Frequently asked questions

The Small Business Growth Grants are a Western Australian State Government program providing up to $10,000 in matched funding to help eligible small business owners invest in expert advice and services that will help to grow their business, build capability and strengthen long term success.

Read the Small Business Growth Grants program guidelines for a full overview of the program.

The grant funding can be used towards the cost of services to help grow your business, build capability and strengthen long term success.

Read Appendix A of the Small Business Growth Grants program guidelines for more information on the services that can be co-funded under the program.

The grant funding can’t be used for the following:

• Operational, business as usual or recurring costs, including any expenses related to buildings, land, utilities, workforce, wages, education, training courses and workshops (excluding workshops related to implementation of a funded service under this program).
• The purchase or replacement of assets, stock, property, plant, software, hardware and equipment.
• Memberships, accreditation, certification, subscriptions, registration or joining fees.
• Legal, regulatory compliance, real estate and rental fees.
• Fees for management, recruitment, insurance, franchise, bookkeeping or accounting.
• Legal, taxation or investment advice.
• Maintenance of existing digital technologies, ongoing software or IT management and hosting fees and charges.
• Advertising fees, materials, photography, video and signage.
• Contract design, development, negotiation and disputes.
• Performing grant or tender writing.
• Website development that is not part of a re-branding or re-positioning strategy.
• Business travel, transport and accommodation costs in relation to the delivery of these services.
• Services from related parties or already provided through another program or that commenced before funding is approved.

The maximum amount provided under the program is $10,000.

Yes, however the maximum funding available for each eligible business is $10,000.

You must perform your own due diligence to ensure the provider is suitable for your needs.

Preference will be given to applicants requesting services provided by Western Australian based providers. If no suitable WA service provider can supply your service, you must provide evidence to support the use of a non-WA service provider.

This includes:

• A written justification.
• Evidence of efforts to find or seek quotes from a local supplier.

Applications open at 10am, Monday 4 August 2025. We recommend using our application checklist for guidance on the documentation you will need to provide to support your application.

Applications close at 5pm, Friday 3 October 2025.

Once a grant application is submitted, the scope of the service cannot be changed.

If you need to change the approved service or scope, you must withdraw your application and re-apply for the grant with a new quote, during the grant application period.

To withdraw your grant application, contact grants@smallbusiness.wa.gov.au.

Once a grant application is submitted, you cannot change service providers.

If you would like to change provider, you must withdraw your original application and reapply for the grant with a new quote, during the grant application period.

To withdraw your grant application, contact grants@smallbusiness.wa.gov.au.

If your application is successful, the approved service must commence within a month from approval and be completed within six months from approval.

Once an application is withdrawn it can’t be reinstated.

Applicants will need to submit a new application, which will be processed in order of receipt.

To avoid delays or missed opportunities, we strongly encourage applicants to ensure their submission is complete and accurate the first time, including all relevant supporting information.

If you need help applying for or acquitting the Small Business Growth Grants program, contact the SBDC Grants Team via email: grants@smallbusiness.wa.gov.au.

To apply for a matched grant through this program your business must meet all criteria contained within the Small Business Growth Grants program guidelines.

Business location classifications are based on the SBDC’s service network. Please refer to the SBDC Regional service map to see which areas are considered metropolitan or regional for the purposes of this program.

If your business has multiple locations, your application will need to be specific to one location.

For example: Your business has five locations across WA, including a regional location. You cannot use the location of your regional business premises for a service that would be related to the growth/benefit of all five business locations. The service would need to be specific to the regional location only, and all financial documentation would need to be specific to the regional location.

In the example above, if you wanted to complete a service to benefit multiple business locations, your primary business location must be used as the business location in your application.

The grant is open to all small businesses that meet the eligibility criteria, including sole traders.

Yes, the business can apply. However, you will be required to provide supporting evidence to demonstrate continuous operation from 1 January 2024.

