Business Event Sponsorship Program

Alejandra Ortiz-Arenas 1:05

Slide 1

Hello everyone. Welcome to the Information Session for the Business Events Sponsorship Program 2026. Thank you for registering and taking the time to learn more about our program. My name is Alejandra Ortiz Arenas and I'm here with my colleague Jacqueline Bowdrey. We're part of the Economic Development and International team here at the City of Melbourne. The information session for 2026 program took place last week on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the session recording presented some difficulties to be shared online, so we will record today all the content that was shared on that session, and we will go through all the questions that were asked by the participants on that day as well.

So, for those of you who could not attend on the day, you won't miss out on the content. The document with the questions is also linked on our website.

In this session you will hear about the general overview of the program, funding available and other in-kind support. You will also hear about tips for a successful application and the key dates that you need to look for. Following from feedback from the last previous year's applicants, we won't go into detail through the program guidelines as most people prefer to have more tips and more information on how to make the application stand out.

Slide 2

Before we start, City of Melbourne respectfully acknowledges the traditional owners of the land we govern and pay respects to the elders past and present. We acknowledge the unbroken spiritual, cultural and political connection they have maintained to this unique place for more than 2000 generations. We accept the invitation in the Uluru Statement from the Heart and are committed to walking together to build a better future.

Slide 3

The Business Events Sponsorship Program supports conferences, showcases, workshops, seminars, networking functions and any other business events that take place within the City of Melbourne municipality. The overall funding for the program is $100,000 and we offer up to $10,000 per application based on the attendance numbers. As you can see, the budget is limited

and it's very competitive. So hence we are putting the emphasis in the application information to stand out.

The funding is also available for items to enhance the event, not to fully fund the event. And we'll go through into more details later as well.

Slide 4

The City of Melbourne boundary, as you can see in the map, this map is available in your application and on our website. It's important that the venue that you're applying for or that you're having your event is within these boundaries. You need to have very clear the details on the streets your venue is located, because if your venue is outside these boundaries, it may not be eligible. If you're not sure, contact our team and they can help you to determine whether the venue for your event is eligible for funding.

Slide 5

This year's program objectives are aligned with our new Melbourne Advantage - Economic Development Strategy 2030. Most of you might be aware, or if you're outside of Victoria, you might not be aware. We elected a new council late last year, and are about to launch a new council plan, which includes all the strategies to make that council plan work. The Economic Development Strategy 2030 is one of them, which was launched a couple of months ago. The objectives of our program that align with the strategy include:

• Support events that activate Melbourne's innovation ecosystem. That means that we're looking for events that engage knowledge workers, entrepreneurs, researchers and all kind of knowledge professionals that will help strengthen the city reputation as a global leader in innovation.
• Events that facilitate cross-sector collaboration and industry engagement. This is because we're looking for events that accelerate business development, attract investment and drive economic growth across Melbourne's priority innovation sectors.
• In the final objective we're looking for applicants delivering deliver business events that enhance Melbourne's vibrancy and liveability. This is by generating broad economic, social and environmental benefits while fostering inclusive participation.

Slide 6

Our funding levels, as I mentioned before, the amount of funding available depends on the number of delegates that you're looking to bring to your event. There are three levels. The minimum attendance is 100 delegates. We won't be funding anything with less than 100 delegates.

• From 100 to 250 you can get up to $5,000.
• The second level is from 250 up to 500 you can apply for up to $7,250.
• If you bring in more than 500 delegates, you can apply for the top amount, which is $10,000.

As I mentioned before, these amounts and if you are in the business events industry, you know very well that events are expensive. So, we are not funding the full event. We are helping you to make your event more attractive for your delegates by getting a better venue, maybe booking a great keynote speaker, enhancing your catering or to attract your delegates. All the full details of what you can spend the funding on is available on our program guidelines.

