Austrade matches your export marketing spend dollar for dollar, up to $80,000 a year. Round 5 is expected in the middle of 2027, and the businesses that win funding are the ones getting ready now.
Prime Innovation, a specialist division of Prime Partners, advises on the EMDG alongside the R&D Tax Incentive. Where one funds the work of building something new, the other funds the work of taking it overseas, and the two sit together properly only if the costs behind them are kept apart from the start. We help you work out which tier you are in, what you can claim, and what to have in place before applications open.
The Export Market Development Grant is an Austrade program that matches, dollar for dollar, what an Australian business with turnover under $20 million spends promoting its products or services overseas. Grants run from $20,000 to $80,000 a year under two-year agreements, across three tiers set by how far along you already are as an exporter. Round 4 has closed and Round 5 has not been announced, so this is a preparation window rather than an application window.
Reviewed 30 July 2026. Round 4 closed in December 2024 and Austrade currently lists Rounds 1 to 4 only. The statutory review of the program, led by the independent reviewer Timothy Yeend, has reported to the Minister for Trade and Tourism, and its recommendations are not yet government policy. Everything set out on this page, the tier thresholds, the eligible costs and the way applications are assessed, describes the program as it stands rather than as Round 5 is confirmed to run. One recommendation would replace the current first come basis with merit assessment, which would change how much timing matters and how much preparation matters.
When Round 5 opens we will publish the confirmed guidelines here and get in touch with the clients we have already identified as likely to qualify, so there is time to finish the cost tracking and the marketing plan before applications close. If you would like to be on that list, tell us.
The EMDG has run since 1974 and is the Australian Government's main financial support for exporters. It reimburses part of what you spend reaching buyers in other countries, whether you are selling overseas for the first time or pushing into a new market. If you have been searching for an Austrade export grant, this is the one.
For a company already claiming the R&D Tax Incentive, the EMDG is the second lever. R&D funds building the product. The EMDG funds the effort of selling it abroad. Between them they cover the path from an idea to revenue from another country.
Round 4 opened in November 2024 and closed on 20 December 2024. It is the clearest picture available of how the program now works and how hard it has become to get into.
| Measure | Round 4 |
|---|---|
| Total funding committed | $218.1 million, as at 31 March 2026 |
| Grant agreements signed | 2,232 |
| Average grant | About $54,000 a year |
| Tier 2 | Closed within hours of opening |
| Lodged by an agent | 62 per cent of all applications |
The striking thing was how quickly Tier 2 filled. That tier is aimed at established exporters turning over between $500,000 and $20 million, and it was heavily oversubscribed. Anyone who was not ready to submit on the day it opened missed the round entirely.
The average grant also rose sharply, from around $24,000 in earlier rounds, which follows from the move to multi-year agreements and higher caps per tier. The grant is worth more than it has ever been to the businesses that secure one, and there are fewer places to go round.
Round 5 has not been announced. On the program's two-year rhythm and the timing of previous rounds it is expected around the middle of 2027, covering the 2027-28 and 2028-29 financial years. Consultation on the statutory review closed in September 2025, and any changes that follow from it will most likely be announced in a Federal Budget.
Turnover bands could be adjusted in light of how demand fell across Rounds 3 and 4.
Online spend could be recognised more widely as more export selling happens through a screen.
Assessment could favour sectors that line up with the government's trade priorities, or move from first come to merit.
Total funding could rise or fall depending on what the Budget allows.
Whatever Round 5 turns out to look like, one thing holds. The businesses that are already tracking their costs, already have a marketing plan and are already compliant will be a long way ahead of the ones starting the week applications open.
Your ABN has to have been active for at least two years when you apply. If the business is newer than that, the application is not eligible, so check the registration date before you plan around a round.
Under $20 million, with a floor that depends on the tier: more than $100,000 for Tier 1, $500,000 for Tier 2 and $1 million for Tier 3, measured on your most recent financial year.
Every obligation up to date, including activity statements, income tax returns and any outstanding liability. Austrade checks, and a gap here can end an otherwise strong application.
What you are selling has to be substantially of Australian origin, made, produced or developed here.
A documented plan for promoting what you sell in one or more named overseas markets. Assessors can spot a template instantly, so this has to be genuine work.
