Mitchell and Co – EMDG March 2026 Newsletter
EMDG March Newsletter
It is all about Round 4 of the EMDG program.
First a sermon about the Iran conflict and EMDG
In recent months I have always started the email with a comment about President Trump.
In terms of the Iran conflict, words simply fail me and I can’t think of anything meaningful to say, without getting me into real trouble should I choose to visit the USA sometime in the future.
The conflict is an external threat (one of the SWOT terms, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) that you have no control over whatsoever.
It impacts big time in regard to your ability for you to travel and produce your goods given fuel price increases & pending shortages.
One of our clients was on the ABC news yesterday stating they had no diesel fuel supplies for their fishing fleet to put to sea. You cannot market and sell fish if you cannot catch it in the first place.
For tourism there is no point in marketing overseas to Europe if your customer does want to travel in the Middle East airspace – totally understandable if you ask me.
Hells Bells, it also hit me hard when I had to pay $2.47 per litre for petrol and I only sit behind a computer and press buttons.
EMDG Round 4 is not helpful in terms of dealing with this current threat to your export activities.
- You are locked into markets that you had to choose back in November 2024.
- You cannot change them to suit the change in market conditions as is happening now.
- You must spend at least $40,000 in the 25/26 year or no grant entitlement will be assessed, you will have to repay the prepaid $20,000 grant payment paid back in June 2025. (Representative bodies excluded).
- You can only claim economy-based airfares.
- You must still show export activity / sales in 2025/2026, notwithstanding the roadblocks in the way now, nor forgetting the “TTT’s – Trump’s Tariff Tantrums – Oops – there goes my USA visa!
If your overseas travel plans and marketing strategies have been impacted by either the tariffs or the Iran conflict, please tell let us know.
Tell us your own story so I can write directly to Minister and CEO of Austrade and raise it on your behalf.
Real examples carry more weight than an old bloke that seems to always shouting from the sideline.
Second – back to EMDG Round 4 basics.
We both have an obligation to lodge your milestone report before June 15th, and we have already started the process for clients.
All the milestone reports we have submitted so far have paid in full by Austrade.
It is about getting in early, so long as you have spent enough to do so.
If you have submitted your 2025/2026 milestone report, there is nothing to do now. Job finished until June 2026 grant prepayment cycle (for 26/27 grants) and a possible Round 5 application in November.
If you have not been in contact with us or responded to Wayne’s recent email blasts, please do so as soon as you can.
Call us panic merchants, but from where we sit the clock has already started ticking.
Third – No news yet on the EMDG review of last year or Round 5 details.
We expect this will happen in mid year. Not sure if it will be an opportunity or threat to your future export efforts.
All the best,
Stuart & Wayne
EMDG February 2026 Newsletter
EMDG February 2026 Newsletter
It’s that time of the year when everyone sends out their ubiquitous “Welcome to the New Year” newsletter to pump prime things and get past the holiday season.
I just go with the crowd, so here is one from us as well.
For myself it has been a slow start as I am recovering from a back operation, but now back in action and training for the New York Marathon… just kidding but feeling much better for sure. Wayne has also returned from his extended holiday break; you will start to see emails from him.
Round 4
We are now in full swing for Round 4 Milestone reporting preparation and lodgment.
We will see how Austrade’s new planned audit activity will unfold in the coming weeks.
Austrade has found some new money to offer grant agreements for 2025/2026 to all Tier 2 applicants lodged before the EMDG portal closed on November 12th, 2024. So, well done in that regard.
The milestone report requirements this year are more complicated and time-consuming with more supporting documents required as well.
These reports are all due by June 15 – yep, before the actual grant year ends.
The date was chosen not to help you, but to help Austrade only.
This is the first time in over 50 years of EMDG support that the lodgment date for applications/reports is not after the end of the grant year you are reporting upon, strange but true.
You can “pre claim” any expenditure for activity from June 16th to the 30th. You cannot carry it over to the next grant year.
You cannot pre-pay for any expenditure for the 2026/2027 financial year.
We do not write the rules we only report upon them.
Austrade seems to think you prepare and lodge your milestone report within one day. This is not the case. You need to get things done properly, it does take time, both for you and us.