Slide 7

In addition to the funding, we also have a sponsorship pack that includes a Lord Mayor or a councillor delivering short welcoming address to your delegates. You can also get them to pre-record a welcoming message for your delegates to the city and use it as part of your marketing and promotion plan. You can request a subject matter expert from the City of Melbourne to come and deliver a keynote or be part of your workshops or panels. We can also help you to promote your event via our City of Melbourne channels, which includes the Business in Melbourne Newsletter, LinkedIn and Facebook promotions.

Slide 9

How to apply?

First and foremost, read the guidelines. It is very important that you read and go through the eligibility criteria, the non-eligibility, also what you can use the money for. Read it all. Make sure your event aligns with it. It's a lot of work, so don't waste your time if your event is not eligible. Make sure you are aware of all the conditions. Plan and gather information for your application. You'll need about four attachments for it. Make sure you have all those attachments ready for when you apply.

Get your submission online via Smarty Grants. If you're not registered, there is a link in our website to Smarty Grants and the page is, as you see on the screen. You can not only apply for our grant, but you can see all of the City of Melbourne grants and sponsorships available. Make sure you register so you'll be able to see all that information.

Slide 9 To give you a brief overview on how competitive our program is, last year we received 80 applications with a request of more than 500K altogether. Only 22 applications were successful and were approved for funding. You can see who those applicants are in our website as well, but please pay particular attention on the 13 applications that were ineligible. These applications were not even able to be assessed because they had a venue outside the municipality, or they have invalid attachments. We consider invalid an attachment that is incomplete, incorrect or the information is out of date. Empty documents as well. A lot of people attach blank documents and that will be considered ineligible straight away. Or people that that apply for non-business events like festivals or markets or things like that that are not business events or fundraisers as well.

Make sure you also check the eligibility criteria.

Slide 10

The program is very competitive, and you really need to make your application stand out. How do you make that happen?

• So as mentioned a couple of times, make sure you preview and prepare the documentation. Don't read it to the last minute. SmartyGrants is a great system, but when you're in panic mode trying to upload all your documents on the very last day at the very last hour. It's very easy that the system will log you out and it will release the deadline very easily. Ensure you prepare and do your application in enough time.
• Check your venue address. You can have the most amazing event proposal, but if your venue is outside the City of Melbourne Municipality, we won't be able to fund it. Make sure you check it. If you're not sure whether it is in in the municipality or not, give us a call, send us an e-mail and we can help you with that.
• Check your event dates as well. Events need to happen from February to December 2026. So, if your event is in January or is in 2027, you won't be able to apply.
• Be as clear as possible with your event details. Let us know what is it? What are your objectives and who are the people that you're going to attract. Use the resources and links provided throughout the application or on our website. All the answers that are on these documents and can help you out with the application.
• Provide a detailed budget. This is very important. You need to know the budget for your event. It's good to know that your event is solid, and it will go ahead with or without our funding.
• Sponsorship benefits as well. You can treat us like any other sponsor that you're trying to attract. Let us know what is in it for us. What can we gain by supporting your event?
• And a very important one, the key innovation sectors. We have five priority sectors that City of Melbourne is working with because they provide long term economic benefits. But if you're not in one of those sectors, that doesn't mean that you won't be able to apply. There are a number of strategies in our Council plan that you can also align with. The events could be in the experience sector, hospitality, tourism, wellness. Have a look at those strategies and make sure you tell us how your event aligns with the strategies and objectives.

Slide 11 Key dates.

• Applications close next Tuesday, 30th of September. Make sure you get onto working on your application and attachments.
• The assessment and approval will happen during October and November. Outcome notifications may come in December. All depending on the council decisions or early January, so stay tuned. We will try to give you as much information as you can before you go to your Christmas - New Year's break.
• Successful applicants will be publicly announced in early 2026, once they all have signed the funding grant.

Slide 12

These are our contact details, and all the program information is on our website.

If you have any questions, make sure you contact our team Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 5 at the businessfunding@melbourne.vic.gov.au. That's the easiest way. You can give us a call on the 9658 9658 hotline for City of Melbourne. For those of you outside of Victoria, please be aware that this Friday, 26 September is a public holiday. Send us your enquiries or you can also request an online catch up if you have a few questions, we're happy to help you with that.