To be eligible for the grant program, a business must meet have more than 1 and no more than 20 employees at the time of application submission. This includes all full time, part time and casual employees including non-executive directors (working in the business). The following are excluded: 

• business owners
• executive directors (not working in the business), and
• contractors.

The employee eligibility is calculated by adding the number of permanent staff (full and part time), to the average number of full time equivalent employees (FTEs) for your casual staff. It essentially includes those that receive a salary or wage from your business.

If your permanent count of employees, plus your weekly average casual FTEs brings your number of employees below 20 employees, the SBDC would consider the business meeting the eligibility required.

Further assistance in defining FTE can be found via the FairWork Ombudsman website.

If you are a sole trader and you are not employing others, the business owner is excluded from the count of employees and equals zero.

Eligible small business owners can apply for a Small Business Growth Grant, which provides 50 per cent matched funding (up to the value of $10,000) towards the cost of investing in expert advice and services to help grow your business.

Example: You may choose to develop a marketing strategy for your business and receive a quote of $10,000 for this service. If your grant application is successful, you would pay $5,000 directly to your service provider. The remaining $5,000 will be paid directly by the SBDC to your service provider once you have submitted the Service Completion Form and provided satisfactory evidence of the service being completed.

The Small Business Growth Grants is a matched funding program.

The State Government, via the SBDC, will pay for 50 per cent of the cost of the services provided, up to $10,000, once you have submitted the Service Completion Form and provided evidence that the service has been completed.

As the applicant, you will be responsible for payment of the remaining balance for the services provided, including any upfront costs and GST.

The SBDC will make a direct payment to your service provider, following confirmation that the services, advice, or expertise has been fulfilled, and that you, as the applicant, have met your co-contribution requirements.

Failure to submit the required service completion documentation by the due date could result in loss of funding. You should contact grants@smallbusiness.wa.gov.au early if you anticipate issues with acquittal.

To assist in validating the eligibility of the application, including providing evidence that the business is currently trading, and to protect the program from fraud, it is important that we receive an unredacted PDF copy of the most recent business bank statement.

To prove your business turnover, you will need to supply one of the following:

• Profit and loss statement for the previous 12 month period; or 
• Four most recent Business Activity Statements (BAS) statements and the most recent Notice of Assessment.

Grants are considered assessable income for taxation purposes. You should seek independent professional advice on your taxation obligations or assistance from the Australian Taxation Office. The SBDC does not provide taxation advice.

The SBDC is registered for goods and services tax (GST) and has an Australian Business Number (ABN) 68 066 414 034. Grants paid under the Small Business Growth Grants are not regarded as payment for a supply to the SBDC. Therefore, the SBDC will not increase the grant to include GST, nor reimburse a grant recipient for GST paid to a third party. This means that any co-funded payment made by the SBDC will be for the GST-exclusive amount only, and the balance of any payment made by the applicant to the relevant service provider should include the full amount of GST.

If it is found that:

• The grant applicant did not at the time of making the application, or at the time of payment of the grant funding, satisfy the eligibility criteria under the program; or
• There is insufficient evidence to verify that the applicant satisfied the eligibility criteria for funding under the program at the time of making the application or at the time of payment; or
• The applicant made or provided any false, incomplete, misleading or deceptive representation, statement or information; or
• The applicant otherwise received the funding in error.

The applicant will receive a request in writing from the State Government to repay any funding or part thereof paid to the applicant within 10 working days. The applicant must pay to the State Government the amount of the funding or part thereof together with all costs incurred by the State arising from, or in connection with, recovery of that amount. The obligation for an applicant to repay funding to the State represents a debt due and payable by the applicant to the State.

To apply for the Small Business Growth Grants, you will need to provide:

• Financial documents to prove your business turnover.
• An overview of the advice or service you plan to use, if your application is successful.
• A summary of your business.
• A valid quote from a service provider.

Download our application checklist for a list of the documents you’ll need to support your application as well as the information each document needs to contain.

