Small Business Grants Queensland 2026: What's Open

Queensland Small Business Grants Open on 29 October 2026

Only 1 Queensland Government grant open on 29 October 2026 was available statewide to a typical small business that isn't a manufacturer or disaster-affected, according to Business Queensland's grants schedule, last updated 26 October 2026. The rest are narrow or closed.

Grantsights checked each program page against the schedule. The monsoon recovery grant is open according to its own page but doesn't appear on the schedule, so don't rely on the schedule alone. The Queensland Government's wider Grants Finder (opens in a new tab) covers all departments.

The Small Business Security Grant, Explained

The security grant is the one most Queensland small businesses can apply for today. It has a closing date of 23 April 2027, but the page says applications close earlier if funding is exhausted, so applying sooner is safer. According to Business Queensland, you can apply for $1,500 to $20,000 (excluding GST) and must pay 50% of eligible costs, so total project costs must be $3,000 to $40,000.

What it pays for. Alarm systems, access control and entry management, surveillance and detection, lighting and environmental security, physical security items and mobile business security. The minimum project is $3,000 for mobile assets such as a vehicle, trailer or cart (a $1,500 grant), and $5,000 for fixed premises (a $2,500 grant).

Who can apply. Your business must have 19 or fewer employees by headcount, turnover of $10 million or less in 2025-26, an active ABN, at least 1 year of trading, GST registration and a Queensland headquarters on your Australian Business Register record. Property owners, lessors, body corporates and property managers can apply for work that directly benefits eligible small business tenants.

Who can't. Insolvent businesses, subsidiaries of groups with 20 or more employees in total, and any business already approved and funded under the Secure Communities Partnership Program. If you got a round 2 grant, you can't come back for round 3.

What you'll need. A witnessed 100-point identification form, supplier quotes, and a SmartyGrants applicant account. Business Queensland has an eligibility checker on the program page.

Round 3 is broader than round 2. The department's round 2 announcement (opens in a new tab), last updated 26 February 2026, offered $5,000 to $20,000 and required that the business had been directly affected by crime, or operated in an area affected by crime, in the last 5 years. The round 3 page lowers the minimum to $1,500 and doesn't list that crime test. The same announcement put the whole program at $40 million.

Disaster, Manufacturing and Regional Grants

Disaster recovery grants

Disaster recovery grants are paid upfront, but only after a declared disaster and only in set council areas. The 2025 Queensland Monsoon Trough grant (opens in a new tab) pays a single upfront grant of up to $15,000 to businesses in Carpentaria, Cloncurry, Cook, Douglas, Isaac and McKinlay shires and the Weipa Town Authority, for the monsoon trough, Cyclones Koji and Narelle and severe weather from 24 December 2025 to 24 April 2026. You need fewer than 20 employees, turnover of $10 million or less, an ABN and GST registration at the time of the disaster, and evidence that for at least 14 consecutive days you couldn't trade or lost at least 70% of revenue against the same period a year earlier. Unredacted bank statements are required. Business Queensland says decisions usually take 2 to 3 weeks. It's competitive, so not every application will be funded.

Two earlier disaster grants have closed: the 2025 Western Queensland floods grant (closed 21 August 2026) and the 2025 North and Far North Tropical Low grant (closed 14 May 2026), according to the closed grant programs page (opens in a new tab). Disaster loans run separately through the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA).

Manufacturing grants

Manufacturers have the biggest open money. According to Business Queensland, the Transforming Queensland Manufacturing Grants Program has $79.1 million over 3 years in 6 competitive rounds, and round 2 has $12.5 million available, with matched grants of up to $1.5 million. Applications close at 1 pm on 25 November 2026. Successful applicants may have to give security, such as a bank guarantee or security over assets, which is a real hurdle for a small firm.

Regional business groups

The Regional Business Gateways Program isn't for individual businesses. It offered $250,000 to $600,000 to councils, chambers of commerce and business networks based outside the Brisbane City Council area, from a $4 million round. Expressions of interest closed on 17 July 2026, and outcomes are expected in late 2026.

