Funding For the Wine Industry

A number of grants have been introduced by the Australian state and federal governments in a view to help out the wine producing community. The idea behind these grants is to promote Australian wine in the international markets.

Right from reducing the promotional costs as well as the export costs, the Australian government is readying itself to take care of all aspects. These grants are a part of the government’s $50 million plan for four years starting from 2018 that has been formulated to enlarge and develop the Australian wine and grape industry thereby, showcasing the Australian wine collection globally.

This plan came into force due to the efforts made by the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia, Wine Australia and Australian Vignerons along with the Australian wine sector.

Those eligible have the liberty of claiming $25,000 as reimbursement towards promotional costs.

The eligible costs include:

  • transportation costs and the cost of free samples given
  • cost of online as well as offline promotions if any
  • any other representational costs incurred at international events

All expenses incurred before the 1st of July 2020 are eligible for a reimbursement of 50%.

In round 2, with a view to overcoming the Covid-19 impact, the Australian government is offering $1 million as a separate grant towards wine export.

For exporting wine to selected countries like US, China, Hong Kong and Macau, a daily allowance of $350 can be claimed (not for more than 14 days). The eligibility criteria to obtain these claims are:

  • the applicant needs to be a wine producer of Australia
  • the overall turnover needs to be less than $20 million per year which includes a clause that the overall exports must be less than $5 million per year on the date of application
  • the wine must be promoted at least in one of the above-mentioned countries by them

The basis of these grants however is ‘first-come, first-serve.’

One of the recent grants approved by the federal government, which is also a part of the $50 million grant, is solely aimed at increasing the number of wine tourists, thereby inviting more revenue from the tourists who are on their wine tours. The applicants eligible to obtain these grants are divided into two, one is ‘applicants for small grants’ and the second being ‘applicants for medium grants’.

The first group is eligible to claim a maximum of $50,000 while the second group is eligible for a sum of up to $250,000 in order to expand their respective exports.

The eligibility criteria for these grants include:

  • having an ABN or the Australian Business Number is a must
  • local governing body is eligible
  • local wine organizations, tourisms allowed
  • any non-profit making body is eligible
  • being a member of the state or territory who represents the interests of winemakers and wine grape growers is a must

Another one of the grants funded by the state government is aimed at improvement of the standard of the wine producers as well as the liquor industry. Under this scheme, the excise duty as well as the common wealth tax imposed is subsidised to a certain extent which includes:

  • the notional sale price of the cellar door as well as the state wine producers mail orders is subsidized by 15%
  • The last wholesale price of the lowest alcohol sales sold by the wholesalers or wine producers of the state are eligible for a subsidy of up to 12%

Above mentioned are only some of the many grants offered by the Australian federal and state governments for wine industry. To find more about such grants, please speak to one of our advisors at the number mentioned below.









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