EMDG for Australian Fashion Brands: How to Claim Back Up to 50% of Your Fashion Week Expenses
If you're an Australian fashion brand sending a designer, founder or sales team to New York Fashion Week, Paris, London or Milan — or planning buyer appointments, trade shows or international press trips — there's a Federal Government grant that can reimburse up to 50% of those costs. Most fashion brands either don't know it exists or assume it doesn't apply to them. Both assumptions are costing them money.
The Export Market Development Grant (EMDG), administered by Austrade, is the Australian Government's flagship program for helping small and medium-sized businesses grow in international markets. Austrade has committed up to $104.5 million in EMDG funding for 2025–26 and another $104.5 million for 2026–27. The program isn't just for mining companies and tech exporters — fashion is a product category, and international market development is exactly what fashion week is for.
What the EMDG Actually Is
The EMDG is a matched-funding grant program. It reimburses up to 50% of eligible overseas marketing and promotion costs, and unlike competitive grants, it's entitlement-based — if you meet the eligibility criteria and have sufficient eligible expenditure, you receive the grant. You're not competing against other applicants for a pool of points. If you qualify and apply in time, you get funded.
The program allows businesses to access grants over an eight-year period, with a total funding limit of $770,000. For a fashion brand building an international presence over the next decade, that's a material number.
The Three Tiers — and Which One You're In
EMDG is structured across three tiers based on where you are in your export journey:
Tier 1 — Ready to export (up to $30,000 per financial year)
For brands that haven't exported yet but are ready to start. You'll need to demonstrate export readiness, which typically includes completing approved export training.
Tier 2 — Exporting within existing markets (up to $50,000 per financial year)
For brands already selling internationally and looking to grow or deepen those markets.
Tier 3 — Exporting to new key markets (up to $80,000 per financial year)
For brands entering specified new key markets that Austrade has identified as strategic priorities.
Minimum turnover thresholds apply for each tier. Tier 3 requires a minimum annual turnover of $1 million, and there is an overall cap of less than $20 million in annual turnover. You also need to have been operating under the same ABN for at least two years and be able to demonstrate the capacity to spend at least $20,000 of your own money per financial year on eligible marketing activities.
What Fashion Week Expenses Are Claimable
This is where it gets specific — and genuinely useful. The eligible expense categories under EMDG map closely to what a fashion brand actually spends on international market development.
International travel and accommodation
Flights and accommodation incurred during overseas trips aimed at promoting exports are eligible. A trip to attend New York Fashion Week with buyer appointments, press meetings or showroom presentations qualifies. The key requirement: the trip must be directed at export promotion, not personal travel or general industry tourism. An apportionment must take place to exclude any portion of the trip that was spent on non-EMDG activities. Keep your itinerary and document every business meeting.
Trade shows and fashion week events
Expenses related to activities carried out to solicit business for your eligible products in a foreign country — including participation in trade shows and events aimed at generating business opportunities — are eligible. This includes stand fees, presentation costs, and event registrations directly tied to business development.
Promotional materials for overseas markets
Costs for creating, publishing and distributing promotional literature and advertising materials specifically for international export promotion are claimable. Lookbooks, line sheets, digital assets and press kits developed for international buyers or media qualify. Materials created for the domestic market do not.
Overseas representatives and consultants
If you engage an international showroom, distributor, sales agent or PR firm to represent your brand in a foreign market, the monthly retainer fees paid to an overseas representative — as well as any of their international travel expenditure to meet with potential customers — are eligible. Commission payments are ineligible and should not be included.
Marketing consultants
Fees paid to consultants helping you develop your international strategy, conduct export pricing analysis or prepare for market entry can be claimed.
Domestic travel to meet international buyers
Up to 21 days of continuous travel within Australia to undertake activities relating to marketing your eligible products to potential foreign buyers — including food, accommodation and ground transport to meet overseas delegates or foreign residents in Australia — is eligible. If international buyers come to Australia Fashion Week or to your Sydney or Melbourne showroom, the costs of hosting those meetings domestically can count.
