A federal program offering up to $209 million to small business exporters and their industry representatives is likely to close with millions of dollars left unspent, despite a backlog of applicants for its most popular tier.
The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) now says it may reallocate some leftover Export Market Development Grant (EMDG) funding to existing applicants.
But SmartCompany understands many eligible small businesses are still likely to miss out, given the sheer number of applicants for the popular grant scheme.
Round 4 of the EMDG, which offers financial support to small businesses growing their export operations, closes to applicants at 5pm Friday AEDT.
The EMDG, operated by Austrade, provides grant funding through three main tiers.
Those tiers cover first-time exporters, businesses developing their existing export markets, and seasoned exporters venturing into new international markets, respectively.
A fourth tier provides grant funding for industry representative bodies, helping them fund overseas trade missions and promote Australian goods abroad.
The EMDG opened to applicants at 10am AEDT on November 12, on a first-come, first-served basis.
A rush of applicants for Tier 2, supporting small businesses exporting within existing markets, exhausted all $62 million of available funding in a matter of hours.
Austrade closed the Tier 2 application portal shortly after.
The rapid depletion of Tier 2 funding frustrated some small business owners, including prior recipients of EMDG support.
But as of Friday morning, millions of dollars earmarked for Tier 1, catering to first-time exporters, and the industry representative tier are yet to be spent.
A public dashboard operated by Austrade says “up to” $30 million is available to Tier 1 applicants over both 2025-26 and 2026-27.
As it stands, between 75-95% of that funding has been accounted for, meaning at least $1.5 million and as much as $7.5 million in available funding could go unspent by the time applications close.
Similarly, between 50-75% of “up to” $13 million apportioned to the representative body tier has been spent.
This means between $3.25 million and $6.5 million could go unspent.
Tier 3, focused on exporters expanding into entirely new markets, also remains open to applicants, but nearly all of its $104 million budget is accounted for.
The fate of those unspent millions is uncertain — but Austrade now says it is willing to shuffle those funds around.
In a statement provided to SmartCompany, an Austrade spokesperson said the department “may reallocate some of the Round 4 funding allocation to the existing accepted applicants within the tiers with highest demand.”
The final outcome “will be subject to final demand and the assessment of applications for eligibility.”
The department expects to offer 620 grants under Tier 2, after eliminating the ineligible and withdrawn grant proposals submitted before the portal closed.
Eliminating unsuitable proposals from that “buffer” could see existing applicants — who would have missed out on funding due to their place in the first-in, first-served queue — earn another shot at Tier 2 support.
But even that is uncertain, due to the sheer number of applicants for the Tier 2 grant.
Internal data, in an email seen by SmartCompany, shows the real number of Tier 2 applications dramatically overshot the 620 figure.
Once those “buffer” applications are removed by Austrade, and non-accepted grants are written off, some small businesses whose valid applications were accepted before the portal closed are still likely to miss out on EMDG funding.
Those businesses now face an uncomfortable wait for certainty, as Austrade works through a major backlog of applications.
The department will publish further data once applications close to all tiers.
“Applications are assessed in the order of receipt, and applicants will be advised of the assessment outcome,” the spokesperson said.
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Senior Business Journalist
Focused on the small business sector, David’s work covers the political, regulatory, and economic issues facing Australian entrepreneurs. Prior to joining SmartCompany, he was a reporter for Business Insider Australia. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
