Australian Federal Election – Can I still apply and receive grant funding if I am successful during caretaker period?
As the Federal Election has been called for 3 May 2025, the Commonwealth Government has therefore entered into a ‘caretaker period’ which places limitations on Commonwealth Agencies entering into major new commitments. The grant selection process will continue however, we may defer entering into an agreement with a preferred applicant until after the end of the caretaker period, which may shift the timing of grant opportunity process outlined in 7.3 of the grant guidelines. There is also the possibility that, by convention, any incoming Government may decide to terminate a grant if it does not wish to proceed with a particular process. All other information as set out in the Grant Guidelines remains unchanged.
What do I need to do to apply?
Before applying, please read the Australia-Japan Foundation Grant Guidelines thoroughly and log onto SmartyGrants to access and view the application form.
What's the eligibility criteria?
Please read Section 4: Eligibility criteria on page 7 of the grant guidelines. We can't consider your application if it doesn't satisfy all eligibility criteria.
What's the deadline for applications?
You must submit your application via SmartyGrants online application form by 14.00 (AEST) on Tuesday 6 May 2025. Late applications will not be accepted.
When will I find out the outcomes of the grant round?
We expect to notify successful and unsuccessful applicants by August - September 2025 provided that the timing of the grant opportunity process has not shifted during the caretaker period. If you're successful, you must commence your grant activity in the 2025-26 financial year. Please read Section 7.3 of the grant guidelines for information on the timing of grant opportunity processes.
When would I get my grant funding?
We anticipate that grant funding will be available from October 2025 provided that the timing of the grant opportunity process has not shifted during the caretaker period and the incoming Government does not terminate the grant. Successful grantees will need to negotiate a grant agreement that will determine the exact timing of when the payment will occur.Grant funding will not be paid until a grant agreement has been executed by both parties.
Grant funding will not be paid until a grant agreement has been executed by both parties.
Can I apply if I have an existing grant?
You may apply in the 2025-26 grant round if you have an existing grant that has not yet been completed, noting that:
- we would not be able to enter into a new grant agreement until you've completed your existing project and provided a satisfactory acquittal
- the new grant activity could only commence once we've entered into the new grant agreement, and the activity would have to commence before the end of June 2026.
You're not eligible to apply if you've failed to provide a full and proper acquittal of an earlier DFAT grant.
Can an Australian and Japanese partner apply for the same project?
If you and your Australian or Japanese partner would like to submit an application for a project, you'll need to decide which side would be the leading organisation to manage and administer the grant. Only the lead organisation would enter into a grant agreement with the Commonwealth and be responsible for the grant. The lead organisation must complete the application form and identify all other members in the application. Applying from both sides doesn't make your application stronger.
Applicants should not ‘double-dip’ by obtaining funding for the same grant activity from more than one source of funding. When submitting your grant application, you’ll be required to provide information on other funding that you have applied for. If you’re successful in obtaining funding from more than one source, you’ll need to decide which one you will accept, and notify all relevant parties.
Does my activity or collaboration have to take place in Australia or Japan?
Your activity or collaboration can take place in either Australia or Japan, or both. However, you must clearly set out how this will occur.
What's the duration of the grant?
The standard grant period is one year. Your project must commence before 30 June 2026 and the project completion date must be a date within 12 months of start date for non-multi-year applications.
The maximum grant period is across three years of multi-year funding. Multi-year grants are only awarded in exceptional cases.
You must complete your grant/project by the end date designated in your grant agreement. We must execute a grant agreement with you before we can make any payments. You must not start any 2025 AJF Grant Round activities until a grant agreement is executed.
How much funding can I apply for?
In 2025-26, a total of up to $780,000 is available for this grant opportunity. We'll consider grant applications for a minimum of $10,000 to a maximum of $50,000 per year.
