Grant Opportunity Guidelines

Advanced Manufacturing
Growth Fund
Round 2
Opening date: 14 December 2017
Closing date and time: 17.00pm AEDT on 28 February 2018
Commonwealth policy entity: Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
Administering entity Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
Enquiries: If you have any questions, contact us at business.gov.au.
Date guidelines released: 14 December 2017
Type of grant opportunity: Open competitive
Version – December 2017

Contents
1. Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund: Round 2 processes .............................................. 4
2. About the grant program .......................................................................................................5
2.1. About the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund - Round 2 grant opportunity ............. 5
3. Grants available .....................................................................................................................6
3.1. Project duration ...........................................................................................................6
4. Eligibility criteria ....................................................................................................................6
4.1. Who is eligible? ...........................................................................................................6
4.2. Additional eligibility requirements ................................................................................. 6
4.3. Who is not eligible? .....................................................................................................6
5. Eligible grant activities ..........................................................................................................7
5.1. Eligible projects ...........................................................................................................7
5.2. Eligible activities ..........................................................................................................7
5.3. Eligible expenditure .....................................................................................................7
6. The merit criteria you need to address ................................................................................. 7
6.1. Merit criterion 1 ...........................................................................................................8
6.2. Merit criterion 2 ...........................................................................................................8
6.3. Merit criterion 3 ...........................................................................................................8
7. How to apply ..........................................................................................................................8
7.1. Attachments to the application ..................................................................................... 9
7.2. Timing of grant opportunity .......................................................................................... 9
7.3. Joint applications ....................................................................................................... 10
8. The selection process ......................................................................................................... 10
8.1. Final decision ............................................................................................................ 11
9. Notification of application outcomes .................................................................................. 11
10. If your application is successful ......................................................................................... 11
10.1. Grant agreement ....................................................................................................... 11
10.2. Standard grant agreement ......................................................................................... 11
10.3. How we pay the grant ................................................................................................ 11
10.4. How we monitor your project ..................................................................................... 12
10.5. Progress reports ........................................................................................................ 12
10.6. Final report ................................................................................................................ 12
10.7. Ad-hoc report ............................................................................................................ 13
10.8. Independent audit report............................................................................................ 13
10.9. Compliance visits ...................................................................................................... 13
10.10. Grant agreement variations ....................................................................................... 13
10.11. Keeping us informed.................................................................................................. 13
10.12. Evaluation ................................................................................................................. 14
10.13. Tax obligations .......................................................................................................... 14
Program guidelines Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund Round 2 December 2017 Page 2 of 26
10.14. Grant acknowledgement............................................................................................ 14
11. Conflicts of interest ............................................................................................................. 14
11.1. Your conflict of interest responsibilities ...................................................................... 14
11.2. Our conflict of interest responsibilities ........................................................................ 15
12. How we use your information ............................................................................................. 15
12.1. How we handle your confidential information ............................................................. 15
12.2. When we may disclose confidential information ......................................................... 15
12.3. How we use your personal information ...................................................................... 16
12.4. Public announcement ................................................................................................ 16
12.5. Freedom of information ............................................................................................. 17
13. Enquiries and feedback ....................................................................................................... 17
Appendix A. Definitions of key terms .................................................................................... 18
Appendix B. Eligible expenditure .......................................................................................... 20
13.1. How we verify eligible expenditure ............................................................................. 20
13.2. Plant and equipment expenditure .............................................................................. 20
13.3. Labour expenditure ................................................................................................... 21
13.4. Labour on-costs and administrative overhead ............................................................ 22
13.5. Contract expenditure ................................................................................................. 22
13.6. Other eligible expenditure .......................................................................................... 23
Appendix C. Ineligible expenditure ........................................................................................ 24
Appendix D. Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund External Accountant Declaration ..... 26
1. Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund: Round 2
processes
The Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund is designed to achieve Australian Government
objectives
This grant opportunity is part of the above Grant Program which contributes to the Department of
Industry, Innovation and Science’s Outcome 1. Enabling growth and productivity for globally
competitive industries through supporting science and commercialisation, growing business
investment and improving business capability and streamlining regulation. The Department of
Industry, Innovation and Science works with stakeholders to plan and design the grant program
according to the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines.

The grant opportunity opens
We publish the grant guidelines on business.gov.au and GrantConnect

You complete and submit a grant application

We assess all grant applications
We assess the applications against eligibility criteria and notify you if you are not eligible.
We assess eligible applications against the merit criteria including an overall consideration of value
with relevant money and compare it to other eligible applications.

We make grant recommendations
We provide advice to the Minister on the merits of each application.

Grant decisions are made
The Minster decides which applications are successful.

We notify you of the outcome
We advise you of the outcome of your application. We may not notify unsuccessful applicants until
grant agreements have been executed with successful applicants.

We enter into a grant agreement
We will enter into a grant agreement with successful applicants.

Delivery of grant
You undertake the grant activity as set out in your grant agreement. We manage the grant by
working with you, monitoring your progress and making payments.

