NSW Regional Business Event Development Fund (2021)

Meet in Regional NSW

The NSW Regional Business Event Development Fund is designed to help stakeholders create, attract and support exciting business events for regional NSW and to support new business event initiatives aimed at enriching the events with opportunities offered by iconic towns and regions while helping secure successful conferences and events for their future.

The four streams of the program are:

Creation of a New Business Event
To encourage towns and regions to create their own new conferences and business events.
Attraction of an Existing Business Event
To assist rural and regional NSW to secure conferences, business events and major expos. The business event should have previously been held in a capital city, interstate or overseas and funding is being sought to bring the event to a regional NSW location.
Support for an Existing Business Event
To support events that are held in regional NSW and may rotate between locations. Funds must be used to drive increased visitation for the event.
Support for a Business Event Project
To assist rural and regional NSW implement business event projects or initiatives aimed at driving growth in the visitor economy of regional NSW. This may take the form of a business event series or roadshow; a specific element of a business event where the main event is being held in a capital city or interstate; or a small-scale infrastructure project specifically designed to support growth in business events.

Grant funding (from a pool of $500,000 excluding GST) will be offered until 30 April 2021 or until the pool of funds available has been expended. Applications will be assessed on a first-come-first-served basis until the funds have been expended. Funding is to be matched dollar-for-dollar by local communities, councils, entrepreneurs, associations, corporations, professional conference organisers or grants received by other Local, State and Federal Government Departments.

An Applicant may apply for funding based on the following scale:

Up to $15,000 (ex GST) for a business event with up to 150 delegates (projected attendance)
Up to $30,000 (ex GST) for a business event with over 150 delegates (projected attendance)

A total of $500,000, ex-gst, is available until April 30, OR until the funding has been expended

Who can apply for funding

The Fund is open to local government, local tourism organisations, convention organisers, chambers of commerce, business events industry operators, industry associations, sole traders, corporations and professional conference organisers looking to create or host a business event in regional NSW, however political parties are ineligible to apply.

Stakeholders who have previously received funding for a business event may be eligible to apply for funding under the third stream – Support of an Existing Business Event.