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 domestic and 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, 522.78 KB)

Program updates

Updates to the DIDG Program were required to reflect:

• Extended funding timeline through to 2029-30, providing industry with continued support to invest in sovereign defence industrial capability.
• Alignment with the Defence Industry Development Strategy 2026 (DIDS26) and the updated Detailed Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities (SDIPs).
• Introduction of a new prioritisation framework based on the Grow, Guide and Monitor categories outlined in the SDIP Annex.
• Support for businesses seeking recognised certifications required to access domestic Defence supply chain opportunities.
• Greater emphasis on alignment with specific SDIP capability element sub-components when assessing applications.
• Updated application forms and guidance material to support the revised prioritisation framework.
• Simplified reporting arrangements for lower-value grants to reduce administrative burden where appropriate.
• Minor administrative and process improvements to enhance clarity for applicants and streamline program delivery.

These updates are designed to ensure DIDG funding continues to support Australia's sovereign defence industrial capability priorities, industrial preparedness and supply chain resilience.

Applicants are encouraged to carefully review the updated Grant Opportunity Guidelines, Appendix A and related application materials before submitting an application.

Guidance for applicants

The following guidance is provided to assist applicants before applying for a grant under 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 grant stream.

Before applying, applicants should carefully read the applicable Grant Opportunity Guidelines available on the Business Grants Hub website. In particular, applicants should review Section 5.1, Appendices A, B and C to understand what grant activities and expenditure are eligible.

Grant applications to the DIDG Program are likely to be considered ineligible if they include activities and expenditure such as:

• Product development or prototyping
• Research and development activities
• Manufacturing inputs, including non-recurring engineering
• Activities or expenditure identified as ineligible in Appendix C.

Improving application competitiveness

To be competitive under the DIDG Program, applications must:

• Address all assessment criteria, including sub-criteria, contained within the DIDG Program online application.
• Include all mandatory supporting documentation (as described in the application form and Grants Opportunity Guidelines at Section 7.1).
• Demonstrate how the project aligns to one or more Detailed SDIP capability element sub-component. As described in Appendix A of the Grants Opportunity Guidelines, eligible applications will be further prioritised according to the Grow or Guide status which is assigned to that capability element sub-component.
• Demonstrate established commercial opportunities and evidence of demand for the proposed products or services within Defence or the broader defence industry. Supported where possible by a Letter of Support from a Defence stakeholder or prospective customer.

Nuclear-powered submarine opportunities

Within an application it should clearly identify whether the application is supporting the nuclear-powered submarine (NPS) program to be considered for NPS funding. This can be addressed by the attachment of a Letter of Support issued by the Australian Submarine Agency.

Requests for Letters of Support to accompany applications for the NPS related opportunities can be sent to asa.industry@defence.gov.au and should contain information on:

• The DIDG Program stream and the closing date of the application
• How the grants project aligns with, and contributes to, SDIP 2 – Continuous naval shipbuilding and sustainment. Include detail about any commercial opportunities engaged in related to Conventional Submarines and/or NPS, including the maturity of customer-supplier relationships that have been established in those areas
• The broader benefits of this grants project in relation to you and the wider defence industry.

Batch closing dates

There are 4 streams within the program which are continually open to receive applications until 2030. Batches are assembled every 2–3 months, with the next batch closing dates as follows:

• Skilling stream: Monday 30 November 2026, 11:59 pm AEDT
• Sovereign Industrial Priorities stream: Monday 30 November 2026, 11:59 pm AEDT
• Quality and Security stream: Thursday 31 December 2026, 11:59 pm AEDT
• Exports stream: Sunday 31 January 2027, 11:59 pm AEDT

Recipients of grants

The list of recipients of grants awarded in the period November 2025 to June 2026 is available.

DIDG Program: Recipients of grants – November 2025 to June 2026 (PDF, 464.54 KB)