September 2022 Grants & Funding Opportunities

If you operate a small or medium food and beverage business wanting to create or expand your outdoor dining area, you may be eligible for a rebate of up to $5,000 under the NSW Government’s Alfresco Restart package. The rebate is available to the first 5,000 eligible small or medium food and beverage businesses that register. Businesses must first register to confirm their eligibility and registrations will close when 5,000 businesses have successfully registered.

Businesses that have successfully registered can claim their rebate from April 2022 for expenses incurred from 14 October 2021 to 30 June 2022.

Further information & eligibility.

Business Connect is a dedicated and personalised NSW Government program. Get independent business advice, practical insights and business skills training on a range of topics for your small business.

One-to-one business advisory sessions are complemented with a range of events and resources providing practical insights and business skills development.

Business Connect advisors are independent professionals. They have experience running their own business, qualifications in a business-related discipline, and advisory experience.

Further information & eligibility.

If you are a small business owner in NSW, this $1,000 rebate will help you purchase safety items to improve work health and safety for you and your workers. Small business owners and sole traders who have an ABN and less than 50 full-time employees. Charities and not-for-profits can also apply.  

Further information & eligibility.

Get Connected is Destination NSW’s website membership program. Simple and easy to use Get Connected membership is free and is open to all tourism operators within New South Wales.
 
This program gives you the opportunity to showcase your tourism products on Destination NSW’s consumer websites FREE of charge and tap into over 1.5 million potential customers a month, both domestic and international - that’s over 18.5 million people a year who are looking for tourism products.

Further information & eligibility.

This program provides a financial incentive of up to $10,000 (GST inclusive) to encourage businesses to hire and retain mature age employees who are 50 years of age and over. Payments are made over a six-month period, and you can negotiate how often you get them.

The Business Energy Advice Program (BEAP) delivers advice to help small businesses and their representatives get better energy deals and reduce their energy usage. A free personalised energy consultation and access to a Small Business Energy Check tool will be provided to you. This funded service is available to Australian businesses with 6 to 20 employees. Or if you've been adversely affected by drought, your business can have between 0 and 20 employees.

Further information & eligibility.

The NSW Government will offer $3,000 rebates for the first 25,000 new full battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), purchased for a dutiable value of less than $68,750 that are registered on or after 1 September 2021.

A business or organisation is eligible for the rebate on a new BEV or FCEV that is purchased and registered for business usage in NSW, if that business or organisation operates less than 10 vehicles in NSW at the time of registration. If a business or organisation has claimed a rebate in another state or territory for the same vehicle(s) it will not be eligible for a rebate in NSW.  Rebates will be available for up to two vehicles for eligible businesses and organisations. 

Glen Innes currently has charging stations located behind the Visitor Information Centre and Town Hall.

Further information & eligibility.

The objective of the Stronger Country Communities Fund is to boost the wellbeing of communities in regional areas
 
Funding is available for project types including new and upgraded local community and sporting infrastructure, street beautification, projects that improve accessibility and inclusion for people with disability and projects that improve outcomes for Aboriginal people.

Further information & eligibility.

Tax relief support is available for NSW businesses impacted by COVID-19. 2021 payroll tax deferral and new support payment arrangement for ALL businesses:

• 50% reduction in 2021/22 payroll tax liability for businesses with grouped Australian wages of $10 million or less who experienced a 30% decline in turnover
• Payroll tax customers eligible for a 2021 COVID-19 Business Grant or JobSaver payment whose total grouped Australian wages for the 2021/22 financial year are $10 million or less, will have their annual tax liability reduced by 50% when they lodge their  2022 Annual Payroll Tax Reconciliation online.
• Customers with total grouped wages of $10 million or less, who did not receive a 2021 COVID-19 Business Grant or JobSaver payment, may still be eligible for the 50% reduction if they are able to demonstrate that they have experienced a 30% decline in turnover during a minimum 14-day period during the ‘Greater Sydney lockdown’ (26 June to 30 November 2021) compared to the same period in 2019 or 2020.

Further information & eligibility.

• Enhance the process of recovery from the COVID pandemic for remote, rural and regional communities;
• Reduce social isolation and foster stronger, more resilient remote, rural and regional communities; and/or
• Sustain local, regional, rural and remote organisations and their work.

If you’re eligible, the Australian Government will pay you for each period you’ve been told to self-isolate or quarantine or are caring for someone who has COVID-19. The Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment (PLDP) is taxable income. It won’t be prefilled in your tax return or shown on your Centrelink payment summary.

How much you get depends on the hours of work you lost. For each 7-day period of self-isolation, quarantine or caring, you can be paid:

• $450 if you lost at least 8 hours or a full day’s work, and less than 20 hours of work
• $750 if you lost 20 hours or more of work.

If you lost less than 8 hours or a full day’s work during the 7-day period of self-isolation, quarantine or caring, you won’t be eligible for this payment. A full day’s work is the hours you were scheduled to work or would usually work on a given day. This includes not being able to attend a full-time, part-time or casual shift of fewer than 8 hours.

Further information & eligibility.

If you're having difficulty paying your current household energy bill because of a short-term financial crisis or emergency, such as unexpected medical bills, or reduced income due to COVID-19, you could be eligible for Energy Accounts Payment Assistance (EAPA) $50 vouchers.

Further information & eligibility.

Information sources and disclaimer: Information for this February 2022 newsletter was sourced from grants.gov.au, business.gov.au, Regional Development Australia Northern Inland and/or the following Government departments and business organisations on grants and funding programs.
NSW Government – Rural Assistance Authority, NSW Government – Department of Planning, Industry & Environment through Service NSW, NSW Government - Destination NSW, NSW Government – Regional NSW, NSW Government – Department of Veterans Affairs, Australian Government – Department of Health, Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR), National Australia Bank, Community Broadcasting Foundation, Australian Government – SportAus, NSW Government – Department of Regional NSW, Australian Government - Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, NSW Government – Office of Sport, NSW Government – Sport NSW, Australian Government - Services Australia, Australian Government – Indigenous Business Australia.