Quick answer: The WA Small Business CCTV Rebate gives eligible Western Australian small businesses a once-off rebate of up to $2,000, covering half the cost of a new or upgraded CCTV system. Applications opened 19 October 2026 and are assessed first come, first served until the funding pool runs out, so there is no fixed closing date. Businesses must apply for pre-approval before installing anything.
What is the WA Small Business CCTV Rebate
The WA Small Business CCTV Rebate is a Western Australian Government program that helps small, customer-facing businesses pay for a new or upgraded CCTV system. It is run by the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC), delivered in partnership with Crime Stoppers WA, and was announced by the Cook Labor Government as part of a broader push to improve security for small retailers across the state.
The idea is simple: if your business has a physical shopfront or service counter in Western Australia, break-ins, theft and antisocial behaviour can be expensive and disruptive to deal with. A properly installed CCTV system can help deter crime, support police investigations when something does happen, and give owners peace of mind. This rebate lowers the upfront cost of getting that system installed properly, by a licensed security installer, to a clear technical standard.
Newly installed systems are also linked into WA Police’s Cam-Map WA database, a register of CCTV systems that police can call on when investigating incidents in the area. This is a practical side benefit: it means your business’s cameras can become part of a wider community safety network, not just a standalone security measure.
How much funding is available
Eligible businesses can receive a rebate of up to 50 per cent of the cost of a new or upgraded internal CCTV system (excluding GST), capped at $2,000 per approved application. The Western Australian Government has committed $1.15 million in total to the program.
That total pool is split two ways: 75 per cent of funds are set aside for businesses in the Perth metropolitan area, and 25 per cent for businesses in regional WA. This split matters, because it means regional businesses are not competing against the much larger number of metro applicants for the same slice of funding.
The exact rebate you receive depends on what your installation actually costs. The SBDC pre-approves an amount based on your quote, but if the final invoiced cost comes in lower than the quote, for example because installation ended up simpler than expected, the rebate paid out will be reduced to match the lower amount actually spent. You cannot receive more than 50 per cent of the final cost, and never more than $2,000.
Because the funding pool is limited and the program is assessed on a first come, first served basis, with complete applications given priority, businesses that want to take advantage of this rebate should not leave their application until the last minute. There is no guarantee that funding will still be available in a few months’ time.
Who qualifies
To be eligible for the WA Small Business CCTV Rebate, a business generally needs to meet the following criteria:
Size: fewer than 20 employees, counted by headcount. Business owners, non-executive directors and contractors are not counted toward this limit, which gives genuinely small, owner-operated businesses some breathing room.
Business type: a retail or customer-facing business based in Western Australia that sells to individual customers from a physical storefront or service location. This points the rebate toward businesses where customers physically walk in, rather than purely online or business-to-business operations.
Registration: an operating business with an active Australian Business Number (ABN) and current GST registration, as recorded on the Australian Business Register.
Good standing: the business must not be insolvent, in administration, or subject to a strike-off action. Owners and directors must not be bankrupt, and the business must have no unresolved grant acquittals outstanding from previous government funding.
Ownership structure: the business must not be a subsidiary of a larger group that has 20 or more employees in total across the group, even if the individual subsidiary itself is small.
Property limits: one application is allowed per property, and government-owned properties are not eligible locations for this rebate.
Who applies: the application must be submitted by what the program calls a “Responsible Person”, meaning an owner, director, or senior manager of the business. It cannot be lodged on the business’s behalf by a third party such as an accountant, bookkeeper or security installer, even if that third party is helping arrange the quote.
Who does NOT qualify
Based on the published eligibility rules, the following are excluded from this rebate:
Larger businesses, meaning those with 20 or more employees by headcount, or small businesses that are part of a larger corporate group of that size.
Businesses that are not customer-facing from a physical location, such as purely online retailers with no storefront, or businesses operating entirely business-to-business with no walk-in customers.
Businesses operating from government-owned premises.
A second application for the same property. Only one application per property is permitted under the program.
Any business that is insolvent, in external administration, facing strike-off, or where an owner or director is an undischarged bankrupt.
Any business with unresolved acquittal obligations from an earlier government grant.
Applications submitted by someone other than an owner, director, or senior manager of the eligible business.