If you're having technical issues with SmartyGrants, their customer service team is good. They're very approachable. They are available Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 5:00 on the phone or via e-mail, so make sure you get in touch.

Slide 13

All right; I'm now going to let Jackie run through the questions that we had in the chat last week. Over to you Jacquie

Jacqueline Bowdrey 16:59 Thanks. OK, so our first question is can I submit an application if the dates for my event and the venue details are still tentative?

Alejandra Ortiz-Arenas 17:10 Yes, absolutely. We understand that it's a little bit ahead in the future to have all the details confirmed for the event. Still make sure it's within the City of Melbourne Municipality boundaries.

Jacqueline Bowdrey 17:28 Perfect. So does my event require a confirmed budget and plan to apply?

Alejandra Ortiz-Arenas 17:34 As much as you can, yes. Our assessment panel are experts in events. If your event, for instance, is in February, March, April, which year, you should have a pretty decent budget confirmed, but your event is in 12 months' time, we will understand that there are certain elements that are not being confirmed but put as much detail as you can, for instance, if you're approaching sponsors or if you're planning to sell tickets, all that could be included in the budget.

Jacqueline Bowdrey 18:06 The next question is do I require public liability insurance even if the venue has insurance?

Alejandra Ortiz-Arenas 18:13 Yes, that's correct. We do require the applicants have public liability insurance because we're going to be working with you for several months, not with the venue and all City of Melbourne grants and sponsorship require this type of insurance.

Jacqueline Bowdrey 18:31 And how much, would the public liability insurance cost?

Alejandra Ortiz-Arenas 18:36 City of Melbourne requires insurance for $20 million and I believe depending on which company you go with, you could be looking at spending around $200 to $300 dollars.

Jacqueline Bowdrey 18:53 Perfect. The next question would be, can I apply if I was successful for sponsorship in previous years?

Alejandra Ortiz-Arenas 19:01 Yes, it's more about your current application and your current proposal, how good it is and how much aligns with our objectives. It's not about whether you've been successful before or not. It's just that it's still equally compelling.

Jacqueline Bowdrey 19:18 And what are the key innovation and technology areas that City of Melbourne is prioritising for this grant?

Alejandra Ortiz-Arenas 19:26 Yes. these areas are health-tech, ed-Tech, climate-tech, sports-tech, and digital gaming.

Jacqueline Bowdrey 19:41 What about the cost for the event? Can my event be free or do I need to have ticketing?

Alejandra Ortiz-Arenas 19:47 Yes, absolutely. The event can be free, can be ticketed, as long as you're able to fully fund the event with or without a sponsorship.

Jacqueline Bowdrey 20:01 The next one is about the number of attendees. Do you need to provide a guarantee on how many people will attend my event?

Alejandra Ortiz-Arenas 20:12 Yes, for us it is important that you are bringing at least 100 people to your event. There are several questions in our application that will prove whether you are actually providing us with the right information or not. We will know if your attendees' numbers will fit in the venue that you're proposing, also how well you know your attendees, what sort of industry you're attracting, what sort of channels you're using to market the event. All that information will give us an overview on how well you know your attendees and how you are working to attract them.

Jacqueline Bowdrey 20:53 OK. And I believe the last question can not-for-profits apply?

Alejandra Ortiz-Arenas 20:59 Yes, as long as it's not a fundraiser. City of Melbourne is very adamant for all our grands and sponsorships not to support fundraisers.

Jacqueline Bowdrey 21:16 Perfect. Thank you, Ali. I think these were all the questions.