The supporting quote for your grant application should include:

• A quote number and date.
• The service provider's ABN (Australian Business Number).
• The service provider's contact person and their details.
• Your business entity name.
• Your business address.
• Terms and conditions of payment between your business and the service provider.
• A description of the service that includes a detailed description and cost of each part of the services being proposed and details of any subcontractors and the percentage of the service they'll be doing.
• To confirm your service provider is an independent third party (i.e. has no financial or other ties to your business entity), your service provider must include and sign the following statement in their quotation: “This is to confirm that [Service Provider Business Entity Name] is an independent third party, and that [Service Provider Business Entity Name] has no direct connection or relationship with [Applicant Entity Name].”
• The estimated start and completion dates.
• A full cost breakdown including a separate subtotal (excluding GST), GST amount and total cost (including GST).

The description of the quote should include itemised deliverables, with associated costing, methodology, milestones to voucher redemption, time allocation of specified personnel, travel allowances (if applicable) and a payments schedule.

Quotes that include evidence of key skills, knowledge and experience of the service providers will also be viewed favourably.

Ineligible items included in the quote (CapEx, license fees, printing costs, advertising costs and so on) will be deducted from the quote when the value of the voucher is considered.

TIP: When requesting a quote from a service provider, we recommend including a link to the Information for service providers page on our website, which explains the program requirements and how the provider will be paid.

Make sure you have saved PDF copies of all supporting documents required for your application. The only accepted format for uploading is PDF.

At the appropriate stage in the application process, via the SmartyGrants website, you will be prompted to upload the required documents from your device. It is recommended you do this from a desktop device and not a mobile phone.

If you have any queries about the application process for the Small Business Growth Grants program, please email grants@smallbusiness.wa.gov.au. Our team will aim to respond to you within three business days.

Please do not enquire about the progress of your application, as we are unable to respond to these enquiries due to the volume of applications expected.

The assessment timeframe will be approximately five weeks from the date your application is submitted.

Please do not enquire about the progress of your application, as we are unable to respond to these enquiries due to the volume of applications being processed. You will be contacted by a member of our team if any information is outstanding, or to be notified whether your application has been approved or declined.

If your application is successful, you will be notified by email. The grant payment will be paid directly to your service provider after the approved service is completed and the required service completion documentation is provided by you to the SBDC.

Please remember to check your junk folder for emails from grants@smallbusiness.wa.gov.au or add this address to your ‘safe senders’ list.

Yes, you will be notified by email if your application is unsuccessful. Please remember to check your junk inbox for emails from grants@smallbusiness.wa.gov.au or add this address to your ‘safe senders’ list.

If you have not received an email from us regarding the outcome within 12 weeks of submitting your application, please email grants@smallbusiness.wa.gov.au.

Yes, a review process will be in place for this grant. If your grant application is unsuccessful, an applicant can, no later than five working days after the decision apply for review of that decision by the Small Business Commissioner via email to grants@smallbusiness.wa.gov.au.

In requesting a review, applicants are required to provide information supporting why they believe the decision to refuse their application is incorrect.

The SBDC is not responsible for resolving any disputes between Applicants and Service Providers. Applicants and Service Providers must conduct their own due diligence regarding their contract to carry out eligible services.

If direct negotiation fails, contact WA Consumer Protection who can offer advice, conciliation services, and investigate complaints about unfair business practices.

Contact Consumer Protection on:

• Phone: 1300 30 40 54
• Office: Level 2/140 William Street Perth
• Email: consumer@demirs.wa.gov.au

The SBDC offers support and dispute resolution services for businesses, including mediation, and can help facilitate a resolution through their case management and mediation services.

Contact SBDC on:

• Advisory: 133 140
• Chat: Chat to us online 
• Email: Send us an email

The SBDC gives no warranty that applicants will be able to resolve disputes. If a dispute cannot be resolved in these forums the parties to the dispute will need to take independent legal advice.