Australian Government - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

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ASEAN-Australia Centre - 2024-25 - Young Women Entrepreneurs’ Exchange Program Grant

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The ASEAN-Australia Young Women Entrepreneurs’ Exchange Program 2024-25 Grants

Process

The ASEAN-Australia Centre (‘the Centre’) 2024-25 Young Women Entrepreneurs’ Exchange Program is designed to achieve Australian Government objectives

This grants opportunity contributes to DFAT’s Portfolio Budget Statement Outcome 1. DFAT and the Centre works with stakeholders to plan and design the grant program according to the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines (CGRGs)

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The grants opportunity opens

 We publish the grant guidelines on GrantConnect.

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You complete and submit a grant application

You complete the application form and address all of the eligibility and assessment criteria to be considered for a grant.

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We assess all grant applications

We assess the applications against eligibility criteria. We assess your eligible application against the assessment criteria including an overall consideration of value with money and compare it to other applications.

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We make grant recommendations

We provide advice to the decision maker on the merits of each application.

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Grant decisions are made

The decision maker decides which applications are successful.

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We notify you of the outcome

We advise you of the outcome of your application. We may not notify unsuccessful applicants until grant agreements have been executed with successful applicants.

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We enter into a grant agreement

We will enter into a grant agreement with you if successful.  The type of grant agreement is based on the nature of the grant and will be proportional to the risks involved.

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Delivery of grant

You undertake the grant activity as set out in your grant agreement. We (or other entity if applicable) manage the grant by working with you, monitoring your progress and making payments.

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Evaluation of the ASEAN-Australia Young Women Entrepreneurs’ Exchange Program

We evaluate your specific grant activity against the ASEAN-Australia Young Women Entrepreneurs’ Exchange Program objectives. We base this on information you provide to us and that we collect from various sources.

 

 

Introduction

Thank you for your interest in the ASEAN-Australia Young Women Entrepreneurs’ Exchange Program grant opportunity (‘the Program’).

The Program is supported by the ASEAN-Australia Centre (‘the Centre’). The Centre, established in 2024, is a national platform that supports initiatives aimed at strengthening Australian business, education, cultural and community connections with ASEAN Members States and, where appropriate, Timor-Leste.  

These guidelines contain information on the Program, including:  

  • the purpose of the grant opportunity 
  • the eligibility and assessment criteria 
  • how grant applications are considered and selected 
  • how the grantee is notified and receives grant payments 
  • how the grantee will be monitored and evaluated 
  • responsibilities and expectations in relation to the opportunity.  

About the Grants Program

The Centre, subject to ongoing budget, will provide grants each year to develop, promote and strengthen understanding and engagement between Australia and Southeast Asia (encompassing ASEAN Member States and Timor-Leste) in support of Australia’s national interests.

The Centre will support the implementation of the ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and will work with ASEAN to ensure alignment with ASEAN priorities, including the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.

The Centre will build on the Australian Government’s ongoing commitment to deepen engagement with Southeast Asia and will implement recommendations from Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040.

To deliver on its objectives, the Centre will focus its work on four strategic pillars:

  • Southeast Asia literacy
  • Economic linkages
  • Education
  • Cultural connections.

About the ASEAN-Australia Young Women Entrepreneurs’ Exchange Program opportunity

For this grant opportunity, the Centre welcomes applications to design and deliver a four-year ASEAN-Australia Young Women Entrepreneurs’ Exchange Program (‘the Program’). The Program will be required to support at least one cohort of at least 27 participants (from all ASEAN Member States, Timor-Leste and Australia) per annum for four years (from 2024-25 to 2027-28) to participate in a 12-week mentoring and leadership program. The program will include at least a one week visit to Australia by participants to participate in networking and workshop events. The grant funding will need to cover the travel costs of participants (including flight, accommodation and any per diems).  

The program will prioritise participants working in sectors of mutual cooperation, agreed between DFAT and the successful applicant, including decarbonisation, green energy transition, the blue economy and other areas identified as priorities under Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040. The focus sector is expected to change for each cohort.  

The objectives of the program are to:  

  • bring together young (aged between 18 years and less than 40 years) female social entrepreneurs from Australia, all ASEAN member states and Timor-Leste for online and  
    in-person leadership development, business and creative skills building and collaboration, and 
  • strengthen connections, deepen learning and provide networking opportunities for young female social entrepreneurs.  

The intended outcomes of the program are:   

  • support women Entrepreneurs to scale-up and expand into international markets 
  • increased Women economic participation   
  • increased business, trade, tourism and investment between Australia and ASEAN and  
    Timor-Leste 
  • increased cross-cultural connections between Australian and Southeast Asian business, and 
  • increased, positive, awareness of ASEAN-Australia relations among Australian and Southeast Asian business communities.    

This grant opportunity is open to female founded entities only (majority owned and led by women) — see Section 4 for further details on eligibility. 

Applications with Southeast Asian partners are strongly encouraged.  

Applications from Indigenous Australians and Indigenous Australian-led organisations are strongly encouraged. 

Applicants with diverse abilities are welcomed.  

The Centre administers the grants program according to the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines (CGRGs)

Grants Available

The Australian Government has announced a total of $1.8 million over four years (2024-25 to 2027-28) for this Program or a maximum grant amount of $450,000 per year.  

We encourage our applicants to seek funding from other sources. Co-contributions from applicants and other funding sources that demonstrate commitment to the grant project will strengthen your application. 

Co-contributions may take the form of, but are not limited to, monetary or in-kind contributions such as program management staff hours, administrative support, venues for exhibitions or events and logistics management. There are no limits to the percentage or amount for co-contributions. 

Grant Period

The grant period is for a maximum of four years. If successful, you must start the program before the end of the 2024-25 financial year (i.e. before 30 June 2025).