purposes of Illawarra Region Innovation and Investment Fund, the ‘Illawarra Region’ is defined as the Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama Local Government Areas.

The Illawarra Region Innovation and Investment Fund’s purpose is to support innovative job creation projects that strengthen the Illawarra’s regional economy and employment base. The $30 million Illawarra Region Innovation and Investment Fund is jointly funded by the Australian Government ($20 million), the NSW Government ($5 million) and BlueScope Steel ($5 million) over three years to 30 June 2014.

The minimum grant under Illawarra Region Innovation and Investment Fund will be $50,000. There is no maximum grant limit within the funding available under IRIIF. Grants will be up to 50 per cent of eligible expenditure as described in the IRIIF Guide for Applicants.

What projects are eligible for IRIIF?

An eligible IRIIF application must propose a project that:

• involves eligible expenditure (see Appendix 1), including plant and equipment directly applied to the production of the outputs of the investment proposal;
• has at least $100,000 in eligible project costs;
• generates new, sustainable jobs in the Illawarra Region and does not involve the movement of business activity from other areas of Australia to the Illawarra Region;
• should not compromise competitive neutrality (e.g. by taxpayers subsidising one participant in a market, thereby reducing the competitiveness of other participants) unless it can be demonstrated that the benefits of assistance outweigh the costs; and
• is consistent with Australia’s international obligations, including under the World Trade Organization

 In addition:

• projects which involve no sustained net increase in economic activity in Australia will not be funded;
• infrastructure projects will not be considered;
• research or scoping activities will not be considered;
• projects which demonstrate the introduction of new innovations and/or technology (rather than research and scoping studies) will be favoured; and
• funding will not be provided for retrospective activities (i.e. project expenditure prior to the finalisation of the funding agreement will not be funded).

Government grants will not be provided for retrospective activities, for projects that involve the movement of business activity from other areas of Australia to the Illawarra Region or for activities undertaken after 30 June 2014.

Who can apply?

Applicants must be incorporated, have an Australian Business Number and be registered for the GST.  Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they have committed funding, exclusive of in-kind contributions, to the proposed project that is free of other government funding and which at least matches the funding which is being sought from the IRIIF.

Joint applications are acceptable, provided they have a principal applicant who is both the primary project proponent and an eligible applicant.

The following are not eligible to apply:

• individuals;
• Commonwealth, State and Local Government agencies and bodies (including government business enterprises); or
• entities that do not comply with State or Commonwealth law, such as Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999.

Closing Date

Round 1 of the IRIIF closes at 5.00pm AEST on 16 December 2011.

Specialised Grant Application Assistance

We have assisted many companies obtain over $35 M for structural adjustment and regional infrastructure funding. Typical areas where assist companies is demonstrating :

• the level of net economic benefit the proposed project will bring to the Illawarra Region, including the number of sustainable, new jobs generated through the project.
• the contribution of the project towards the diversification of the region’s economy
• demonstration of the skills, experience and resources to successfully undertake the project;
• projects which demonstrate the introduction of new innovations or technology will be favoured;
• the demonstrated capacity of the applicant to provide matching funding for the project;
• the sustainability of the outcomes of the project over the longer term without the need for ongoing need for government support; and
• the need for funding – would the project go ahead without Government support?

Our success rate is 100% for infrstructure funding. Call us now on 03 9005 6789 to see how we can make your application stand out.

Our associates are registered R&D tax practitioners with over 15 years experience. We have lodged over 700 successful claims for clients and assisted clients with over $75M in taxation benefits. We are the leading provider of R&D claims in the Biotech, IT and Clean Technology industries.

Overview of the R&D Tax Incentive

The R&D Tax Incentive is a broad-based, market driven program accessible to all industry sectors. It provides a targeted tax offset to encourage more companies to engage in Research and Development. It replaces the R&D Tax Concession for R&D in income years commencing on or after 1 July 2011.

R&D Tax Incentive Benefits

The R&D Tax Incentive has two core components:

1. Entities with an aggregate annual turnover of less than $20M- are eligible for a 45% refundable tax offset (equivalent to a 150% deduction), provided they are not controlled by income tax exempt entities.

