About the WA Defence-Ready Initiative
The WA Defence-Ready Initiative provides funding to Western Australian small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to undertake improvements in specific areas of their business capabilities, to assist in meeting Defence's requirements.
It is a mechanism to increase the number of Western Australian businesses in becoming ‘defence-ready’ and subsequently entering or advancing their capabilities within the defence supply chain.
Funding will be awarded on a competitive basis. Defence West makes no provisions to approve or to fully fund every proposal submitted to the scheme. Defence West reserves the right to reject proposals without consideration.
Nature of Defence-Ready Activities
The Defence-Ready initiative supports defence related improvements in business capabilities. Requests for funding should be in the order of $1k to $10k, but requests outside of this range will be considered where there is a compelling business case. Examples of ways in which the Defence-Ready funds can be applied include, but is not limited to:
- Cyber Security Upgrades
- Certification activities
- Defence Industry Security Program (DISP) improvements
- Defence conferences or workshop involvement
The lead participant (applicant) is responsible for ensuring that any legal agreements and Intellectual Property arrangements that may be needed to support their activity are established before finalising the Defence-Ready Funding Agreement.
Who can apply?
The Defence-Ready initiative is open to Western Australian SMEs. To be eligible for funding, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Have an Australian Company Number (ACN) or Australian Business Number (ABN) and be solvent
- Be a for-profit organisation
- Have their operating facilities based in Western Australia and continue to be based in WA for at least the next 12 months
- Have been trading for at least two years (although JTSI reserves the right to support application where the business has been trading for less than two years)
- Have less than 200 employees (although JTSI reserves the right to support applications with more than 200 employees on a case-by-case basis).
Getting help
If you require assistance or guidance to complete this application please contact the Defence West Industry Development team at defencewest@jtsi.wa.gov.au. We will respond to your email within two working days, or for urgent assistance please call (08) 6277 3000.
Submitting your application
All applications to Defence West Industry are to be made via the Defence-Ready Initiative Form and sent by email to defencewest@jtsi.wa.gov.au no other means of submission will be accepted.
Selection criteria
Please refer to the selection criteria when completing your application. Applications will be assessed using these criteria and applicants should take care to have addressed all the criteria when completing the application.
Applicants are required to demonstrate in their proposal how the capability improvements will align to increasing their business in been ‘defence-ready’. This can be achieved through the endorsement of the business improvement by the Centre for Industry Defence Capability or indicating how the capability improvements aligns to Defence requirements.
Closing and timeframes
All submissions are to be received by midnight (12.00AM) on Sunday 11th October, 2020. Applications will not be accepted after the closing date and time.