Hills & Coast Business Grant 2026

2026 Grant Guidelines

Grant Guidelines

1. Grant Amount

• Minimum grant request: $2,500
• Maximum grant request: $20,000

2. What can be Funded

The 2026 round of the Hills & Coast Business Grant aims to support the productivity and growth of manufacturing businesses through:

1. Procurement of new equipment that improves productivity, and/or;
2. Addressing challenges and/or barriers to business growth.

Examples of What Can Be Funded:

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) implementation.
• New equipment that will increase productivity through quality, worker environment, product safety, rate of production, efficiency, storage etc.

Exclusions:

• Business-as-usual costs including wages, rent, and applications such as accounting software.
• Replacement of existing equipment that does not improve productivity.
• New equipment solely for reducing costs (eg; solar installations or more power efficient equipment).
• Powered equipment if a qualified assessment hasn’t been undertaken to qualify power availability and cost.
• Furniture.
• Marketing costs including e-commerce investments.

The Hills & Coast Business Grant is not intended for
business-as-usual projects, but for cases where limited funds are restricting an ability to progress productivity and growth.

3. Eligibility Requirements

3.1    The proposed project must meet “What can be Funded” outlined above.

3.2    This grant is open to manufacturing businesses with an ABN. For the purposes of this grant, a manufacturing business is a business undertaking a process of value-adding and/or the processing of raw materials or parts into finished goods.

3.3    Grant funding must be matched by the applicant, dollar for dollar (1:1). Matched funding by the applicant greater than 1:1 will be viewed favourably.

3.4    Costs incurred prior to signing of a grant agreement are not eligible. This includes deposits on equipment.

3.5    Your project will benefit the economy and/or liveability of the Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula or Kangaroo Island.

3.6    An application from a consortium is welcome, however one organisation will need to submit the application form and be the lead party that enters into a grant agreement if successful.

3.7    The proposed project must be completed in time to complete a project report and grant acquittal (refer Funding Agreements and Summary of Key Dates below).

Acquitting a grant means accurately reporting on the funded activities and the expenditure. You are required to demonstrate the funding has been used for the purpose intended in the application and ensure the terms of the funding agreement have been met.

Recipients unable to acquit grants on time by the Project Report/Funding Acquittal Date may be asked to refund their grant.

3.8    The following documents are mandatory attachments to your application:

1. Business Plan
2. Current Profit & Loss Statement
3. 2-year Financial Forecast

3.9  Previous recipients of this grant with outstanding grant acquittals are ineligible to apply for this round of the grant.

3.10 Previous recipients of this grant in the last two (2) years, are ineligible to apply for this round of the grant.

4. Application

4.1    All applications must be completed using the online application form.

4.2    Completed applications must be submitted by: midnight, Sunday 31st MAY 2026.

4.3 Late applications will not be accepted.

5. Assessment of Applications

5.1    Eligible applications will be assessed against:

1. The Assessment Criteria in the grant application form.
2. Completeness and quality of the application.
3. Value (level of productivity and growth versus funding request).

5.2    All applicants will be advised of the outcome of their application.

5.3    The selection panel may, but is not obliged to, seek further information or clarification from applicants.

5.4    All decisions are final and there is no appeal process for applicants.

6. Funding Agreements

6.1    Funding agreements will specify the funding provided and commit the applicant to any funding conditions including timeframes, outputs and outcomes, and matched contributions.

6.2    Successful applicants will be required to provide a project report and grant acquittal.

6.3    The Funding agreement may contain other conditions.

7. Summary of Key Dates

APPLY TODAY!

Submissions close:
Midnight – Sunday | 31 MAY 2026

APPLICATION FORM →

Further Information

Got questions or need help?

For more information or clarification around eligibility or the grant process, please contact our CEO, Steve Shotton.

EMAIL STEVE →

Thank you to our corporate partners for their generous support of the Hills & Coast Business Grant 2026!