The Industry Growth Program, the federal government’s flagship commercialisation support for SMEs and startups, stopped accepting new grant applications from 12 May 2026. If an application was part of your funding plans for this year, here is where things stand and what to do about it.
What has happened
The Department of Industry, Science and Resources says the program “has been paused for new applicants” while it considers “changes for better targeted grant rounds and a more predictable grant application process”. The program page on business.gov.au now carries a paused banner. Existing grant agreements continue and so do the program’s advisory services; the pause applies to new grant applications only.
The numbers
The pause comes with money moving. The government has redirected $47.4 million in uncommitted funding over the forward estimates, leaving about $186 million in the program. Since its launch in 2023 the program has delivered more than $200 million in matched grants, against an original allocation of $392 million. More than $100 million was cut at the December 2025 MYEFO, so the program has been shrinking for a while; the pause is the next step in that pattern rather than a bolt from the blue.
For context, the program offered matched grants of $50,000 to $5 million for SMEs with fewer than 200 employees working in National Reconstruction Fund priority areas. For many growth-stage businesses it was the only federal grant of that scale on offer.
The wider grant picture
The pause lands at a thin moment for federal grants. The Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) program also has no round open; Round 4 closed to applications in December 2024 and no new round has been announced. As at 31 March 2026, Austrade had made 2,273 grant offers under EMDG with $218.1 million committed. If your funding plan assumed a federal grant in calendar 2026, it needs a rethink.
What to do now
- If you were preparing an Industry Growth Program application, keep the material. Your eligibility evidence, project plan and financials will all be reusable; the department is flagging a redesign rather than ruling out future rounds.
- Check state programs as alternatives. State support tends to be smaller but it is often faster and the eligibility nets are cast differently.
- The R&D Tax Incentive remains available for eligible R&D activity. It is an entitlement, not a competitive round, which makes it a steadier base than any grant.
- Treat any single grant program as a bonus, not a funding plan. Programs are paused, redesigned and closed at short notice; a plan that only works if a specific grant lands is not a plan.
Before you act
This update is general information only; it is not financial advice. Grant programs open, pause and close, so check the current status on the official source before applying or building plans around a program. For the Industry Growth Program, that source is the program page on business.gov.au.