Evaluation of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund – Round 2
We evaluate the specific grant activity and Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund as a whole. We
base this on information you provide to us and that we collect from various sources.
2. About the grant program
The $47.5 million Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund (the program) will run over 4 years from
2017-18 to 2020-21. The program was announced as part of the Advanced Manufacturing Fund in
the 2017-18 Budget.
The program supports the Australian Government’s commitment to transition the manufacturing
sector to globally focussed, high skill, advanced manufacturing.
This includes using:

 advanced technologies
 design and engineering excellence
 innovative business processes
that improve the overall efficiency and competitiveness of firms and the broader economy.
Advanced manufacturing is a broad set of enabling technologies, processes and practices that
businesses, from a wide range of industry sectors, can adopt to improve their productivity and
competitiveness.
The program will support the Australian Government’s goals by funding capital projects to establish
and expand advanced manufacturing activities in Victoria and South Australia. Applicants in South
Australia and Victoria will compete for the same pool of funding.
Grants will include support for small and medium sized firms that have capability to access and
capture market opportunities in Australia and/or internationally.
The intended outcomes of the program are:
 increased investment in advanced manufacturing activities in Victoria and South Australia
 an Australian manufacturing sector that continues to transition from traditional, heavy industrial
processes to knowledge-based manufacturing of higher value products.
We administer the program according to the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines
(CGRGs) 1.
The Minister may approve additional funding for the program from time to time.
2.1. About the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund - Round 2 grant

opportunity
These guidelines contain information for round 2 grants. There is $16.4 million in grant funding
allocated for round 2 of the program.
This document sets out:
 the eligibility and merit criteria
 how we consider and assess grant applications
 how we monitor and evaluate grantees
 responsibilities and expectations in relation to the opportunity.
The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (the department) is responsible for
administering the grant opportunity.
We have defined key terms used in these guidelines in appendix A.
1
https://www.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/commonwealth-grants-rules-and-guidelines.pdf
You should read this document carefully before you fill out an application.
3. Grants available
The grant amount will be up to one third of eligible project costs.
 The minimum grant amount is $500,000.
 The maximum grant amount is $2.5 million.
Up to one third of your total eligible project costs can be funded from any government grants or
assistance. Projects must have at least $1.5 million in eligible expenditure.
3.1. Project duration

You must complete your round 2 project by 30 June 2020.
4. Eligibility criteria
We cannot consider your application if you do not satisfy all eligibility criteria.
4.1. Who is eligible?

To be eligible you must:
 be a small or medium enterprise (SME) with up to 199 full time equivalent employees
 be an entity incorporated in Australia, and a trading corporation, where your trading activities
 form a sufficiently significant proportion of the corporation’s overall activities as to merit it
being described as a trading corporation; or
 are a substantial and not merely peripheral activity of the corporation
 be non-tax exempt
 have an Australian Business Number (ABN), and
 be registered for the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Joint applications are acceptable, provided you have a lead applicant who is the main driver of the
project and is eligible to apply. You must have a formal arrangement in place with all parties.
 For further information on joint applications, refer to section 7.3.
4.2. Additional eligibility requirements

In order to be eligible you must provide
 evidence from your board (or chief executive officer or equivalent if there is no board) that the
project is supported, and that you can complete the project and meet the costs of the project
not covered by grant funding
 an external Accountant Declaration that confirms you can fund your share of the project costs.
You must use the Accountant Declaration form in Appendix D.
4.3. Who is not eligible?

You are not eligible to apply if you are:
 tax exempt
 an individual, partnership or trust (however, an incorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a
trust where it meets the eligibility criteria set out above)
 a Commonwealth, State, Territory or local government agency or body (including government
business enterprises.
5. Eligible grant activities

5.1. Eligible projects
To be eligible your project must:
 include eligible activities and eligible expenditure
 have at least $1.5 million in eligible expenditure
 occur in Victoria or South Australia (or both).
5.2. Eligible activities

Eligible activities must directly relate to the project and must include:
 buying, constructing, installing or commissioning of manufacturing capital equipment.
Eligible activities may include
 design and engineering activities directly related to the project
 fit-out, alterations and/or extensions to buildings directly related to the project
 training directly related to the project.
The activities must result in commercial production ready manufacturing. Product development
activities are not eligible.
If your project involves relocating manufacturing operations to South Australia or Victoria (either
from another Australian state or territory or from another country), only activities directly related to
new or additional capability are eligible. No other activities associated with relocation are eligible.
We may also approve other related activities.
5.3. Eligible expenditure

You can only spend grant funds on eligible expenditure you have incurred on an agreed project as
defined in your grant agreement
 For guidelines on eligible expenditure, see appendix B
 For guidelines on ineligible expenditure, see appendix C.
We may update the guidelines on eligible expenditure from time to time. If your application is
successful, the version in place when you submitted your application applies to your project.
You must incur the project expenditure between the project start and end date for it to be eligible
unless stated otherwise.
You must not commence your project until we execute your grant agreement.
6. The merit criteria you need to address

To be competitive, you will need to address all merit criteria in your application. We will assess your
application against each merit criterion using the weighting indicated.
The application form asks questions that relate to the merit criteria below. The amount of detail and
supporting evidence you provide in your application should be relative to the project size,
complexity and grant amount requested. The application form displays size limits for answers.
We will only award funding to applications that score highly against all merit criteria, as these
represent best value for money.
6.1. Merit criterion 1

The advanced manufacturing benefits for your business and the broader economy (40
points)
Describe the business case for the project and provide information that demonstrates:
 the extent your project will use advanced manufacturing technologies, design and engineering
excellence and innovative business processes
 how the project will improve the efficiency and competitiveness of your business
 the market opportunity for your project in Australia and/or internationally, and how you will take
advantage of this opportunity
 the broader economic benefits from your project.