Alejandra Ortiz-Arenas 21:18 Thank you. Just in addition to that, I just recall a couple of questions that have happened in previous years and it's about extensions on your application. Applications close at 4pm on Tuesday, 30th September. We don't give extensions because that will be unfair to all the other people that have been working on their applications. Unless there is something absolutely catastrophic with the technology, if the technology fail, let's face it, an Optus outage, or similar we can definitely determine from our end if it's legitimate request for extension. These request will be analysed on a case-by-case basis, but assume there won't be an extension, so make sure you work through your application with enough time. You still have a few days ahead to prepare. Collect those attachments. You can go in and add the attachment first because they are the ones that will take the longest to upload. Make sure you're save your work constantly because SmartyGrants locks you out if it hasn't had any activity for a while. Believe me, there's a lot of people that at 4:00 PM call saying they've been locked out and weren't unable to summit. Make sure you allow yourself enough time on your application on time.

All right, just a friendly reminder to get in contact with us at businessfunding@melbourne.vic.gov.au. We can answer your questions and organise a Team's catch up if you have more than one question. Thank you for your time and we look forward to seeing receiving all your applications. Thank you.

To be eligible you must:

• propose to deliver a business event such as a multi-day program, conference, exhibition, pitch competition, showcase, demo day, product demonstration, networking event or meeting
• have a minimum attendance of 100 people
• deliver the business event in a venue located within the City of Melbourne municipality
• have the proposed event take place between February and December 2026
• have a valid Australian Business Number (ABN)
• be an Australian registered business, sole trader, company, business cooperative or partnership and provide documented evidence of its legal structure
• demonstrate financial viability as evidenced by a basic business plan, budget and projected financial statements
• provide evidence of current public liability and professional indemnity insurance policies when requested and maintain these insurances when delivering the event
• have no outstanding acquittals or debts to the City of Melbourne
• have not failed to comply with the terms and conditions of any previous funding agreement or sponsorship from City of Melbourne.

Applications will be ineligible if any of the following apply:

• Events or festivals (including components thereof) that receive funding from another City of Melbourne funding program.
• Political or religious organisations that have a political purpose or seek to promote political or religious ideologies.
• Government departments, agencies of government departments, foundations or grant making bodies.
• Fundraising events or events that are solely marketing their own business.
• Events that are already receiving financial support from Melbourne Convention Bureau External link.
• Cultural, music or sports festivals and events, community workshops, recurring markets, teaching programs, lectures or universities open day.
• Online events without an in-person program.
• Organisations that have an outstanding debt to City of Melbourne or that have failed to comply with the terms and conditions of any previous funding agreement with City of Melbourne.
• Events that have an adverse effect on public health, safety, the environment or heritage.
• Events that will not comply with anti-discrimination / ant-vilification legislation and / or are incompatible with Council's policies, priorities or values. Council's priorities include those set out in the Inclusive Melbourne Action Plan 2024-26 (IMAP).
• Events that sell or promote unethically sourced animal products.
• Events that exploit or use animals in harmful ways, for example, through exhibition or use in performances.

Applications are scored against the following criteria:  

• purpose and expected impact of the event
• quality and viability of the event
• sponsorship benefits to the City of Melbourne
• key emerging priority tech sectors.

City of Melbourne completes a due diligence process to all applications to ensure all eligibility criteria are met.

Applications are individually assessed by a panel including senior management from City of Melbourne which will consider the diversity of applications as a set.

Canvassing or lobbying of Councillors, employees of City of Melbourne or assessment panel members in relation to any funding application is prohibited. 

Refer to the SmartyGrants help guide External link for technical assistance related to submitting your application. The SmartyGrants External link support desk is open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday on 03 9320 6888 or by email at service@smartygrants.com.au.

If you need an interpreter when calling the City of Melbourne, please call the following relevant translation services.

Our multilingual information telephone service offers assistance to people from a non-English speaking background.

If you are deaf, hearing-impaired, or speech-impaired, please call us via the National Relay Service External link:

• Teletypewriter (TTY) users phone 133 677 then ask for 03 9658 9658.
• Speak & Listen users phone 1300 555 727 then ask for 03 9658 9658.

Successful applicants for 2026 are subject to signing a funding agreement with the City of Melbourne, and as such, are subject to change and the website will be updated accordingly.

• Events rescheduled due to COVID-19 restrictions