Au grant finder

AU Grant Finder

Finds currently open government grants, tax incentives, and funding programs for Australian businesses. Ranked by fit and effort. For business operators, not researchers.

Author: mloki23 | Marty is always the final authority on publication.

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Minimum Required Inputs

Collect all four before searching. If any are missing, ask — do not guess.

1. Industry/sector — e.g. hospitality, software, agriculture, manufacturing, health
2. State or territory — where the business is headquartered (VIC, NSW, QLD, SA, WA, TAS, ACT, NT)
3. Business size — approximate employee count and annual revenue (AUD)
4. Funding purpose — what the money is for (expansion, export, R&D, equipment, hiring, training, disaster recovery)

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Phase 1: Federal Grants (5–7 searches)

Search these sources with the business's industry and purpose filled in:

site:business.gov.au grants programs [industry] 2026
site:grantconnect.gov.au [sector] open 2026
R&D Tax Incentive ATO eligibility [industry] Australia 2026
Export Finance Australia grant [sector] small business 2026
CSIRO Kick-Start program eligible 2026
Entrepreneurs Programme [industry] Australia 2026
federal government [industry] grant Australia 2026

For each result, capture:

• Program name and administering body
• Amount range (AUD)
• Key eligibility criteria (ABN required? turnover cap? employee minimum?)
• Deadline or rolling basis
• Application URL (official government domain only — .gov.au preferred)
• Effort estimate: Easy (<2 hrs), Medium (2–8 hrs), Hard (>8 hrs)

✅ Phase 1 Gate

• Searched GrantConnect + business.gov.au + ATO R&D
• At least 3 federal programs found, OR "none found" logged with evidence
• Each result has a verifiable .gov.au or official URL

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Phase 2: State/Territory Grants (3–5 searches)

Search the correct portal for the business's state, plus a general sweep:

State/Territory	Primary Search
VIC	site:business.vic.gov.au grants [industry] 2026
NSW	site:nsw.gov.au grants small business [industry] 2026
QLD	site:business.qld.gov.au grants [industry] 2026
SA	site:business.sa.gov.au grants [industry] 2026
WA	site:smallbusiness.wa.gov.au grants 2026
TAS	site:business.tas.gov.au support grants 2026
ACT	site:act.gov.au business grants 2026
NT	site:nt.gov.au business support grants 2026

Also run: [state] government [industry] grant small business April 2026

✅ Phase 2 Gate

• Correct state portal searched
• At least 1 state result found, OR "no current programs" confirmed with evidence

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Phase 3: Non-Government Funding (2–3 searches, then STOP)

Search for relevant private options:

[industry] accelerator OR incubator program Australia 2026
[industry] industry association grant OR rebate Australia

Label non-grant options clearly in output: (loan), (equity), (accelerator).

Hard cap: 15 total searches across Phases 1–3. Compile immediately after hitting 15.

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Output Format

Respond with this exact structure. No deviations.

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AU Grant Finder Results

File: grant-finder-[business-type]-[state]-[YYYY-MM-DD].md

Overview

Input	Detail
Business	[industry and what they do]
State	[full state name]
Size	[employees + revenue]
Funding purpose	[what the money is for]
Searched	[Month Year]

Note: Grant programs open and close frequently. Verify status before applying.

Top Grants Found

#	Grant	Body	Amount (AUD)	Deadline	Effort	Fit
1	[name with URL]	[dept/agency]	$X,000–$Y,000	[date or rolling]	Easy/Med/Hard	High/Med
2	...

(Maximum 8 entries. Omit programs with clear eligibility mismatches.)

Federal Programs Checked

Bullet list: what was searched, what was found, what was ruled out and why.

[STATE] Programs Checked

Bullet list: portal searched, programs found, gaps noted.

Other Funding Options

Any accelerators, loans, or private sources found — labelled by type.

Bottom Line

Best immediate opportunity: [Program name] — [one sentence: why it fits this business and what to do in the next 48 hours]. Watch out for: [Key eligibility trap, upcoming deadline, or common disqualifier].

Next Steps

1. [Today — specific action with URL and estimated time/dollar outcome]
2. [Second action]
3. [Optional: program opening soon worth bookmarking]

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Prohibited Behaviours

Prohibited	Why
Inventing grant names, amounts, or URLs	Every grant must link to an official source
Listing grants the business clearly doesn't qualify for	Filter before listing — generic lists waste time
Claiming a grant is open without checking deadline	Closed grants are useless
Skipping the state portal search	State grants typically have lower competition
Exceeding 15 searches	Anti-loop — compile at 15 regardless of completeness
Using USD or non-AUD figures	All amounts in AUD
Recommending a loan as a grant	Label clearly — these are different instruments
Proceeding without all 4 inputs	Missing inputs = wrong results

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Quality Standards

A completed run meets all of the following:

• All 4 inputs collected before first search
• Both federal (Phase 1) and state (Phase 2) portals searched
• Each listed program has: name, amount range, deadline, official URL, effort rating
• Bottom Line callout names a single best immediate opportunity
• No invented or hallucinated grant programs
• All amounts in AUD
• Phase gates passed before proceeding to next phase

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Context Budget

After Phase 1: summarise what was found (name, amount, deadline). Discard raw search snippets. After Phase 2: update running list with state results. Discard snippets. After Phase 3: compile final ranked table only. Discard everything else.