The Northern Territory Government, through the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade, acknowledges the importance of business events to the Territory economy and the role they play in enhancing the local knowledge base and being a catalyst for innovation, investment and trade.
The Northern Territory Business Events Support Fund (NTBESF) aims to assist the Territory business events sector by providing funding assistance to organisers of qualified corporate meetings, conferences, conventions, exhibitions and incentives.
Application
A planner or organisation considering the Northern Territory as the destination in which to stage a business event should apply for financial assistance by completing the Northern Territory Business Events Support Fund application form.
Who can apply?
Business events planners or organisations considering the Northern Territory as the destination in which to stage their business event may apply for financial assistance of AUD$100 per delegate.
How can the financial assistance be used?
Financial assistance must be spent with a Territory enterprise/s, in line with NT Government’s buy local
principles. This may be used for any of the following:
- Engagement of a local Professional Conference Organiser or Destination Management Company;
- Gala dinner;
- Welcome function;
- Welcome to Country;
- Theming;
- Local entertainment;
- Audio Visual services;
- Exhibition build;
- Technical touring element;
- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) element;
- On-the-ground transportation; and
- Other activities that demonstrate support of local NT businesses e.g. printing, filming and photography, delegate lanyard and satchel production, local key note speaker (e.g. a local expert or affiliation with local experts); freight which incorporates the use of a local supplier (can be an international or national operator with a Northern Territory affiliation).
Eligibility and criteria
Priority for support will be given to staging a business event that aligns with the Territory’s economic and social strengths in the following industries:
- Health – tropical health, rural and remote health delivery, Aboriginal health (including bush medicine), critical care, emergency management and trauma response and research.
- Agribusiness – agriculture, aquaculture, pastoral, horticulture and related bio-security research and development.
- Land Management – desert knowledge, weed management, water and waste management.
- Energy – renewable energies, solar, hydrogen.
- Resources – mining, minerals, oil, gas.
- Education – Aboriginal, distance education and international.
- Defence and defence related industries.
- Tourism and related industries.
- Creative industries eg arts, culture, media, entertainment, architecture and information technology including creative software.
- Maritime and related industries - services and suppliers.
- Manufacturing – advanced manufacturing technologies.
- Digital – technologies, data centres, digital services.
- Space and space related products and services – space launch, high altitude pseudo satellites, ground stations, earth observation, technologies.
Support for business events that do not align with the above will be considered on a case-by-case basis providing significant economic returns and flow-on benefits to the Territory can be demonstrated.
To be eligible, events must demonstrate historical data and a shortlist of destinations the Territory is competing against. Events must attract a minimum 80% of delegates from outside of the Northern Territory. Seed funding to run an event is outside the scope of the NTBESF.
Events already confirmed for the Northern Territory are not eligible to apply for this funding and this includes where a verbal decision has been made and/ or formal marketing is already in existence to promote the event.
From time to time, NT Business Events (NTBE) conducts delegate surveying to assist with measuring the economic outcomes of conferences staged in the Northern Territory. Organisations who successfully apply to receive funding will be required to participate in delegate surveying if requested by NTBE.
Business Event case studies are used by NTBE to showcase and promote the calibre and type of events which can be successfully held in the destination. Funded events will be required to provide information for a case study if requested by NTBE.