On 3 October 2019, the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham, announced Ms Anna Fisher (Co-Owner, Zonte's Footstep) will undertake a review of the Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) scheme and Australian Government financial assistance to SME exporters.
The Review will take a broad approach and examine the most effective and efficient way the Government can best provide financial assistance to SME exporters to promote their products and services overseas and enter new export markets. This is a key pillar in implementing the Government's agenda to increase the number of exporters by 10,000 over the next three years and create an additional 250,000 trade related jobs over the next five years.
While the Government boosted the EMDG scheme by $60 million in the 2019-20 budget, the scheme has not seen significant reform in over 40 years. The review will consider how Government can make it easier and simpler for businesses to access support, consistent with the Government's commitment to streamline service delivery.
The Review will seek the views of exporters and any interested parties through a series of face‑to‑face consultations around Australia, webinars and calls for online written submissions, commencing in October 2019.
The Review will also take into account research to explore the impact financial assistance can have on exporters and to understand the characteristics of successful exporters
The Reviewer will provide Minister Birmingham with her final report in March 2020.
