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 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, 297.16 KB)

Program updates

Taking effect from 2 February, the 2026 DIDG Program updates include:

• Extended funding timelines for potential suppliers to Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine program.
• Support for apprentices has been streamlined with increased flexibility.
• Assessment responsibilities within Defence have been modified.
• Minor edits for enhanced clarity to applicants.
• Minor changes to the application form.

These updates will not disrupt the processing of applications submitted from this date, and standard processing timeframes will be maintained. 

Applicants are encouraged to carefully review the updated guidelines before submitting new applications and to contact industry.grants@defence.gov.au with any questions regarding project eligibility.

Guidance for applicants

The following guidance is provided to assist applicants before applying for a grants stream within 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 grants program.

Before submitting, applicants should read and understand the Grants Opportunity Guidelines available on the grants program information page. Particularly, applicants should review Section 5.1, Appendices A and B of the Grants Opportunity Guidelines to understand what grants activities and expenditure are eligible.

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

• product development or prototyping
• undertaking research and development
• manufacturing inputs such as non-recurring engineering
• activities which are listed in Appendix B.

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 attachments (as described in the application form and Grants Opportunity Guidelines at Section 7.1).
• Demonstrate a strong link to one or more of the Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities (SDIP).

Requests for Letters of Support to accompany applications for the Nuclear-powered Submarines 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 Nuclear-powered Submarines, 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:

• Exports stream: Friday 31 July 2026, 11:59 pm AEST
• Security stream: Monday 31 August 2026, 11:59 pm AEST
• Skilling stream: Friday 31 July 2026, 11:59 pm AEST
• Sovereign Industrial Priorities stream: Monday 31 August 2026, 11:59 pm AEST

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)