Impact of grant funding on your project (20 points)
You should demonstrate this through identifying:

 the likelihood that your project would not proceed without the grant. Explain how the grant will
positively impact your project, for instance in terms of size, scale and timing
 the total additional investment the grant will leverage and explain how this benefits your project.
You are required to contribute at least two thirds of the total eligible project expenditure.

Your capacity, capability and resources to deliver the project (40 points)
You should demonstrate this through identifying:

 your track record managing similar projects and access to personnel with the right skills and
experience, including management and technical staff
 your access, or future access to, any infrastructure, capital equipment, technology, intellectual
property and required regulatory or other approvals.
7. How to apply
Before applying you should read and understand these guidelines, the sample application form and
the sample grant agreement published on business.gov.au.
You can only submit an application during a funding round.
To apply, you must:
 complete the online program application form on business.gov.au
 provide all the information requested
 address all eligibility and merit criteria
 include all necessary attachments
When you submit your online application, we will provide you with an automated receipt number
and a link. The link goes to a page where you can enter your email address to receive
acknowledgment and a copy of your complete application.
You are responsible for making sure your application is complete and accurate. Giving false or
misleading information is a serious offence under the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth). If we consider that
you have provided false or misleading information we may not progress your application. If you find
an error in your application after submitting it, you should call us immediately on 13 28 46.
If we find an error or information that is missing, we may ask for clarification or additional
information from you that will not change the nature of your application. However, we can refuse to
accept any additional information from you that would change your submission after the application
closing time.
You may submit a round 2 application for the same (or similar) round 1 project. You should include
new information to address any weaknesses identified in your previous application. If a new
application is substantially the same as a previous ineligible or unsuccessful application, we may
refuse to consider it for merit assessment.
If you need further guidance around the application process or if you are unable to submit an
application online contact us at business.gov.au or by calling 13 28 46.
7.1. Attachments to the application

We require the following documents with your application:
 project plan
 budget plan
 evidence of support from the board, CEO or equivalent
 trust deed (where applicable)
 external accountant declaration (template provided on business.gov.au)
You must attach supporting documentation to the application form in line with the instructions
provided within the form. You should only attach requested documents. We will not consider
information in attachments that we do not request.
7.2. Timing of grant opportunity

You can only submit an application between the published opening and closing dates. We cannot
accept late applications.
If you are successful we expect you will be able to commence your project within 5 months of the
application close date.
Table 1: Expected timing for this grant opportunity
Activity Timeframe
Assessment of applications 12 weeks
Approval of outcomes of selection process 2 weeks
Negotiations and award of grant agreements 5 weeks
Notification to unsuccessful applicants At the time of round 2 decisions
Earliest start date of project At the commencement of the grant

agreement
End date of grant commitment No later than 30 June 2020
7.3. Joint applications

We recognise that some organisations may want to join together as a group to deliver a project. In
these circumstances, you must appoint a lead organisation. Only the lead organisation can submit
the application form and enter into the grant agreement with the Commonwealth. The application
should identify all other members of the proposed group and include a letter of support from each
of the project partners. Each letter of support should include:
 details of the project partner
 an overview of how the project partner will work with the lead organisation and any other
project partners in the group to successfully complete the project
 an outline of the relevant experience and/or expertise the project partner will bring to the group
 the roles/responsibilities the project partner will undertake, and the resources it will contribute
(if any)
 details of a nominated management level contact officer.
You must have a formal arrangement in place with all parties.
8. The selection process

We first assess your application against the eligibility criteria and then against the merit criteria.
Only eligible applications will proceed to the merit assessment stage.
We refer your application to an independent assessment committee comprising an independent
chairperson, a representative from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, business
representatives with knowledge of South Australian and Victorian manufacturing and a
departmental officer as an ex-officio member. The assessment committee may also seek additional
advice from independent technical experts.
The committee will assess your application against the merit criteria and compare it to other eligible
applications in a funding round before recommending which projects to fund.
To recommend an application for funding it must score highly against each merit criterion. While we
assess all applications against the same merit criteria, we will score your application relative to the
project size, complexity and grant amount requested. The evidence you provide to support your
application should be proportional to the size and complexity of your project.
If the selection process identifies unintentional errors in your application, we may contact you to
correct or clarify the errors, but you cannot make any material alteration or addition.
8.1. Final decision
The Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science decides which grants to approve taking into
account the recommendations of the committee and the availability of grant funds.
The Minister’s decision is final in all matters, including:
 the approval of applications for funding
 the amount of grant funding awarded
 the terms and conditions of funding.
We cannot review decisions about the merits of your application.
The Minister will not approve funding if there is insufficient program funds available across relevant
financial years for the program.
9. Notification of application outcomes

