Defence Industry Development Grants (DIDG)

The DIDG Program seeks to build Australia’s sovereign defence capability across seven priorities:

1. Defence aircraft maintenance, repair and upgrade;
2. Naval shipbuilding;
3. Sustainment and enhancement of the combined-arms land system;
4. Guided weapons, explosive ordnance and munitions manufacturing;
5. Autonomous systems;
6. Battlespace awareness and management systems; and
7. Test and evaluation, certification and systems assurance.

The program offers grants under four streams:

• The Sovereign Industrial Priorities stream: For purchasing plant and equipment;
• The Skilling Stream: For providing training to staff;
• The Exports Stream: For overcoming barriers to export; and
• The Security Stream: For establishing and maintaining security accreditation and controls.

The following amounts are available:

• The Sovereign Industrial Priorities stream: Grants of up to $1 million
• The Skilling Stream: Grants of up to $250,000
• The Exports Stream: Grants of up to $250,000
• The Security Stream: Grants of up to $100,000

Grants require matched funding from the applicant.

An applicant must be:

• A small-to-medium enterprise (i.e. have less than 200 employees); and
• An Australian, GST-registered business.

Applications can be submitted at any time and are assessed in batches.

• Sovereign Industrial Priorities stream - Friday 28 February 2025.
• Skilling stream - Friday 31 January 2025.
• Export stream - Friday 31 January 2025.​
• Security stream - Tuesday 31 December 2024.​