Who Got Queensland Small Business Grants: Grantsights Analysis

Queensland's 7 most recent business grant rounds with published lists funded 1,285 grants worth $17.15 million, according to Grantsights analysis of the recipient datasets on the Queensland Government open data portal. The median grant was $7,500, because the small Business Basics grants make up most of the list.

Grantsights analysis of Queensland Government recipient datasets for 2023 to 2026 small business grants on data.qld.gov.au (opens in a new tab), read through the portal's data API on 29 October 2026. Dates are when each list was published. A "Total" row in the round 5 Business Basics file was excluded. Council names were standardised across years.

What the lists show:

Business Basics was the volume program, and it's gone quiet. Round 6 paid 629 businesses exactly $7,500 each: 321 for website builds or upgrades, 164 for strategic marketing and 144 for professional business advice. For example, Farm Concepts Pty Ltd in Bundaberg received a round 6 grant for website work. No round has opened since, and the program page was last reviewed on 20 June 2025. Don't plan around a round 7 until one is announced.

The Business Growth Fund didn't spend its whole round. The department said up to $3.5 million was available in round 7. The published list shows 40 grants totalling $2.64 million, about 75% of that. Nineteen of the 40 grants were for the full $75,000. Recipients were spread across 22 council areas, including Long Shot Coffee Co in Townsville ($75,000), Torres Strait Tours Pty Ltd in Torres Shire ($69,813), Aus Pineapples Pty Ltd in Fraser Coast ($75,000) and Top Fab Pty Ltd in Southern Downs ($75,000). That's a reminder that this is competitive on quality, not a race to spend.

Security grants went regional, and most were small. The round 2 small business list is the only one where Brisbane wasn't the top council area: Cairns had 19 grants, Townsville 13 and Rockhampton 11. More than half the grants (97 of 174) were under $10,000, and 26 were at the $20,000 cap. Surveillance and detection projects made up 95 of the 174. Goondiwindi is a case in point: the Goondiwindi Regional Council area had 9 grants, as many as the Gold Coast, including $20,000 to Arthur Schofield & Co. for surveillance. Rockhampton Marine received $16,018 for access control.

Business Boost favoured software and Brisbane. Of 169 round 4 grants, 78 were for specialised and automated software, and 61 went to Brisbane businesses, the highest Brisbane share outside Growth Fund round 6. Fifty-six received the full $20,000.

Councils got the larger security money. Separate council rounds of the Secure Communities program funded 21 councils with $5.74 million in round 2 and 33 councils with $9.60 million in round 1, for public-space projects such as CCTV and lighting in business areas. If you want security work in a shopping strip, ask your council what it's funding.

The scale matters. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Queensland added a net 19,244 businesses in 2025-26. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics also shows 2,814,778 actively trading businesses in Australia at 30 June 2026. A state program funding a few hundred businesses a round reaches a small fraction of them, so most owners shouldn't build a plan around a grant.

What Business Queensland Doesn't Tell You

Business Queensland's pages are clear about each program, but several things only show up when you compare the schedule, the program pages and the published lists.

Success rates aren't published. None of the Business Queensland pages Grantsights read on 29 October 2026 gave the number of applications for any round, so there's no official success rate. The Growth Fund uses a 2-stage process, and only businesses that pass the eligibility check and initial assessment at the registration-of-interest stage are invited to make a full application. Treat it as competitive.

The schedule isn't the full list. The monsoon trough recovery grant is open until May 2027 but isn't on the small and family business grants schedule. The manufacturing grants sit under a different section of the site. Check the Grants Finder too.

"Closed" doesn't mean "coming back". Business Basics and Business Boost pages say "successful applicants announced" and link old documents. Neither page gives a date for another round. A common mistake is preparing quotes for a round that may never open.

Co-contributions rule out cash-poor businesses. Every open non-disaster grant asks you to pay half, and the Growth Fund asks you to co-invest at least 50%. If your business can't fund its share before the grant arrives, the grant won't help. It's also a red flag if anyone offers to "pre-qualify" you for a fee; the schedule, eligibility checkers and Mentoring for Growth sessions are free.