If you are successful, you will receive a written offer, including any specific conditions attached to
the grant.
If you are unsuccessful, we will notify you in writing and give you an opportunity to discuss the
outcome with us.
10. If your application is successful

10.1. Grant agreement
You must enter into a grant agreement with the Commonwealth. A sample grant agreement is
available on business.gov.au.
We must execute a grant agreement with you before we can make any payments. You must not
start any Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund activities until a grant agreement is executed.
The approval of your grant may have specific conditions determined by the assessment process or
other considerations made by the Minister. We will identify these in the offer of funding.
If you enter an agreement under the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund, you cannot fund more
than one-third of total eligible expenditure for your project through grants from Commonwealth,
State or Territory granting programs. The Commonwealth may recover grant funds if there is a
breach of the grant agreement.
10.2. Standard grant agreement

We will use a standard grant agreement for all projects.
You will have 45 days from the date of a written offer to execute this grant agreement with the
Commonwealth (‘execute’ means both you and the Commonwealth have signed the agreement).
During this time, we will work with you to finalise details. The offer may lapse if both parties do not
sign the grant agreement within this time. Under certain circumstances, we may extend this period.
We base the approval of your grant on the information you provide in your application. We will
review any required changes to these details to ensure they do not impact the project as approved
by the Minister.
10.3. How we pay the grant

The grant agreement will state the:
 maximum grant amount we will pay
 proportion of eligible expenditure covered by the grant (grant percentage)
We will not exceed the maximum grant amount under any circumstances. If you incur extra costs,
you must meet them yourself.
We will make an initial payment on execution of the grant agreement. We will make subsequent
payments as you achieve milestones in arrears, based on your actual eligible expenditure.
Payments are subject to satisfactory progress on the project.
We set aside 10 per cent of the total grant funding for the final payment. We will pay this when you
submit a satisfactory final report demonstrating you have completed outstanding obligations for the
project. We may need to adjust your progress payments to align with available program funds
across financial years and/or to ensure we retain a minimum 10 per cent of grant funding for the
final payment.
10.4. How we monitor your project

You must submit reports in line with the grant agreement. We will provide sample templates for
these reports as appendices in the grant agreement. You will also be able to download them from
business.gov.au. We will remind you of your reporting obligations before a report is due. We will
expect you to report on:
 progress against agreed project milestones
 contributions of participants directly related to the project
 project expenditure, including expenditure of grant funds.
The amount of detail you provide in your reports should be relative to the project size, complexity
and grant amount.
We will monitor the progress of your project by assessing reports you submit and may conduct site
visits to confirm details of your reports if necessary. Occasionally we may need to re-examine
claims, seek further information or request an independent audit of claims and payments.
10.5. Progress reports

Progress reports must:
 include details of your progress towards completion of agreed project activities
 show the total eligible expenditure incurred to date
 be submitted by the report due date (you can submit reports ahead of time if you have
completed relevant project activities).
We will only make grant payments when we receive satisfactory progress reports.
You must discuss any project or milestone reporting delays with us as soon as you become aware
of them.
10.6. Final report

When you complete the project, you must submit a final report.
Final reports must:
 include the agreed evidence as specified in the grant agreement
 identify the total eligible expenditure incurred for the project
 be submitted within 30 days of completing the project
 be in the format provided in the grant agreement.
10.7. Ad-hoc report

We may ask you for ad-hoc reports on your project. This may be to provide an update on progress,
or any significant delays or difficulties in completing the project.
10.8. Independent audit report

We may ask you to provide an independent audit report. An audit report will verify that you spent
the grant in accordance with the grant agreement. The audit report requires you to prepare a
statement of grant income and expenditure. The report template is attached to the sample grant
agreement.
10.9. Compliance visits

We may visit you during the project period to review your compliance with the grant agreement. We
may also inspect the records you are required to keep under the grant agreement. For large or
complex projects, we may visit you after you finish your project. We will provide you with
reasonable notice of any compliance visit.
10.10. Grant agreement variations

We recognise that unexpected events may affect project progress. In these circumstances, you can
request a variation to your grant agreement, including:
 changing project milestones
 extending the timeframe for completing the project but within the maximum time period allowed
in program guidelines
 changing project activities
Note the program does not allow for:
 an increase of grant funds.
If you want to propose changes to the grant agreement, you must put them in writing before the
grant agreement end date. We can provide you with a variation request template.
If a delay in the project causes milestone achievement and payment dates to move to a different
financial year, you will need a variation to the grant agreement. We can only move funds between
financial years if there is enough program funding in the relevant year to allow for the revised
payment schedule. If we cannot move the funds, you may lose some grant funding.
You should not assume that a variation request will be successful. We will consider your request
based on factors such as:
 how it affects the project outcome
 consistency with the program policy objective, grant opportunity guidelines and any relevant
policies of the department
 changes to the timing of grant payments
 availability of program funds.
10.11. Keeping us informed

