Each mandate starts with an agreed scope and an authority boundary. Fees are paid in advance by phase. External adviser and specialist costs are quoted separately and always require your approval before they are incurred.
The figures below are indicative starting points, not quotes. The actual fee follows the scope, and the scope follows the fit check.
| Engagement | Indicative fee | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Initial strategic consultation | $850 | Full name, telephone number and relevant documents required in advance. Includes up to one hour of pre-reading and a one-hour consultation. |
| Application readiness review | $2,750 + GST | Document review, gap analysis, eligibility questions for qualified advice and a written application plan. |
| ACNC registration support | From $6,500 + GST | Application writing, evidence schedule, governing-document issue list and regulator correspondence support. |
| DGR application support | From $9,500 + GST | Category and evidence workplan, application drafting and coordination of independent tax or legal review. |
| Grant or government submission | From $4,800 + GST | Assessment mapping, narrative development, contributor coordination and final submission pack. |
| Regulatory response project | From $12,500 + GST | Rapid assessment, evidence control, response strategy, remediation plan and adviser coordination. |
| Ongoing strategic support | From $7,500 + GST / month | Reserved advisory capacity for active engagements, implementation oversight and stakeholder coordination. |
Preparing for the initial consultation
The $850 initial consultation requires your full name, telephone number and the relevant documents in advance. Documents are supplied only after the engagement and a secure exchange method are confirmed. The fee includes up to one hour of pre-reading and a one-hour meeting, so the more organised the material, the more you get out of the hour.
Urgent work
Where work must start within 24 hours, or be completed outside the agreed delivery window, an urgency loading is confirmed with you before work begins. Connect Australia does not charge success fees and does not guarantee regulatory, funding or endorsement outcomes.
Common questions
Why is the fee paid in advance?
It keeps the scope honest on both sides. Each phase is defined, priced and paid before it starts, so you are never committed to more than the phase in front of you and we are never carrying unbilled work that quietly expands.
Do you charge a percentage of grant funding?
No. Connect Australia does not charge success fees. Some funders prohibit them, and they create the wrong incentive: to submit as many applications as possible rather than to tell a client when a round is not worth entering.
What is not included?
Legal, tax, accounting, insolvency and regulated technical work is performed by appropriately qualified professionals and quoted separately by them. We tell you when a matter needs that advice and coordinate it, but we do not mark it up or absorb it into our fee.
Can we spread payments?
Fees are structured by phase, which spreads cost naturally across an engagement. Where a longer mandate is agreed, ongoing strategic support is billed monthly.
Where our work stops
Connect Australia does not provide legal, tax or financial advice and is not a law practice, tax agent or financial adviser. We work with your preferred provider or, with prior disclosure, can introduce an independent partner for you to assess and choose.
Start with a confidential fit check
The first conversation is short and costs nothing. We want to understand the decision you are facing, the deadline attached to it and whether this is work we should be doing at all. You do not need to send documents at that stage.
If the matter is a fit, the next step is usually the $850 initial strategic consultation, which includes up to one hour of pre-reading and a one-hour meeting.