Key information
- Status: Open
- Grant amount: up to $25,000
- Application opened: 1 September 2026
- Application closes: 30 November 2026, 5:00 pm
Program objective
The objectives of the Net Zero Planning Grant round 2 are to:
- support businesses with long-term net zero planning
- enhance businesses' understanding of net zero, to better integrate climate-related risks and opportunities into business planning, strengthen resilience and reduce emissions
- provide practical guidance to businesses to identify and take actions to progress towards net zero
- enable businesses to improve their competitiveness in the global transition to net zero.
This program is administered by Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Eligibility
Who can apply
To be eligible for the grant, you must:
- have an Australian Business Number (ABN) and be registered for goods and services tax (GST).
- be a business with a NSW site address and business operations in NSW.
- spend at least $200,000 annually on energy bills at a single site in NSW or a total of $500,000 per year across multiple sites and operations in NSW. This includes all purchased fuels.
For more information on the full eligibility and assessment criteria, please visit our website and read the funding guidelines.
Types of projects funded under this grant
This grant will help identify the key actions needed to advance your business towards net zero and assist in addressing any gaps. This may include developing a greenhouse gas inventory, a net zero action plan or net zero targets.
Please refer to the funding guidelines for more details.
What costs you can apply for
Grant funds can be used for cost of services provided by the specialist consultant(s) responsible for delivering grant milestone activities, consistent with prevailing market rates.
Please refer to the funding guidelines for more details.
Who can’t apply
You are ineligible for this grant if you:
- or any of your related entities, have received or are going to receive funding under the Net Zero Planning Grant in this round or a previous round
- have received or are going to receive other funding from the NSW Government for the same activities.
- are a Commonwealth, state, or local government entity.
- are a Safeguard facility under the Australian Government’s Safeguard Mechanism
- are, or any of your related entities are, as a Group 1 reporting entity (under Australian Securities Investment and Commission Requirements) required to prepare a sustainability report to comply with section 292A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
For more information on the full eligibility and assessment criteria, please visit our website and read the funding guidelines.
What costs you can't apply for
Grant funds cannot be used for:
- costs incurred (that is, paid for in full or through a deposit) prior to the notification of successful completion of milestone 1.
- internal project management and labour costs.
- hours and costs not consistent with prevailing market rates.
- costs associated with the purchase of carbon offsets.
- costs associated with any capital expenditure.
- costs associated with equipment or technology assessments.
- costs associated with actions required for mandatory reporting under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Scheme. This may include actions under Data and Reporting elements of the Net Zero Business Guide.
- costs associated with external training and certification program fees, auditing, verification and validation fees.
- costs for existing ongoing activities, for example, existing voluntary reporting.
- costs associated with substantially similar work contracted or commenced with external consultants prior to the grant application date. As part of the milestone review process, grantees may be required to provide evidence, such as existing consultant contracts, to demonstrate compliance.
Example projects
- Climate-related risk and opportunity assessment
- Net zero governance, accountability and responsibility structure development
- Training and knowledge-sharing program aimed at enhancing understanding and awareness of the grantee’s net zero goals, as well as the skills required to achieve them
- Greenhouse gas inventory (Scope 1, 2 and 3) development
- Net zero target development
- Long-, mid- and short-term net zero action planning
- Long-, mid- and short-term net zero financial planning
- Net zero stakeholder engagement planning
- Voluntary external net zero disclosure reporting
What your application needs to include
Prepare your application with this checklist
- Copies of energy bills for your business site(s)
- Additional documents specific to the applicant may be required
- Before starting the application, please make sure you have read the funding guidelines.
Address the eligibility criteria
Each applicant, as part of an application response, must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria.
Applicants that do not address the eligibility criteria in full may be excluded from the application process at the department's discretion.
Address the assessment criteria
You must address the following assessment criteria:
Objectives: The application demonstrates alignment with the grant objectives and a commitment to work towards net zero.
Quality: The information provided is accurate, up-to-date and legible.
Risks: The application does not raise any unacceptable reputational or delivery risks including:
- pending legal action,
- media controversy, or
- lack of financial capacity to implement the grant milestone activities.
Start the application
Click on the 'Apply Now' button to access the application form in the Grants Management System (GMS). Complete the application form and answer all the questions. Upload all the necessary documentation and submit the application form. Apply now because applications are assessed as they are received and will close on Monday 30 November 2026 at 5 pm AEDT, or earlier if funding is exhausted.
Note: If you are a new applicant to SmartyGrants, you will need to register and create a password. If you are already registered, you can log in with your existing username and password.
Apply now
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: Program Manager
- Applications will be assessed against the eligibility and assessment criteria outlined in the funding guidelines as they are received.
- Independent technical and probity advisors may assist our assessment team in the assessment process.
- We may request additional information as part of the assessment process. You will have 5 business days from the date of our written request to provide the requested information. If you do not respond by the due date, your application may not proceed.
For more information on the assessment process, please visit our website and read the funding guidelines.
Support and contact
For further information or clarification, please contact us at: energyefficiency.program@environment.nsw.gov.au