Previous funding locks you out. The round 3 security grant excludes anyone already funded under the program, so a small round 2 grant used up your one chance. Read the guidelines on whether costs paid before approval count before you buy anything.

Who Shouldn't Apply (and Better Routes)

If you're starting a business, skip state grants for now. None of the open programs fund start-up costs, and the security grant needs 1 year of trading. Your best bet is free advice: Business Queensland's Mentoring for Growth (opens in a new tab) sessions with volunteer mentors, and 13 QGOV (13 74 68).

If you need money to grow, a loan or the federal business.gov.au grants finder (opens in a new tab) is usually a better place to start than waiting for the next Growth Fund round. If you're a technology business doing experimental development, the federal R&D Tax Incentive is a tax offset rather than a grant; read the R&D Tax Incentive guide.

If you're a not-for-profit or community group, business grants are the wrong place. Queensland's Gambling Community Benefit Fund is built for community organisations. If you run a creative business, see the Creative Australia grants guide.

For comparison with other states, the NSW small business grants guide shows a similar pattern: few open grants, mostly narrow. Victorian readers looking at energy costs can read the Solar Homes Victoria guide.

A Realistic Queensland Funding Plan

Here's a hypothetical example, not a real business. A six-person bakery in Cairns with a $900,000 turnover has had two break-ins. A realistic plan: apply for a security grant before 23 April 2027 (sooner is safer, since funds can run out), with a $10,000 alarm and CCTV project that brings a $5,000 grant; ask Cairns Regional Council whether a council-led security project covers its street; book a Mentoring for Growth session about expansion; and finance a new oven through its bank.

A 15-person food manufacturer on the Sunshine Coast with $4 million turnover and 2 years of strong growth is in a different spot. It should prepare for the next Growth Fund round (equipment quotes, growth figures, a 50% co-investment plan) and look at Transforming Queensland Manufacturing round 2 before 25 November 2026 if its project is large enough.

How to Apply for a Queensland Small Business Grant

Most Queensland small business grants use the same 5 steps, and the security grant is typical.

1. Check eligibility first. Use the program's eligibility checker, and confirm your ABN, GST registration and headquarters address on the Australian Business Register, because Business Queensland checks them.
2. Read the guidelines and FAQs linked from the program page.
3. Get the 100-point identity form witnessed by a Justice of the Peace, Commissioner for Declarations or solicitor.
4. Collect supplier quotes that match the grant's eligible items.
5. Apply through SmartyGrants, the portal Business Queensland uses, and keep a copy. You'll hear by email.

If you're refused, Business Queensland has a decision review process (opens in a new tab) for grant applications.

Sources Checked

All pages read on 29 October 2026.

• Business Queensland, Small and family business grants schedule (opens in a new tab) (updated 26 October 2026) and Closed grant programs (opens in a new tab) (updated 23 October 2026)
• Business Queensland, Small business security grants (opens in a new tab), Shared security grants (opens in a new tab) and Secure Communities Partnership Program (opens in a new tab)
• Business Queensland, Small Business Recovery Assistance Grant, 2025 Queensland Monsoon Trough (opens in a new tab)
• Business Queensland, Business Growth Fund (opens in a new tab), Business Boost (opens in a new tab), Business Basics (opens in a new tab) and Regional Business Gateways (opens in a new tab)
• Business Queensland, Transforming Queensland Manufacturing Grants Program (opens in a new tab) (updated 15 October 2026)
• Department of Customer Services, Open Data and Small and Family Business, Business Growth Fund for small and family businesses opens (opens in a new tab) (27 November 2025) and Delivering safety and security for small and family businesses (opens in a new tab) (updated 26 February 2026)
• Queensland Government open data portal, recipient datasets: CDSB 2026 Small Business Grants (opens in a new tab), CDSB 2025 Small Business Grants (opens in a new tab), DESBT 2024 Small Business Grants (opens in a new tab), DYJESBT 2023 Small Business Grants (opens in a new tab) and Business Growth Fund round 7 recipients (opens in a new tab)
• Queensland Government, Grants Finder (opens in a new tab)
• Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, July 2022 to June 2026 (opens in a new tab)