You should let us know if anything is likely to affect your project or organisation.
We need to know of any key changes to your organisation or its business activities, particularly if
they affect your ability to complete your project, carry on business and pay debts due.
You must also inform us of any changes to your:
 name
 addresses
 nominated contact details
 bank account details.
If you become aware of a breach of terms and conditions under the grant agreement you must
contact us immediately.
You must notify us of events relating to your project and provide an opportunity for the Minister or
their representative to attend.
10.12. Evaluation
We will evaluate the program to determine the extent to which the funded activity is contributing to
the program objectives and outcomes. We may use information from your application and project
reports for this purpose. We may also interview you, or ask you for more information to help us
understand how the grant impacted you and to evaluate how effective the program was in
achieving its outcomes. We may contact you up to one year after you finish your project for more
information to assist with this evaluation.
10.13. Tax obligations

If you are registered for the Goods and Services Tax (GST), we will add GST to your grant
payment where applicable and provide you with a recipient created tax invoice. You are required to
notify us if your GST registration status changes during the project period.
Grants are assessable income for taxation purposes, unless exempted by a taxation law. We
recommend you seek independent professional advice on your taxation obligations or seek
assistance from the Australian Taxation Office. We do not provide advice on tax.
10.14. Grant acknowledgement

If you make a public statement about a project funded under the program, you must acknowledge
the grant by using the following:
‘This project received grant funding from the Australian Government.’
11. Conflicts of interest

11.1. Your conflict of interest responsibilities
A conflict of interest will occur if your private interests conflict with your obligations under the grant.
Conflicts of interest could affect the awarding or performance of your grant. A conflict of interest
can be:
 real (or actual)
 apparent (or perceived)
 potential.
We will ask you to declare, as part of your application, any perceived or existing conflicts of
interests or that, to the best of your knowledge, there is no conflict of interest.
If you later identify that there is an actual, apparent, or potential conflict of interest or that one might
arise in relation to your grant, you must inform us in writing immediately.
11.2. Our conflict of interest responsibilities

We recognise that conflicts of interest may arise with our staff, technical experts, committee
members and others delivering the program between:
 their program duties, roles and responsibilities and
 their private interests.
We manage our conflicts of interest according to the APS Code of Conduct (section 13 (7) of the
Public Service Act 1999 (Cth)). We publish our conflict of interest policy2 on the department's
website.
Program officials must declare any conflicts of interest. If we consider a conflict of interest is a
cause for concern, that official will not take part in the assessment of relevant applications under
the program.
12. How we use your information

Unless the information you provide to us is:
 confidential information as per 12.1, or
 personal information as per 12.3,
we may share the information with other government agencies for a relevant Commonwealth
purpose such as:
 to improve the effective administration, monitoring and evaluation of Australian Government
programs
 for research
 to announce the awarding of grants.
12.1. How we handle your confidential information

We will treat the information you give us as sensitive and therefore confidential if it meets all of the
following conditions:
 you clearly identify the information as confidential and explain why we should treat it as
confidential
 the information is commercially sensitive
 disclosing the information would cause unreasonable harm to you or someone else
 you provide the information with an understanding that it will stay confidential.
12.2. When we may disclose confidential information

We may disclose confidential information:
 to the committee and our Commonwealth employees and contractors, to help us manage the
program effectively
https://www.industry.gov.au/AboutUs/InformationPublicationScheme/Ourpolicies/Documents/Conflict-of-Interest-and-
Inside-Trade-Expectations-Policy.pdf
 to the Auditor-General, Ombudsman or Privacy Commissioner
 to the responsible Minister or Assistant Minister
 to a House or a Committee of the Australian Parliament.
We may also disclose confidential information if
 we are required or authorised by law to disclose it
 you agree to the information being disclosed, or
 someone other than us has made the confidential information public.
12.3. How we use your personal information

We must treat your personal information according to the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and
the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). This includes letting you know:
 what personal information we collect
 why we collect your personal information
 to whom we give your personal information.
We may give the personal information we collect from you to our employees and contractors, the
committee, and other Commonwealth employees and contractors, so we can:
 manage the program
 research, assess, monitor and analyse our programs and activities.
We, or the Minister, may:

 announce the names of successful applicants to the public
 publish personal information on the department’s websites.
You may read our Privacy Policy3 on the department’s website for more information on:
 what is personal information
 how we collect, use, disclose and store your personal information
 how you can access and correct your personal information.
12.4. Public announcement

We will publish non-sensitive details of successful projects on GrantConnectand business.gov.au.
We are required to do this by the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines and the Australian
Government Public Data Policy Statement4, unless otherwise prohibited by law. This information
may include:
 name of your organisation
 title of the project
 description of the project and its aims
 amount of grant funding awarded
 Australian Business Number
 business location
3
http://www.industry.gov.au/Pages/PrivacyPolicy.aspx
4
http://www.dpmc.gov.au/resource-centre/data/australian-government-public-data-policy-statement
 your organisation’s industry sector.
We publish this information to ensure open access to non-sensitive data within Australian
Government agencies to enable greater innovation and productivity across all sectors of the
Australian economy.
12.5. Freedom of information