In addition, funding requests of maximum $80,000 for a one-year grant, as well as multi-year grants of maximum $50,000 per year for up to three years may be considered in exceptional circumstances. These circumstances include where a project addresses a specific need, demonstrates larger scale partnership and collaboration, is sustainable and has the potential to strengthen the Australia-Japan relationship over a number of years.
The AJF should not be the sole funding source for a project. Co-contributions from applicants and other parties strengthen an application and are strongly encouraged.
You should reach an agreement with your project partner on how to allocate the grant funding before submitting your application. The grant can cover both your expenses and your project partner's expenses.
Ensure you formulate the budget carefully and the costings are reasonable, realistic and appropriate as you may not able to amend them later. Your activity and the funding you apply for will be assessed on whether they provide value with money. The final funding amount you receive is at the discretion of the Program Delegate.
Will I get the whole grant amount I apply for?
If successful, the full funding amount you apply for is not automatically awarded. After assessment, the Program Delegate will make the final decision on eligible expenditure and may seek to negotiate alternate funding amounts depending on the activity.
Should the grant funding I request include GST?
GST is not included in the AJF’s grant payments to you.
Grants are assessable income for taxation purposes, unless exempted by a taxation law. We recommend you seek independent professional advice on your taxation obligations or seek assistance from the Australian Taxation Office. We do not provide advice on your particular taxation circumstances.
What supporting documents do I need to provide with my application?
A list of attachments/supporting documents can be found in Section 7.1 and 7.2 of the grant guidelines and in the application form. We'll contact you if we require additional supporting documents.
Why is there a cap on expenditure items such as the international flights and travel allowance?
We’ve determined the maximum value the AJF grant funding can cover for a return international flight and travel allowance for one person to ensure fairness and consistency across all grants. You may use other sources of funding to cover the differences in costs, if any. The funding requested will still need to be appropriate, reasonable, realistic and value with money. You may be asked to provide evidence of the economy airfare costs for the time of travel.
Can the grant money be used for economy class airfares only, or can we claim for economy class airfares and fly business class if we cover the difference?
Eligible air transportation is limited to the economy class fare for each sector travelled; where non-economy class air transport is used, only the equivalent of an economy fare for that sector (up to the capped amount for international flights) is considered eligible expenditure, and you'll require evidence showing what an economy airfare costs for the time of travel. We'll consider value with money and appropriate, reasonable and realistic costings. You may use other sources of funding to cover the difference in costs.
What’s considered to be reasonable travel costs/expenses?
The ATO Tax Determination can be used as a guide, but should not be the sole guidance as we understand that sometimes it may not be possible to secure accommodation within the limits. We suggest you compare various options for the same service/item and consider the one that is appropriate, reasonable, realistic and value with money. Please keep evidence of these expenses and comparisons.
Can we seek funding to cover the cost of visas?
You may seek funding to cover the cost of visas for a participant’s travel if it’s directly related to achieving your project outcomes.
Can we seek funding for more than one participant for our conference/event?
You may seek funding to cover costs for more than one participant for the conference/event you’re holding as the main grant activity/purpose of your project if they are key speakers and/or directly involved in the activity relevant to the grant opportunity.
We don't solely fund travel and accommodation for attendance at conferences or meetings, participation in fieldwork or sporting or other events, unless such activities are considered by the assessment committee to be of direct relevance to the grant opportunity. Please read Section 5 of the grant guidelines for details on what the grant money can and can't be used for.
We strongly encourage co-contributions from partners and will consider value with money and appropriate, reasonable and realistic costings.
Can we seek funding for retrospective costs for travel or events that will occur as part of future project activity, e.g. airline tickets or venue hire deposits?
You can seek funding for costs paid towards future travel/events that form part of the project activity. However, you cannot claim the costs for activities that have already taken place.
Can you advise on our proposed application and what my chances would be for being successful?
As this is a competitive grant round, we cannot comment on your eligibility or chances of being successful. Please read through our website, the grant guidelines and the preview of the SmartyGrants application form to assess your eligibility, if your project proposal would meet the objectives of the AJF, and to view previous successful grants.