What Won't Be Claimable
Not everything that happens at fashion week qualifies. Trips for general industry events or networking activities where no foreign buyers are present are not eligible. You need to be actively promoting your products to international buyers, press or distributors — attendance for trend research or inspiration alone won't cut it. Similarly, GST components of expenses cannot be claimed, and any personal component of a trip must be apportioned out.
The Round 4 Situation — and What to Do Now
EMDG Round 4 is now closed. As at March 2026, Austrade made 2,273 grant offers to eligible applicants across all tiers, with $218.1 million committed to 2,232 grantees across the two grant years. Notably, Tier 2 saw the highest demand, with applications closing within hours of opening on 12 November 2024. That tells you two things: the grant is popular, and early preparation is everything.
Businesses should not expect Round 5 to open until mid-2027 at the earliest, as it would cover the 2027–28 and 2028–29 financial years. The time to prepare is now — not when the round opens.
What to Do Before Round 5 Opens
Start tracking eligible expenses today. Every flight, hotel, trade show fee, showroom cost and marketing material spend related to your international activities should be documented with invoices and a clear description of the export promotion purpose. Building this habit now means your Round 5 application is essentially already being assembled.
Get your ABN history sorted. You need at least two years of operation under the same ABN. If you've recently restructured, check whether your history is intact.
Build your plan to market. All applicants are required to provide a plan to market, showing Austrade what you intend to do to market your product overseas in the next two to three years, and why. This isn't a tick-box — it's the strategic document that underpins your application. A clear export strategy with target markets, buyer targets and promotional activities gives your application real weight.
Know which tier you'll apply for. Given that Tier 2 funding exhausted within hours in Round 4, you want to be application-ready the moment the portal opens — not still working out which tier fits your business.
Get advice. EMDG grants are administered through Austrade's online portal, and eligibility rules have tightened with each round. An experienced EMDG consultant or accountant who works with exporters can make the difference between a strong application and an ineligible one. The grant amounts justify the cost of good advice.
The Bottom Line for Fashion Brands
Fashion week is expensive. Return flights to New York or Paris, a week of accommodation in peak season, showroom and stand fees, press kits, buyer dinners — a single trip can easily cost $20,000–$40,000. Getting 50% of that back from the Federal Government, year after year, over up to eight financial years, is a material contribution to your international growth budget.
The brands doing this well aren't larger or more sophisticated than yours. They're just better at treating export market development as a strategic function with a funding mechanism attached — and documenting it accordingly.
Round 5 will open. The question is whether you'll be ready when it does.
How KP Retail Can Help
At KP Retail, we work with Australian fashion brands at every stage of their international journey — from preparing for their first overseas trade show to building the documentation and strategy needed for a successful EMDG application.
Here's where we can make a real difference:
Export strategy and plan to market. The plan to market is one of the most important documents in your EMDG application, and it's one that many brands underestimate. We help you articulate a credible, well-structured export strategy — identifying your target markets, buyer profiles, and promotional activity roadmap — so that when Round 5 opens, you have a compelling case ready to submit.
Expense tracking and documentation systems. We help you set up simple, practical systems to capture eligible expenses as they happen — because chasing invoices and reconstructing itineraries 12 months after the fact is both stressful and risky. Getting the documentation right from day one protects your claim.
Preparing for fashion week and trade shows. Whether you're heading to New York, Paris, Milan or London, we can help you structure your trip to maximise EMDG-eligible activities — buyer appointment planning, showroom strategy, press outreach, and the business documentation that shows Austrade your participation was export-focused and commercially purposeful.
Connecting you with EMDG specialists. While KP Retail doesn't lodge EMDG applications on your behalf, we work alongside experienced EMDG consultants and accountants who specialise in the fashion and lifestyle sectors. We can connect you with the right adviser to review your eligibility and guide your application.
If you're an Australian fashion brand with international ambitions — or already exporting and not yet claiming EMDG — get in touch with the KP Retail team. The preparation you do now will determine whether you're funded in Round 5 or watching from the sidelines.
Important note: EMDG eligibility criteria, grant amounts and program rules can change between rounds. The details in this post reflect Round 4 parameters as at early 2026. Always verify current requirements directly with Austrade at austrade.gov.au/emdg or seek advice from a qualified EMDG consultant before applying.