All documents in the possession of the Australian Government, including those about the program,
are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act).
The purpose of the FOI Act is to give members of the public rights of access to information held by
the Australian Government and its entities. Under the FOI Act, members of the public can seek
access to documents held by the Australian Government. This right of access is limited only by the
exceptions and exemptions necessary to protect essential public interests and private and
business affairs of persons in respect of whom the information relates.
If someone requests a document under the FOI Act, we will release it (though we may need to
consult with you and/or other parties first) unless it meets one of the exemptions set out in the FOI
Act.
13. Enquiries and feedback

For further information or clarification, you can contact us on 13 28 46 or by web chat or through
our online enquiry form on business.gov.au.
We may publish answers to your questions on our website as Frequently Asked Questions.
Our Customer Service Charter is available at business.gov.au. We use customer satisfaction
surveys to improve our business operations and service.
If you have a complaint, call us on 13 28 46. We will refer your complaint to the appropriate
manager.
If you are not satisfied with the way we handle your complaint, you can contact:
Head of Division
AusIndustry – Business Services
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
GPO Box 2013
CANBERRA ACT 2601
You can also contact the Commonwealth Ombudsman5 with your complaint (call 1300 362 072).
There is no fee for making a complaint, and the Ombudsman may conduct an independent
investigation.
5
http://www.ombudsman.gov.au/
Appendix A. Definitions of key terms
Term Definition
Advanced Manufacturing A broad set of enabling technologies, processes and

practices that businesses from a wide range of industry
sectors can adopt to improve their productivity and
competitiveness.
Advanced Manufacturing Growth An independent, not-for-profit company responsible for

Centre working with the advanced manufacturing sector to drive
cultural change and increase the competitiveness of the
sector in Australia. It is one of six Growth Centres
established through the $250 million Growth Centre
Initiative.
Assessment Committee The body established to consider and assess eligible

applications and make recommendations to the Minister for
funding under the program.
AusIndustry The division of the same name within the department.
Department The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science.
Eligible activities The activities undertaken by a grantee in relation to a

project that are eligible for funding support as set out in 5.2.
Eligible application An application or proposal for grant funding under the

program that the Program Delegate has determined is
eligible for assessment in accordance with these guidelines.
Eligible expenditure The expenditure incurred by a grantee on a project and

which is eligible for funding support as set out in 5.3.
Eligible expenditure guidelines The guidelines that are at Appendix B.
Grant agreement A legally binding contract between the Commonwealth and

a grantee for the grant funding
Grant funding or grant funds The funding made available by the Commonwealth to
grantees under the program.
Grantee The recipient of grant funding under a grant agreement.
Guidelines Guidelines that the Minister gives to the department to

provide the framework for the administration of the program,
as in force from time to time.
Minister The Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science.
Non-tax-exempt Not exempt from income tax under Division 50 of the

Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) or under Division
1AB of Part III of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936
(Cth).
Term Definition
Personal information Has the same meaning as in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
which is:
Information or an opinion about an identified individual, or
an individual who is reasonably identifiable:
a) whether the information or opinion is true or not;

and
b) whether the information or opinion is recorded in a
material form or not.
Program Delegate An AusIndustry general manager within the department with

responsibility for the program.
Program funding or Program The funding made available by the Commonwealth for the
funds program.
Project A project described in an application for grant funding under

the program.
Appendix B. Eligible expenditure
This section provides guidelines on the eligibility of expenditure. We may update these guidelines
from time to time, so you should make sure you have the current version from the business.gov.au
website before preparing your application.
The Program Delegate makes the final decision on what is eligible expenditure and may give
additional guidance on eligible expenditure if required.
To be eligible, expenditure must:
 be incurred by you within the project period
 be a direct cost of the project
 be incurred by you to undertake required project audit activities
 meet the eligible expenditure guidelines.
13.1. How we verify eligible expenditure

If your application is successful, we will ask you to verify the project budget that you provided in
your application when we negotiate your grant agreement. You may need to provide evidence such
as quotes for major costs.
The grant agreement will include details of the evidence you may need to provide when you
achieve certain milestones in your project. This may include evidence related to eligible
expenditure.
If requested, you will need to provide the agreed evidence along with your progress reports.
You must keep payment records of all eligible expenditure, and be able to explain how the costs
relate to the agreed project activities. At any time, we may ask you to provide records of the
expenditure you have paid. If you do not provide these records when requested, the expense may
not qualify as eligible expenditure.
At the end of the project, you will be required to provide an independent financial audit of all eligible
expenditure from the project.
13.2. Plant and equipment expenditure