You can only lodge before June 15th if you have spent double your grant entitlement already. We would think using expenditure up to May 31 to allow 14 days to process the data, answer the required portal questions and have all support documentation required ready to submit.
We have been reaching out to clients to review expenditure to date and see if your report can be lodged as soon as possible.
We are hopefully to get as many as we can lodged by Mid-May before the mad rush that we know will happen on June 15th.
Having said that, based on experience, Austrade may allow a short window past that date to lodge the milestone reports, but I would not guarantee it.
We remind you all again of all key pressure points for your milestone report.
A nil $ report – no expenditure will still count as usage of a grant year.
You must spend over $40,000 this year, up to June 15th (see comments above), to enable the minimum grant of $20,000 to be eligible for payment – representative bodies are excluded from this rule.
If you have been pre-paid $20,000 for 2025/2026, (payment received in June 2025), and your milestone report records less than $40,000 of expenditure, you will have to repay the $20,000 in full.
You can only claim economy class airfares or an equivalent percentage of paid business class costs.
- For Tier 2 – you must show in your report expansion of marketing activities, not just doing the same things as before.
- For Tier 3 – you must show both expansion and strategic shift in your export activities.
- For Tier 4 – representative bodies, you must show new activities undertaken.
If in doubt, shout out to us as soon as possible, so we can help you as best we can.
2025 EMDG Independent Review
There have been no updates on the review. We expect the report will be issued mid-year, it needs to be tabled in parliament first, so it depends on future parliament sitting dates – Autumn and Winter.
EMDG Round 5
No news here either, still expected to happen around November of this year, with some consultation and publicity of its rules in the months prior.
All the best,
Stuart & Wayne
Mitchell and Co – EMDG Newsletter December Xmas edition
EMDG Newsletter December Xmas edition
Hello from us.
Your last EMDG newsletter for 2025.
Round 4 update.
We are writing to you as a Round 4 applicant and as a follow up to Austrade’s email broadcast of yesterday.
In addition, we send season greetings and advice of our Xmas closure period.
We do confirm that Austrade has processed all Round 4 applications and all our clients have received a grant offer, albeit a small number for only one year, just 2026/2027 instead of 2025/2026 and 2026/2027.
The focus now is on the preparation of 2025/2026 Round 4 milestone reports.
These reports are due by June 15th, 2026, much earlier than in the past.
We are following up on this as indicated in our last newsletter.
The EMDG portal is now live for Round 4 milestone reporting.
We have already tested the portal ourselves and have an issue with one of the questions.
We are following up to get the matter fixed so we can really get moving on things in the new year.
The portal opening now does not help everyone.
Lodging early is only of value if you have already spent enough to ensure your total grant will be paid in full.
We will continue to liaise with you to work out when to prepare your milestone report & press the submit button.
Having said that, the timing of the portal opening just before Xmas is a bit of an anti-climax for us.
Nothing much has been happening in recent weeks, so I have decided we will have an extended holiday period this year. First time ever in 25+ years of EMDG assistance.
Wayne will be on leave from the end of this week, and I will be off to the cricket next week, of course it could all be over sooner than later.
We will be closed from December 15th, 2025, to January 10th, 2026.
Wayne will be back the week after.
Emails/telephone calls will and answered as per normal over the break
We will get stuck back into milestone reporting preparation upon our joint return in January.
Let us hope EMDG in 2026 can only get better, we are still recovering from the Round 4 lodgment process our very own “Annus horribilis”!
All the best for the festive season and may your beach holidays be free of algae, with good times with family and friends for all of us.
Best wishes Wayne and Stuart
Mitchell and Co – November 2025 Newsletter
November 2025 Newsletter
This is our November update on EMDG.
In case you need reminding EMDG stands for Export Market Development Grants.
This newsletter is sent to all of you on our database.
Most of you are not active in the scheme currently, which is a rare privilege, EMDG support is now only for Round 4 applicants. We want to keep you in the loop.
EMDG 2025 Independent Review
Thank you to all clients who undertook the survey and/or made a submission to the 2025 Independent Review of EMDG.
Back in September I made a submission and met with Mr. Tim Yeend, the report writer.
It was a good meeting, Tim is a nice bloke, however I do not think much will come out of the review process.
