The Defence Industry Development Grants Program (DIDG Program) provides funding for small to medium enterprises to build Australia’s sovereign capability, global competitiveness, technical superiority and national security.
The Grant opportunity provides:
- between $5,000 and $1 million for eligible businesses
- up to 50% of the project cost
- dedicated streams provide support for the:
- acquisition and commissioning of new capabilities for defence domestic or exports projects
- achievement of international accreditations and certifications
- technical and trade skill development
- implementation and maintenance of security posture required for suppliers in the defence sector.
Fact Sheet: Defence Industry Development Grants (PDF, 520.95 KB)
Guidance for applicants
The following guidance is provided to assist applicants before applying for a grants stream within the DIDG Program.
For an application to be considered, it must meet eligibility criteria and address the assessment criteria, including all sub-criteria, for the relevant grants program.
Before submitting, applicants should read and understand the Grants Opportunity Guidelines available on the grants program information page. Particularly, applicants should review Section 5.1, Appendices A and B of the Grants Opportunity Guidelines to understand what grants activities and expenditure are eligible.
Grants applications to the DIDG Program are likely to be considered ineligible if they include activities and expenditure such as:
- product development or prototyping
- undertaking research and development
- manufacturing inputs such as non-recurring engineering
- activities which are listed in Appendix B.
To be competitive under the DIDG Program, applications must:
- address all criteria and sub-criteria contained in drop-down menus within the Defence Industry Development Grants Program online application
- include all mandatory attachments (as described in the application form and Grants Opportunity Guidelines at Section 7.1)
- demonstrate a strong link to one or more of the Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities.
Requests for Letters of Support to accompany applications for the Nuclear-powered Submarines related opportunities can be sent to asa.industry@defence.gov.au and should contain information on:
- What DIDG Program stream and closing date you are applying to
- How your grants project aligns with, and contributes to, Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities (SDIP) 2. Include detail about any commercial opportunities you are engaged in related to Conventional Submarines and/or Nuclear-powered Submarines, including the maturity of customer-supplier relationships that you have established in those areas
- The broader benefits of this grants project in relation to your business and the wider defence industry.
Stream closing dates
There are four 4 streams within the program, and the closing dates are as follows:
- Exports stream: Thursday 31 July 2025, 11:59 pm AEST
- Security stream: Monday 30 June 2025, 11:59 pm AEST
- Skilling stream: Thursday 31 July 2025, 11:59 pm AEST.
- Sovereign Industrial Priorities stream: Saturday 31 August 2025, 11:59 pm AEST.