The Natural Hazards Technology Program is a competitive grants program to accelerate technology innovation and adoption to better prepare for and respond to natural hazards by trialling field-ready technology with end-user NSW agencies.
Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: From $10,000 to $250,000
- Application opened: 1 February 2024
- Application closed: 14 March 2024, 10:00 am
Program objective
Program objectives are to:
- find technology solutions to challenges faced by NSW agencies in the management of natural hazards.
- support innovative NSW businesses field-test their technologies with NSW agencies to:
- refine and improve their product for market
- build relationships with NSW agencies to increase opportunities for future collaborations
- build and improve NSW Government awareness of innovation possibilities in natural hazards management and operations through exposure to new technology.
This program is administered by Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer.
Eligibility
Who can apply
To be eligible for the Program applicants must:
- have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
- be non-tax exempt
- have an account with an Australian financial institution
- be headquartered in NSW
- hold the Intellectual Property or the rights to commercialise the technology
- demonstrate the technology is ready to be trialled
- demonstrate any funding from the NSW Physical Sciences Fund (PSF), Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) Program and other NSW or other state or federal government grant programs do not duplicate activities requested under the Program.
and be one of the following entity types:
- a company incorporated under the Corporations Act (including a company limited by guarantee)
- an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006
- a NSW public research organisation applying through its appropriate technology transfer office or the Chief Executive Officer (or equivalent) of the research organisation that will become a separate entity before entering into a legally binding funding agreement with DEIT.
- an individual who agrees to form such an entity so that DEIT can enter into a legally binding funding agreement.
Types of projects funded under this grant
For a grant activity to be eligible it must relate to the project and can include:
- to build and provide extra units of the technology
- specific professional expertise (for example, a drone pilot, technical specialist, business development or commercialisation expert)
- training of NSW Government personnel as part of the trial/pilot
- costs to integrate technology with NSW Government ICT platforms
- data analysis and/or management costs
Who can’t apply
You are not eligible to apply for the Program if you are:
- insolvent
- an individual
- a partnership
- an unincorporated association
- a Commonwealth, state, territory or local government agency or body excluding government corporate entities.
The OCSE, at its sole discretion, may decide that an application is ineligible for funding. This may include any person or business activity that could cause reputational and/or other risks to the NSW Government.
Most recent recipients
What your application needs to include
Prepare your application with this checklist
To apply you must:
- complete the SmartyGrants online application form at https://chiefscientist.smartygrants.com.au/
- provide all the information requested
- address all the eligibility criteria
- address all the relevant assessment criteria
- include all necessary attachments
- submit your application by the timelines outlined in Section 4.2 Key dates
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.
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: Secretary, DEIT
The OCSE will lead the assessment of applications. Your application will be considered based on a two-stage process. Where the OCSE considers an application unsuitable or unsatisfactory against any criteria, we may exclude that application from further evaluation. Only eligible applications will move to the next stage. We consider eligible applications through an open competitive grant process.
Stage 1: Eligibility Assessment
The OCSE will conduct an initial eligibility screening for all applications according to the published eligibility criteria in these Program Guidelines that are set out Section 2: Eligibility Criteria.
Only applications which meet all eligibility criteria will progress to assessment against the assessment criteria. The OCSE will record the ineligible applicants and will report the number of ineligible applications and reasons why to the Assessment Panel (Panel).
Stage 2: Assessment by the Assessment Panel
The membership of the Panel will be determined by the OCSE in its sole discretion and will include end-user NSW agencies, independent experts with business, and technology innovation and commercialisation experience, and an independent Assessor from OCSE not be involved in the grant delivery. The Panel will be chaired by the OCSE.
The assessment process for eligible applications is listed below:
- Complete, eligible applications for each challenge will be sent by the OCSE to the NSW agency on the Panel responsible for assessment of that challenge. The OCSE will also send all complete, eligible applications for the big ideas challenge to all NSW agencies on the Assessment Panel. Each application will be assessed by at least 2 representatives from the Agency responsible for the challenge.
- NSW agencies on the Panel will only score applications against the Solution and Delivery Assessment Criteria in Section 3.
- All complete and eligible applications will be sent to the independent Assessor to assess all applications against all Assessment Criteria in Section 3.
- All complete and eligible applications will be sent to the commercial and business experts on the Panel to score the applications against the Commercial Assessment Criteria in Section 3. To manage workload, each expert will be responsible for assessing up to 10 eligible applications against the Commercial Assessment with at least 2 experts assessing each application to ensure appropriate coverage.
- Panel members may request additional information from applicants. These requests will be managed by the OCSE who will communicate with the relevant applicants directly in writing to seek their response.
- The OCSE will collate the individual scores from all Panel members and calculate an average score for all applications.
- The Panel will meet to discuss the applications and their scores and agree on a recommendation for each eligible application. Based on this the Panel will agree on the applications to recommend for funding within the funding envelope. The OCSE will be present and chair these meetings.
A brief outlining the assessment process, Panel scores and the recommended applications for funding will be submitted to the Designated Decision Maker for review and approval.
Support and contact
Contact us at grants@chiefscientist.nsw/gov.au