My main focus was to explain the debacle about the “first in, first served” approach and the impending problem with the lodgment date for Round 4 milestone reports due by 15th June 2026, before the end of the financial year. Go figure that logic!!
My submission can be viewed by the following link:
Mitco 2025 Review Submission 01082025
For the first time in over 50 years of the EMDG program and many such independent reviews (happening every 5 years or so) the terms of reference were narrowed to exclude any comment about:
• Changes to the EMDG Act
• Funding levels
• Change in types of applicants – the Tier structure.
In my opinion, it’s an independent review with no teeth for any meaningful improvement, just shifting deck chairs on the Titanic, one might say!
Tim’s report will not be completed until March 2026 and will be released by Minister Farrell sometime after that, probably June/July 2026.
EMDG Rounds 1 to 3.
Pretty much all done and dusted, with Round 3 – 2023/2024 & 2024/2025 milestone reports now completed and assessed.
We only have a small number that have had to proceed to the appeal stage & we are wrapping these up now.
EMDG Round 4
Austrade has now finished processing these applications.
We only have one client who is yet to be sent a grant agreement, but we expect this to happen soon.
Some clients were offered EMDG support for 2026/2027 only – one year instead of two, given their time of lodgment & position in the queue.
Beggers cannot be choosers, so those one-year grant offers have been taken as being better than nothing.
I am sure that Austrade will say a job well done in any future PR release and the like.
We are now moving into the Round 4 milestone reporting stage, with the following key features.
• In 25/26 the current year, you must spend more than $40,000 (except representative bodies) or no grant will be payable. If you have received an upfront payment of $20,000 already, you will have to return this amount to Austrade. If you have any concerns, please contact us to discuss.
• Marketing expenses that are covered by EMDG are much the same as before, but you can only claim economy class airfares. If you do travel business class, please keep a screen shot of an equivalent economy class flight $ value at the time of your booking.
• Milestone reports for 25/26 must be lodged no later than June 15th, 2026, which is earlier than in the past years, and doesn’t cover the full financial year.
This is of no real benefit to you it only helps Austrade work out funding needs within the year.
I am writing to Austrade to ask that a longer period be allowed – say to August 31.
I will report back when I get an answer.
We have already started looking at clients’ information that we have access to & have been in contact with some clients to start interim processing.
We will continue to do more over the coming months.
If you have questions in relation to your Round 4 milestone reporting requirements or eligible marketing costs and the like; please reach out sooner than later so we can both assist you.
EMDG Round 5
If you are not in the EMDG program as a Round 4 applicant, you cannot apply until Round 5.
Round 5 (best estimate) will open this time next year November 2026.
Round 5 will cover years 2027/2028 and 2028/2029. Well off into the future, that’s when President Trump may be trying to run again, who knows what the shape of the world will be then.
Not EMDG – but a new program ANMI
Last month Austrade launched a new export help program under the Trade Diversification Network (TDN) banner, the Accessing New Markets Initiative (ANMI).
A whole new round of acronyms to get one’s head around.
It is funded at $50 million per year for the next 2 years or so.
Call me cynical but I think the EMDG pot was raided to fund this new program. A transfer of funds from one to the other, without having to seek any new budget allocation.
Minister Farrell reducing EMDG support from $150M to $100M for 2025/2026 and beyond.
ANMI is only available for a select few.
Funds do not flow directly to exporters; it’s only for Peak Industry bodies (membership and non-profit based) with the following criteria:
• Must be Australia wide.
• Promoting a tradable product (Goods)
• The only eligible service is IT – tourism for example is excluded.
• It’s about new markets – diversification.
• It is not a grant program; it’s about obtaining a procurement service agreement with the government to be paid for agreed overseas marketing costs.
• The lodgment process being like EMDG, i.e. application, approval/offer, reporting, then payment.
• The first round has already opened and closed – a 2-week application period only.
• Approvals are yet to be sent out – that is promised to happen soon.
We did assist eligible clients to access the program – only time will tell if it creates any real export value.
All the best,
Stuart & Wayne
Mitchell and Co – August 2025 Newsletter
EMDG Independent Review 2025
Here is link to our submission as promised.
Mitco 2025 Review Submission 01082025
I really threw everything into it. EMDG is simply not as good as it was in the past. It is no longer exporter focused.