You cannot be receiving another government export grant for the same costs.
| Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | New and aspiring exporters | Established exporters | Exporters expanding |
| Turnover | $100K to $20M | $500K to $20M | $1M to $20M |
| Export experience | Limited or none | Some history | Moving into new markets |
| Most per year | $30,000 | $50,000 | $80,000 |
| Agreement | 2 financial years | 2 financial years | 2 financial years |
| Most per agreement | $60,000 | $100,000 | $160,000 |
A business can receive the EMDG for a maximum of eight financial years across all rounds, and a lifetime cap of $770,000 applies under section 48(2) of the Export Market Development Grants Rules 2021. The cap counts every EMDG grant received since 1990, so confirm what you have left with Austrade before you plan around it.
The costs have to be incurred during the grant agreement period, and you need to be able to spend at least $20,000 of your own money on eligible activity in each financial year.
| Category | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Overseas representation | Keeping a representative, agent or distributor in an overseas market. |
| Marketing consultants | Fees for export marketing advice, market research and strategy. |
| Marketing visits overseas | Airfares, accommodation and travel for marketing trips, which is not the same as general business travel. |
| Trade fairs and exhibitions | Registration, stand costs and freight on display material for overseas shows. |
| Free samples | Product samples sent to prospective overseas buyers, freight included. |
| Promotional material | Brochures, catalogues and video made specifically for overseas markets. |
| Digital marketing | Website work for international audiences, advertising aimed overseas, search work for international engines. |
| Protecting intellectual property | Registering patents, trade marks or designs in other countries. |
| Buyers visiting Australia | Airfares and accommodation for prospective overseas buyers coming to see your operation. |
| Marketing communications | Advertising placed in overseas media, translation, and communications aimed at international audiences. |
Domestic marketing is not eligible, even where your Australian advertising happens to reach people overseas. A cost has to be clearly attributable to promoting something in a particular overseas market, which is why keeping domestic and international marketing in separate records matters so much.
The EMDG is matched funding. For every dollar of eligible export marketing you spend, Austrade puts in a dollar, until you reach the annual cap for your tier. You need to be able to spend at least $20,000 of your own money a year for the grant to apply at all.
Take a Tier 2 applicant, an established exporter turning over somewhere between $500,000 and $20 million, that spends $120,000 of its own money on eligible export marketing in a year.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Own eligible spend | $120,000 |
| Matched dollar for dollar | $120,000 |
| Tier 2 annual cap | $50,000 |
| Grant received | $50,000 |
Across a two year agreement that business could receive up to $100,000, as long as it keeps matching the grant with its own eligible spend in each of the two years.
| Limit | Amount |
|---|---|
| Most per year, Tier 1 | $30,000 |
| Most per year, Tier 2 | $50,000 |
| Most per year, Tier 3 | $80,000 |
| Most grant years | 8 |
| Lifetime cap | $770,000, confirm your remaining entitlement with Austrade |
You can claim the EMDG and the R&D Tax Incentive in the same financial year. What you cannot do is claim the same cost under both. If an amount goes into the R&D claim it cannot also go into the EMDG, and the other way round. Austrade and AusIndustry both enforce it, so the answer is to separate the two kinds of spending in your accounts from the beginning rather than untangling them at application time.
| Activity | R&D Tax Incentive | EMDG |
|---|---|---|
| Product development and experimentation | Yes | No |
| Building a prototype | Yes | No |
| Laboratory testing and trials | Yes | No |
| Wages for staff doing R&D | Yes | No |
| Attending an overseas trade show | No | Yes |
| International digital advertising | No | Yes |
| Registering IP overseas | No | Yes |
| Research on a new export market | No | Yes |
Advising on both programs is unusual. Most R&D consultants do not handle EMDG applications, and most EMDG agents have no background in R&D tax law. We do both, which means the split between the two can be planned rather than argued about afterwards.
Plenty of businesses do not realise how wide the ten categories are. Digital marketing, protecting IP overseas, consultant fees and even flying a buyer to Australia all count, and a proper look across the categories usually turns up costs that were missed.
Austrade needs evidence that a cost was incurred and that it relates to export marketing. Ask for invoices and contracts that name the market or the international purpose of the work.
Fees paid to directors, associated entities or family members attract closer attention. They are not excluded, but you have to show the amount is what you would have paid an independent provider.
Applying in a tier you do not belong in wastes the application and can end in rejection. Check the turnover thresholds and the export experience each tier expects before you submit.
Vague plans with no named markets and no real targets score badly. Assessors are looking for evidence of genuine market analysis and a coherent strategy for a particular country.
Where domestic and international costs cannot be separated, Austrade may disallow the whole category. Use separate campaigns, separate budget lines and separate invoices wherever you can.
The exact shape of Round 5 has not been confirmed, but previous rounds have followed the same sequence.
If you are already selling overseas, or planning to, we can tell you which tier you fall into, what of your current spending would qualify, and what to put in place between now and the round.
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