Example:

• A company which is in profit will receive a reduction in tax of $150,000 for every $1M of eligible R&D;
• A company which is in tax loss will receive a cash payment of $450,000 for every $1M of eligible R&D.

2. Entities with an aggregate annual turnover of greater than $20M- are eligible for a nonrefundable 40% tax offset (equivalent to 133% deduction). Unused non-refundable offset amounts may be able to be carried forward to future income years.

Example:

• A company which is in profit will receive a reduction in tax of $100,000 for every $1M of eligible R&D.

R&D Tax Incentive Eligibility

Structure

The types of entities eligible for the R&D Tax Incentive are corporations (called ‘R&D entities’) that are:

• incorporated under an Australian law; or
• incorporated under foreign law but are Australian residents for income tax purposes; or
• incorporated under foreign law, and
• are residents of a country with which Australia has a double tax agreement, including a definition of ‘permanent establishment’; and
• carry on business in Australia through a permanent establishment as defined in the double tax agreement.

Generally trusts are not R&D entities. The definition of R&D entities extends to body corporates in the capacity of trustees of public trading trusts, but not to trustees of any other sort of trusts.

R&D Activites

R&D activities must meet certain criteria to be eligible and are categorised as either Core R&D activities or Supporting R&D activities.

Core R&D Activities are experimental activities

Activities are experimental activities whose outcome cannot be known or determined in advance on the basis of current knowledge, information or experience, but can only be determined by applying a systematic progression of work that:

• is based on principles of established science; and
• proceeds from hypothesis to experiment, observation and evaluation, and leads to logical
• conclusions; andthat are conducted for the purpose of generating new knowledge (including new knowledge in the form of improved materials, products, devices, processes or services).

Supporting R&D activities:

An activity is eligible as a supporting R&D activity where:

•  it is directly related to a core R&D activity ( for an activity to be ‘directly related’, the activity needs to have a direct, close and relatively immediate relationship with the core R&D activities); or
• for certain activities, it has been undertaken for the dominant purpose of supporting core R&D activities.

Supporting R&D activities are usually required in order for the core R&D activities to take place. They can occur at a different location or time to the core R&D activities so long as they maintain the required relationship

Eligible R&D Costs

The key eligible R&D amounts that company can take in account in calculating their offsets are referred to as ‘Notional Deductions’. A company must have notional deductions for an income year of at least $20,000 in order to claim a R&D Tax offset – (this is amount is subject to some exceptions).
Eligible costs incurred on registered R&D activities may include the following amounts:

• Operating costs such as salaries, contractors and consumables;
• Plant & Equipment – depreciation costs relating to the decline in value of depreciating assets used for R&D activities;
• Balancing adjustments for depreciating assets used only for R&D activities;
• Expenditure incurred to an associate in an earlier income year, but paid in the current year (subject to restrictions);
• A partner’s proportion of expenditure incurred by a R&D partnership on eligible, registered R&D activities, and the decline in value of, and balancing adjustments for, R&D partnership assets; and
• Monetary contributions made under the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) program.

Overseas Expenditure

In certain circumstances R&D activities conducted overseas may be eligible to claim, however it will be necessary to apply to Innovation Australia for approval. The key requirements for approval will be:

• The overseas activity must have a significant link to one of more core activities conducted in Australia;
• The overseas activity cannot be conducted in Australia;
• The total amount to be spent in all income years is less than the total amount to be spent in all income years on the Australian Core activities and the Supporting R&D activities undertaken in relation to the Australian core activities.

Advance findings for confirmation of eligibility

Under the R&D Tax Incentive it is possible to apply for an advance finding on the work to be undertaken.
This will allow increased the certainty as to whether Innovation Australia considers the planned R&D activities are eligible under the program. An advance finding by Innovation Australia binds the ATO for the year the application was made, and the next two income years. A company will still need to register their R&D activities annually to claim the R&D Tax Incentive even if they have an advance finding covering those activities. However as long as there has been no change in the work program they can be certain of the eligibility of the claim.

What is the Clean Technology Investment Program?

The Government has allocated $800 million over seven years to the Clean Technology Investment Program. The Clean Technology Investment Program will provide assistance to help manufacturers make the transition to a low carbon economy and assist businesses to move into less emissions-intensive and more energy-efficient production processes.