EMDG needs new investment/money to bring it back up to par, if not then you might as well forget about it.
I will be attending the in-person session in Adelaide early next month to present our case on behalf of our client base.
Submissions need to be in by August 15th. The easiest way to do so is by the completion of the online survey, but I do caution to be very careful in how you an answer the “leading “questions.
EMDG Round 3
Milestone reports need to be submitted by August 31. We only have a handful to go and we want to avoid any issues e.g. blackouts, internet offline, portal offline etc. So the earlier we lodge the better.
Austrade has not processed any payments since the start of the financial year. I think their focus has been elsewhere. We expect activity/grant payments to start again any day.
EMDG Round 4
Processing is still happening.
The flood of prepayments in June and early July has subsided.
We still have a small number of clients still in the “under investigation or grant offer pending stages” with no movement in recent weeks/months.
Austrade has stated they cannot proceed until they complete the appeal process for other applicants to free up some funding.
A cop out in my opinion.
There should not have been so many appeals in the first place.
It is simply terrible for an application lodged back in November – 10 months ago – that some clients do not know if they will be successful or not, 2 months into the 25/26 grant year.
See my review submission for some more commentary.
We are trying to push things along as best we can, but I do feel it is a bit like banging your head against a brick wall, a lot of pain for little gain.
In the coming weeks we will be in touch in regard to your grant expenditure requirements for FY25/26.
All the best,
Stuart
Mitchell & Co – July 2025 Newsletter
Special Edition – EMDG 2025 Review process.
We write to you as you are in our database as either a past or current client of ours accessing the EMDG (Export Market Development Grants) program.
Austrade sent out an email broadcast to its own client base yesterday seeking submissions to the formal five yearly review of EMDG.
You may or may not have been sent an email. Hence one from us.
Here is a link to Austrade’s website and more details of the review process:
https://www.austrade.gov.au/en/how-we-can-help-you/working-groups-and-engagement/independent-review-emdg-program-have-your-say
This review is about the future of EMDG going forward from July 1, 2027, if the scheme continues or not and in what form and fashion, what will be the rules of engagement of the program and the timing for Round 5 of the program (the terminology used when the program was changed back in 2019/2020).
It will have no impact on the current Round 4 which we have already expressed our dismay with what a cock-up it has been on a number of fronts, we have already made our views clear to the Minister and CEO of Austrade as follows:
- The reduction in funding per year, the lowest since the program began in 1975 – 50 years ago.
- The non funding of 2024/2025 expenditure for most exporters, with only a small percentage (less 5%) being able to access the program for that year.
- The “first in – first served process” which created a nightmare for many applicants back in November.
- The general change in rules has excluded more exporters than those that are to be paid funding by a government help program working in reverse.
- If you did not apply for Round 4, you are excluded from accessing the program till Round 5, pending the review which will cover the 2027/2028 and 2028/2029 years, that’s a long time in the future for sure!
Most to the above problems can be fixed with more money in the program, back to $150M per year, as it was until recent budget changes.
We are a bit skeptical about the survey process, given how the questions were constructed and answers taken in the context of what Austrade wanted itself to achieve.
A 23% acceptance of a “first in first serve” approach was used to say this is what exporters wanted. What about the other 77% who did not?
An answer that any grant offer should cover 2 years (not a bad idea) was not explained as meaning you could only apply every two years.
A current change is that for Round 4 – you do not have a full 12 month coverage in the 2025/2026 year – you must have your milestone report submitted by June 15th 2026 – please.
Austrade should seek to change the Georgian calendar to 350 days not 365 we are all used to.
In my own submission we will be pushing the barrow of:
- Increased funding to $150M – back to the level it was before.
- Drop the first in first served approach.
- The ability to apply every year.
- The grant agreement period to be yearly as well.
- Simplification or removal of the “Tier” approach.
- To make the application process a simple one step process, not the current three step one.
- To be able to change your selected markets to deal, changing world trading conditions like the 3 T’s – Trump’s Tariff Tantrums!
- To allow common sense to apply – to be able to market to the world (except Russia, North Korea, not just selected countries approved by government, to allow a regional focus like Europe, Asia etc. – not to have list each and every country within a selected region.
- To re-instate the previous ‘export performance test” to tie with the grant amount to real export performance.