We consider costs of acquiring, designing, engineering, automating, digitising or construction of,
plant and equipment, as well as any related commissioning costs as eligible expenditure. You must
list commissioning costs as a separate item within the project budget in the application form, and
on reports of expenditure during project milestones.
We cannot consider any expenditure paid before the project start date as eligible expenditure.
Commissioning and installation costs of plant and equipment paid for before the start date is not
eligible expenditure even if these costs are paid after the project start date.
You may purchase, lease (finance lease or operating lease under certain conditions) or build plant
and equipment. In claiming the purchase price of capital items, you must take out any costs related
to financing, including interest. You can claim related freight and installation costs on capital
expenditure.
Eligible costs for plant and equipment will normally need to be on your balance sheet.
We will only consider costs for plant and equipment not on your balance sheet under certain
circumstances. We will only consider project costs with an operating lease to be eligible if:
 you integrate the plant or equipment into your manufacturing process; and
 you cannot transfer the plant or equipment and the lease period is at least 4 years.
Where you need to pay in instalments to purchase capital items (for example deposits, payment on
installation, or payment on commissioning), you can claim the grant amount for the items
progressively across multiple progress reports up to the end of the project period. Alternatively, you
can choose to claim the full amount in a single report, when you pay for the capital item.
For leased items, you will need to show an executed copy of the lease identifying the capital cost of
the item and the lease period. We can pay you the full grant entitlement when:
 you have received the capital item
 you have entered into a formal lease agreement, and
 you make the initial payment.
You may show expenditure on plant and equipment by providing evidence of
 purchase price
 payments (e.g. tax invoices and receipts from suppliers confirming payment)
 commitment to pay for the capital item (e.g. supplier contract, purchase order or executed
lease agreement)
 receipt of capital items (e.g. supplier or freight documents)
 associated costs such as freight and installation (e.g. supplier documents)
 the capital item on your premises (e.g. date stamped photographic evidence).
If you claim expenditure for the construction of plant and equipment, we limit this to
 the costs of materials
 direct construction labour salary costs
 contractor costs
 freight and establishment costs.
Evidence for construction expenditure may include purchase orders, invoices, payment
documentation, photographic evidence (date stamped) of the capital item in your premises and
details of labour costs.
Grant payments for capital items may affect your tax obligations. We recommend that you seek
independent professional advice on tax related matters.
13.3. Labour expenditure

Eligible labour expenditure for the grant covers the direct labour costs of employees you directly
employ on the core elements of the project. We consider a person an employee when you pay
them a regular salary or wage, out of which you make regular tax instalment deductions.
Up to 20 per cent of the total amount of eligible labour expenditure claimed can be for technical
program management costs. Administration activities are not deemed eligible labour expenditure.
We do not consider labour expenditure for leadership or administrative staff (such as CEOs, CFOs,
accountants and lawyers) as eligible expenditure, even if they are doing project management
tasks.
Eligible salary expenditure includes an employee’s total remuneration package as stated on their
Pay As You Go (PAYG) Annual Payment Summary submitted to the ATO. We consider salary-
sacrificed superannuation contributions as part of an employee’s salary package if the amount is
more than what the Superannuation Guarantee requires.
The maximum salary for an employee, director or shareholder, including packaged components
that you can claim through the grant is $150,000 per financial year.
For periods of the project that do not make a full financial year, you must reduce the maximum
salary amount you claim proportionally.
You can only claim eligible salary costs when an employee is working directly on agreed project
activities during the agreed project period.
13.4. Labour on-costs and administrative overhead

You may increase eligible salary costs by an additional 30% allowance to cover on-costs such as
employer paid superannuation, payroll tax, workers compensation insurance, and overheads such
as office rent and the provision of computers.
You should calculate eligible salary costs using the formula below:
You cannot calculate labour costs by estimating the employee’s worth. If you have not exchanged
money (either by cash or bank transactions) we will not consider the cost eligible.
Evidence you will need to provide can include:
 details of all personnel working on the project, including name, title, function, time spent on the
project and salary
 ATO payment summaries, pay slips and employment contracts.
13.5. Contract expenditure

Eligible contract expenditure is the cost of any agreed project activities that you contract others to
do. These can include contracting:
 another organisation
 an individual who is not an employee, but engaged under a separate contract.
All contractors must have a written contract prior to starting any project work—for example, a
formal agreement, letter or purchase order which specifies:
 the nature of the work they perform
 the applicable fees, charges and other costs payable.
Invoices from contractors must contain:

 a detailed description of the nature of the work
 the hours and hourly rates involved
 any specific plant expenses paid.
Invoices must directly relate to the agreed project, and the work must qualify as an eligible
expense. The costs must also be reasonable and appropriate for the activities performed.
We will require evidence of contractor expenditure that may include:
 an exchange of letters (including email) setting out the terms and conditions of the proposed
contract work
 purchase orders
 supply agreements
 invoices and payment documents.
You must ensure all project contractors keep a record of the costs of their work on the project. We
may require you to provide a contractor’s records of their costs of doing project work. If you cannot
provide these records, the relevant contract expense may not qualify as eligible expenditure.
13.6. Other eligible expenditure

Other eligible expenditures for the project may include:
 commissioning
 building modifications where you own the modified asset. Modifications to leased buildings may
be eligible, for example installing a clean room. You must use the leased building for activities
related to your manufacturing process.
 staff training that directly supports the achievement of project outcomes
 financial auditing of project expenditure
 costs you incur in order to obtain planning, environmental or other regulatory approvals during
the project period. However, associated fees paid to the Commonwealth, state, territory and
local governments are not eligible
 contingency costs up to a maximum of 10% of the eligible project costs. Note that we make
payments based on actual costs incurred.
Other specific expenditures may be eligible as determined by the Program Delegate.
Evidence you need to supply can include supplier contracts, purchase orders, invoices and supplier
confirmation of payments.
Appendix C. Ineligible expenditure
This section provides guidelines on what we consider ineligible expenditure. We may update these
guidelines from time to time, so you should make sure you have the current version from the
business.gov.au website before preparing your application.
The Program Delegate may impose limitations or exclude expenditure, or further include some
ineligible expenditure listed in these guidelines in a grant agreement or otherwise by notice to you.
Examples of ineligible expenditure include:

