Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship (WISE) Grant Round 5

  • Funding up to $2,000,000 is available per grantee. Minimum grant amount is $1,000,000.
  • A total funding pool of $9.77 million is available for this round.
  • Activities are expected to run from June 2026 to 31 March 2031 (maximum project period is 5 years)

The Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship (WISE) Grant Round 5 is a federal initiative administered by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources. The program aims to eliminate barriers and drive systemic change for women and girls in STEM education, careers, and entrepreneurship across Australia. With a total pool of $9.77 million, grants between $1 million and $2 million are available for eligible projects that support equity, diversity, and inclusion in STEM.

The program seeks to increase awareness and participation of women and girls in STEM, foster leadership, and build a diverse talent pipeline. Projects must be co-designed with the target audience and demonstrate measurable outcomes, such as increased participation, retention, and visibility of women in STEM and entrepreneurship.

Key Requirements

  • Reduce Barriers:
    Projects must address and mitigate systemic and cultural barriers to participation in STEM education, careers, and entrepreneurship by girls and women.
  • Support Career Transitions:
    Increase support for women at all career transition points, including entry, retention, promotion, career change, and return to the workforce.
  • Co-Design with Target Audience:
    Projects must be co-designed with the intended beneficiaries to ensure relevance and impact.
  • Evaluation and Measurement
    Include robust evaluation plans to track progress against objectives and outcomes, using recommended frameworks.

What is eligible for funding?

Eligible activities include:

  • Developing and delivering change management programs and industry transformation activities
  • Education and professional development to reduce cognitive biases and gender-based barriers in STEM industries
  • STEM and entrepreneurship education and professional development to help employers retain women in STEM careers
  • Research, evaluation, and business-related activities supporting the above
  • Project evaluation and co-design with the target audience

All activities must directly relate to the project and contribute to lasting systemic and cultural change.

What companies are eligible for funding?

Eligible entities must have an ABN and be one of the following:

  • Incorporated entity in Australia
  • Publicly funded research organisation or agency
  • Government or non-government VET provider or TAFE institution
  • Incorporated not-for-profit organisation

The program encourages applications from a broad range of entities, including incorporated organisations, publicly funded research agencies, VET providers, and not-for-profits. Joint applications are accepted with a lead organisation.

Joint applications are allowed with a lead organisation. Primary and secondary schools, individuals, partnerships, unincorporated associations, and government agencies (except eligible PFROs, PFRAs, VET providers, and TAFEs) are not eligible.

Is this grant competitive or entitlement based?

Competitive. Your application will be assessed among other applications by a judging panel.

How can I increase my chances of winning this grant?

By engaging an accredited government grants consultant, such as Avant Group.

Competitive grants often require significant business case development and project analysis to support the application, this may include detailed presentations supporting the project’s merit, projected sales, cost-benefit analysis and more.

As part of your engagement with Avant Group, your account manager will assess the required documents and will provide the following as needed to support your grant submission.

Grant application writeup including a detailed presentation illustrating how the grant funding will contribute to your project, how the funding will contribute to the project’s budget, a project milestone plan, delivery timeline, impact on employment if applicable and a breakdown of the management and leadership team for the project

  • Industry analysis presentation
  • Competitor Analysis Presentation
  • Marketing and Sales Analysis Presentation
  • 3-5 year Cashflow Forecast
  • 3-5 year Balance Sheet Forecast
  • Cost-Benefit Analysis of Grant Funding
  • End-to-end grant application including information collating, analysis and application writing
  • CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) cost-benefit analysis
  • Stakeholder relations and Risk Mitigation Plans
  • Any other relevant forecasting that will support your application

How can I get help with my application? Or know if I’m likely to win funding?

Avant Group offers a no-obligation assessment of your eligibility for funding and will assess your likelihood of a successful grant application.