Enough said by me.
I do encourage you to make a submission and to speak your mind in a full and frank fashion.
In addition, please, if you can spare the time attend the in-person sessions as well, due to happen sometime in August. I will be there.
I am yet to complete my own submission, a job to do in the coming days.
I will send you a copy of it, so you can use it as a guide if you like.
Happy to take your call to discuss.
All the best,
Stuart
Mitchell& Co – June 2025 Newsletter
June EMDG Newsletter
Every time we sit down to write a newsletter there is always something going on the world that makes EMDG pale in comparison.
This time I am not going to list them as they are all over the news anyway.
However, there are still important EMDG things to talk about.
This newsletter has been sent to all those clients who still have an application on foot under the EMDG program, either as Round 3 applicant to report on 24/25 (this year) results or a Round 4 applicant to get ready (or still to be approved) for 25/26 (next year).
End of Financial Year (EOFY) considerations.
Before 30th June, different rules apply in terms of payments to be made before or after date and terms of EMDG.
For Round 3 applicants, to include any current costs in your 2024/2025 milestone report, you must pay them before June 30th. You cannot however prepay costs that relate next financial year.
For Round 4 applicants, the reverse applies. You must delay any such payments till after July 1, again they must be for costs/activity incurred after that date as well.
Please call us if you have any expenses/payments of which you are unsure about.
Now some more detailed comments for each of Round 3 and Round 4 applications/status.
Round 3 – Milestone Reports.
Last month we completed and lodged for you all required 2023/2024 (prior financial year) Milestone Reports, by the due date of May 30th. Most such reports now having been processed or paid by Austrade.
There are only a small number remaining to be finalised.
Many clients are now no longer part of the EMDG program given the 2024 rule changes.
Some clients, a much smaller number, now have a requirement to lodge their 2024/2025 Milestone report.
We have already made a start on these. We will crank up the processing of these post July 1.
We have a joint obligation to have these reports completed & submitted by August 31, but as we may have mentioned in the past on the odd occasion, the sooner you/we lodge the report the sooner you will be paid.
Round 4 – Grant Offers and recent prepayment of 2025/2026 grant amounts up to $20,000.
Most applicants for Round 4 have been offered & accepted a grant agreement and so has Austrade. A fine processing effort by Austrade.
There is a small number of applicants, whose grant offer is currently pending or being processed.
There is a smaller number, who have not been told if they are successful or not.
Such “No News” is actually “Good News.”
It is all about your timing of lodgement of your application back on November 12th and Austrade taking steps to relocate funding between tiers (see some additional comments below) to free up funding to allow more lodged Tier 2 applications to be approved.
Originally, the real lodgement cut-off time for Tier 2 applications seemed to be about 11.20 am AEDT, albeit the portal itself was not shut down until 1.20 pm AEDT. An extra 600 plus applications in somewhat of a “twilight zone” – applications accepted with only a very slight chance of being paid after all the lodgement effort of us both.
The lodgement time clock has now advanced to 12.00pm AEDT. We are hopeful that it will continue to move forward so all our remaining clients will be paid. We need to get to about 12.30 pm AEDT for this to happen.
The extra funding has come about from Austrade shifting the planned July grant prepayments of $20,000 for 25/26 to this month.
Hence the recent flood of money, from unspent money on 23/24 milestone reports in this year to help defray the over demand of the scheme in 25/26.
If the money is not spent this year, strange but true it would just have to go back to the government’s consolidated revenue account.
Back in April I wrote to Austrade’s new CEO Dr Paul Grimes and suggested that the payments be made in June not July to prevent this from happening.
A copy of my letter and the reply I got can be viewed via the following links:
Mitchell and Co – Letter to CEO Austrade 09042015
Austrade CEO – response 23rd May 2025
I am not saying I had any influence in the decision at all, just that it was (in my mind) the right and most common-sense approach to ensure more Tier 2 applicants could be paid as is now happening, the EMDG lodgement time clock advancing as outlined above. Well done, Austrade.
Round 4 – Changes to Grant Agreements for the US market.
When I wrote to Austrade as shown, I also raised the issue of the impact of USA/Trump “beautiful” tariff taxes on imports to the US from Australia and elsewhere. Many client’s plans to go to the US (submitted last November) being impacted. I suggested that applicants be able to choose another market in lieu.