 research activities (other than design and engineering activities) not directly supporting eligible
capital expenditure activities
 activities, equipment or supplies that are already being supported through other sources
 costs incurred prior to you having an executed grant agreement
 any in-kind contributions
 financing costs, including interest
 capital expenditure for the purchase of assets for everyday business activities such as office
furniture and equipment, motor vehicles, computers, printers or photocopiers
 capital expenditure for construction, renovation or extension of facilities such as buildings and
laboratories for everyday business activities (unless it directly relates to the project)
 costs involved in the purchase or upgrade/hire of software (including user licences) and ICT
hardware (unless it directly relates to the project)
 costs such as rental, renovations and utilities
 costs related to relocating manufacturing operations that do not involve any new or additional
manufacturing capability
 non-project-related staff training and development costs
 insurance costs (the participants must effect and maintain adequate insurance or similar
coverage for any liability arising as a result of its participation in funded activities)
 debt financing
 costs related to obtaining resources used on the project, including interest on loans, job
advertising and recruiting, and contract negotiations
 depreciation of plant and equipment beyond the life of the project
 maintenance costs
 costs of purchasing, leasing, depreciation of, or development of land
 infrastructure development costs, including development of road, rail, port or fuel delivery
networks beyond the manufacturing site
 site preparation activities which are not directly related to, or for, the main purpose of advanced
manufacturing
 opportunity costs relating to any production losses due to allocating resources to the agreed
grant project
 costs of manufacturing production inputs not relating to commissioning new equipment
 routine operational expenses, including communications, accommodation, office computing
facilities, printing and stationery, postage, legal and accounting fees and bank charges
 costs related to preparing the grant application, preparing any project reports (except costs of
independent audit reports we require) and preparing any project variation requests
This list is not exhaustive and applies only to the expenditure of the grant funds. Other costs may
be ineligible where we decide that they do not directly support the achievement of the planned
outcomes for the project or that they are contrary to the objective of the program.
You must ensure you have adequate funds to meet the costs of any ineligible expenditure
associated with the project.
Appendix D. Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund
External Accountant Declaration
Role/Title of person
making declaration
Name
Employer
Contact details
Qualification Chartered Accountant

Certified Practicing Accountant
CPA Australia
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand
Institute of Public Accountants
Membership number:
Applicant’s name:
Applicant’s ABN:
I declare that:
On the basis of the evidence [applicant name] has supplied to me, I consider that [applicant
name] is able to fund its share of the cost of the proposed project from the following source of
funding - [insert source of funding].
This opinion is based on the applicants share being [insert amount] out of total project
expenditure of [insert amount].
The applicant is part of a consolidated group for tax purposes. Yes No
Signature ..................................................................................
Signed on this day of 20

Grant Opportunity Guidelines

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Grant Opportunity Guidelines

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Grant Opportunity Guidelines

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Advanced Manufacturing

Opening date: 14 December 2017

Closing date and time: 17.00pm AEDT on 28 February 2018

Commonwealth policy entity: Department of Industry, Innovation and Science

Administering entity Department of Industry, Innovation and Science

Enquiries: If you have any questions, contact us at business.gov.au.

Date guidelines released: 14 December 2017

Type of grant opportunity: Open competitive

Version – December 2017

This includes using:

2.1. About the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund - Round 2 grant

3.1. Project duration

4.1. Who is eligible?

4.2. Additional eligibility requirements

4.3. Who is not eligible?

5. Eligible grant activities

5.2. Eligible activities

5.3. Eligible expenditure

6. The merit criteria you need to address

6.1. Merit criterion 1

6.2. Merit criterion 2

You should demonstrate this through identifying:

6.3. Merit criterion 3

You should demonstrate this through identifying:

7.1. Attachments to the application

7.2. Timing of grant opportunity

Assessment of applications 12 weeks

Approval of outcomes of selection process 2 weeks

Negotiations and award of grant agreements 5 weeks

Notification to unsuccessful applicants At the time of round 2 decisions

Earliest start date of project At the commencement of the grant

End date of grant commitment No later than 30 June 2020

7.3. Joint applications

8. The selection process

9. Notification of application outcomes

10. If your application is successful

10.2. Standard grant agreement

10.3. How we pay the grant

10.4. How we monitor your project

10.5. Progress reports

10.6. Final report

10.7. Ad-hoc report

10.8. Independent audit report

10.9. Compliance visits

10.10. Grant agreement variations

10.11. Keeping us informed

10.13. Tax obligations

10.14. Grant acknowledgement

11. Conflicts of interest

11.2. Our conflict of interest responsibilities

12. How we use your information

12.1. How we handle your confidential information

12.2. When we may disclose confidential information

12.3. How we use your personal information

We, or the Minister, may:

12.4. Public announcement

12.5. Freedom of information

13. Enquiries and feedback

Advanced Manufacturing A broad set of enabling technologies, processes and