The goal is to help businesses to invest in improving their energy efficiency and to reap the benefits of reduced energy costs.

This program looks very simliar to the closed Re-tooling for Climate Change

Who is the Clean Technology Investment Program for?

The Clean Technology Investment Program targets businesses that have an annual electricity consumption of at least 300 Megawatt hours or 5 Terajoules of natural gas in the year prior to application, or are directly liable under the carbon pricing mechanisms but not for activities eligible for assistance under the Jobs and Competitiveness Program.

What does the Clean Technology Investment Program offer?

Competitive grants will be provided to improve the energy and/or carbon efficiency of production processes. Clean Technology Investment ProgramFunding will be based on a co-investment of $3 for each $1 of government funding. There will be a minimum grant size of $25,000.

Examples of eligible projects could include:

• supporting the development of products and adoption and deployment of technologies to reduce energy use and/or carbon emissions at manufacturing facilities;
• projects establishing new facilities that replace existing eligible manufacturing facilities;
• process re-engineering involving the adoption of energy or carbon efficient manufacturing; supporting the conversion of facilities from coal to natural gas;
• investing in cogeneration plants; and
• assistance with the implementation of energy efficiency opportunities for example:
• improved design in production systems
• behavioural changes e.g. reducing unnecessary usage
• intelligent control systems for production and factory management
• waste heat recovery, including co-generation, insulation, heat exchange recovery on heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, condenser heat recovery in industrial refrigeration
• intelligent lighting, including improved lighting design, efficient lighting technology and control systems
• improved efficiency for refrigeration and HVAC systems, including improved technology,maintenance, controls, set points, sensor location, rapid heat load shedding
• improved electrical motor efficiency, including high efficiency motors, system design, motor starting systems, variable speed/load motors and control systems (reducing number of start times)

When will it be available?

The Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research will consult with stakeholders between October and December 2011 on the specific design of the program.
It is anticipated that funding will be awarded from May 2012. A call for applications will be launched in the first half of 2012.

Contact us now to disscuss whether your proposed project will qualify for a grant.

The buildings that will be transformed include hotels, shopping centres and office blocks. The upgrades will reduce the buildings’ greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 118,000 tonnes a year.

The fit-outs the companies will undertake may include new state-of-the-art heating and air conditioning systems, smart room controllers (for hotel guest rooms), energy efficient lighting systems and building energy management systems. These improvements will significantly reduce energy, saving the environment and saving money for the business owner.”

The Green Building Fund began in 2008 and was expanded in 2010 to include existing hotels and shopping centres. This expansion saw the Innovation Department receive a 32 per cent increase in applications to the fund – an unprecedented 261 applications were received for this round of funding.

The Green Building Fund has now generated total expected emission savings of almost 300,000 tonnes per year – an outstanding result.

Round 7 Recipients

There was a 34% chance of being funded in this round. We achieved 100% funding for Green Building Fund applications.  Do you have a large project that needs funding. Contact us to see how we can assist.

Announcing almost $8 million in funding for 19 innovative Australian companies under the Government’s Commercialisation Australia program, Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr said the Government was working with innovators to turn research into reality and create a richer, greener and fairer country.

“This funding will help smart companies commercialise their products, delivering a wealth of benefits for Australians,” Senator Carr said.

“For example, Signostics Limited will use the funding to commercialise its new hand-held ultrasound device with the hope of getting it into medical centres around the country. This device could alleviate the need for patients to travel long distances to hospitals for this type of procedure.

“The funding will also help Metis Technologies commercialise its pollution control system for power generation and other industrial processes. This new technology will help industries transform to meet the needs of a clean energy future.”

Since it opened to applications in early 2010, Commercialisation Australia has awarded almost $58 million to 145 Australian companies, researchers and inventors. Funding offers range from $50,000 to $2 million.

Program participants can access a national network of 22 Case Managers, many of whom have built their own businesses and operated at senior levels in start-up and early stage companies across all industry sectors.

“The rich source of market intelligence, networks and business experience grant recipients can access under Commercialisation Australia gives them a better chance of commercial success.”