Again, Austrade has now acted, another commonsense approach and letters are now being sent out to applicants asking whether the USA is to remain a market for you.
If & when you receive the letter, please contact us and we can discuss your best course of action.
It will not mean your grant offer will increase, it will simply mean, you may be able to spend your money elsewhere.
Round 4 – 25/26 Milestone reporting requirements.
There is nothing that needs to be done now.
Once we get over the Round 3 milestone reporting processing hump in July and August, we will reach out you in September to see how you are tracking on your spending.
Key takeaway points currently are as follows: –
• You must spend over $40,000 in 25/26 (does not apply to representative bodies) to be paid a grant, if you do not spend this amount you will have to repay the upfront payment of $20,000 in full.
• Your milestone report can be lodged once you spend double your grant offer amount.
• Austrade has shortchanged the grant year for 2025/2026 (not a fan of this change at all) and now Round 4 2025/2026 milestone reports must be lodged by June 15th, 2026, prior to the end of the year, not after it.
• Overseas travel is limited to “economy ticket cost value” only.
• Claimable expenditure will be limited to those countries listed in your application.
I expect Austrade to over audit submitted milestone reports, a means to reduce the outflow of funds.
Good record keeping will be required without a doubt.
EMDG 2025 Review.
Austrade has commenced the required five yearly review of the program.
It has already sought feedback from representative bodies, and I expect more emails will be sent to all applicants in the coming weeks.
We encourage all applicants to make a submission. We’ll do one of course.
We will provide our thoughts for you to consider and use.
The focus being the “first in, first served” disaster for Tier 2 applicants. This should never happen again.
All the best for EOFY.
Stuart
Austrade CEO response letter 23rd May 2025
Please find link below to the response letter from Austrade’s CEO Dr Paul Grimes PSM received 23rd May 2025
Austrade CEO – response 23rd May 2025
Mitchell & Co – May 2025 Newsletter
EMDG May 2025 Newsletter
New Minister
The new Federal Trade Minister is the same as the old one.
Senator Don Farrell remains in his position.
Likewise for Senator Penny Wong.
I think it make good sense to do so, give the current storm with President Trump and his not-too bright and ever-changing tariff imposition across the world and for Australia in particular.
We will all see what happens in the coming months.
EMDG Round 4 – those yet to be told their grant offer status.
It only took 4 hours to elect a new government, 3 days to elect a new Pope, but for some applicants, there has been no progress with their applications since November last year.
Most applicants have been offered a grant offer, but as above some are yet to hear.
These are the applicants who are in the “buffer zone” – with a successfully submitted application that Austrade will deem unsuccessful based on the lodgement time, after about 11.30am AEDT for Tier 2 applicants on November 12th.
The size of the buffer is some 600+ applicants who will miss out due to no fault of their own.
I have already explained what a monumental cock-up the “first in first served” Tier 2 process was back on November 12th.
I have written to the Minister in the past with no real response.
I have also written to Austrade’s new CEO, Dr Paul Grimes – my letter can be viewed by the following link: Mitchell and Co – Letter to CEO Austrade 09042015
I am yet to receive a response, which in part is understandable given the recent election cycle.
I do think however Austrade will start to send out “Sorry, you have missed out” emails in the next week or so.
The dispatch will have to be approved by Minister Farrell as the New Minister.
Within our client base, we only have a small percentage who we think have missed out, but it still hurts.
EMDG Round 1, 2 and 3 Milestone Reports 2024 – due May 31st.
We have just over 2 weeks left to complete all remaining milestone reports.
We have closed our books for those we can help.
EMDG Round 3 – Milestone Reports 2025 – due August 31st.
For those who have a grant agreement covering FY24/25 – this milestone report is also fast approaching, closing date 31st August 2025.
We will be in touch with applicants in the coming weeks to get preparations underway.
EMDG Round 4 grants approved & executed.
We will provide more details in relation to the processing of Round 4 pre-payments and milestone reporting in June once we complete the prior rounds milestone reports this month.
Stuart is going on holidays!
I am nicking off for a while next week. Wayne will hold the fort.
I will be back 3rd week in June.
All the best,
Stuart & Wayne