Systems that were already installed before pre-approval was granted. The rebate is designed to subsidise new installations approved in advance, not to reimburse work already completed.
Wireless CCTV systems. The program specifically requires a hard-wired system, so a fully wireless setup will not meet the technical requirements regardless of how it performs.
What the funding can be used for
The rebate covers the product and installation costs (excluding GST) of a new CCTV system, or an upgrade to an existing one, installed after pre-approval is granted. To qualify, the system needs to meet a defined technical standard rather than being any camera setup a business happens to choose. At minimum, an eligible system needs to:
Be hard-wired rather than wireless.
Include at least one camera that clearly covers the customer entrance and the point of sale area, since these are the locations most relevant to deterring and recording theft or disputes.
Use cameras with a minimum resolution of 5 megapixels, so footage is genuinely useful for identification rather than just a blurry record that something happened.
Record to a device with at least a 3-terabyte hard drive, giving enough storage for a reasonable retention period rather than footage being overwritten within days.
Offer infrared or low-light recording capability, so the system remains useful outside daylight hours, which is often when incidents occur.
Stamp footage with the time and date automatically, which matters for any footage that is later handed to police or insurers.
Allow footage to be exported to a USB drive or similar device, so it can actually be retrieved and shared when needed, rather than being locked inside a system that is hard to extract footage from.
The installer carrying out the work must hold a Class 2 WA Security Installer licence, and a licensed security agent or consultant is the one who should be providing the quote used in the application.
Key dates
Applications opened on Monday 19 October 2026. There is no scheduled closing date. Instead, the round will close once the funding pool has been fully allocated, and applications are processed first come, first served, with priority given to complete applications. A valid, dated quote used in an application must be dated after 6 October 2026, so older quotes obtained before that date will not be accepted as the basis for a pre-approval application.
Because there is no fixed end date published, the practical deadline for any individual business is simply “before the money runs out”. Given the program is capped at $1.15 million split across two geographic pools, and each approved rebate is worth up to $2,000, demand from eligible small businesses across Western Australia could reasonably be expected to exhaust the pool well before a formal review date would otherwise arrive.
How to apply
The application process has two main stages: getting pre-approved, and then claiming the rebate after installation is complete.
Step one is to review the program’s eligibility criteria carefully and confirm your business and intended installation genuinely meet the technical standard described above, before spending time on a quote.
Step two is to obtain a written, itemised quote from a licensed security installer holding a Class 2 WA Security Installer licence. The quote needs to be dated after 6 October 2026 and needs to list the installer’s licence number and full name.
Step three is to submit an Application for Pre-approval through the SmartyGrants platform, attaching your quote and the required supporting documents.
Step four is to wait for a pre-approval decision by email from the SBDC. It is important not to install anything before this pre-approval has been received, since the rebate only applies to work carried out after approval is granted.
Step five, once pre-approved, is to have the system installed, pay for it, and obtain a tax invoice that lists the technical specifications of the system and proof of payment, within 60 days of the pre-approval decision.
Step six is to register the newly installed system on WA Police’s Cam-Map WA database and keep the confirmation email, since this registration is a condition of the rebate.
Step seven is to submit a Service Completion form for the CCTV Rebate, using the link provided in the pre-approval email, within 14 days of installation being completed.
Documents you may need
Before applying, it is worth gathering the following so the process moves smoothly:
Details of the business property, including a current photo of the business frontage.
A written letter of consent from the property owner or managing agent, if your business does not own the premises.
A valid, itemised quote from a licensed installer, including their licence number and full name, dated after 6 October 2026.
Documents saved as unredacted PDF files. The program does not accept PNG, JPG or Word document formats for supporting evidence, so quotes and other paperwork should be converted to PDF before uploading.
A recent business bank statement.
After installation is complete, you will also need the tax invoice, proof of payment, the Cam-Map registration confirmation, and the completed Service Completion form.
How competitive is it
This program is not scored on a competitive merit basis the way many grant rounds are. Instead, it works on a first come, first served footing, with complete applications given priority over incomplete ones. In practice, that makes the real competition about speed and preparation rather than the strength of a written case.
Because the total pool is fixed at $1.15 million and split 75/25 between metro and regional applicants, a surge of early applications in either pool could exhaust that portion of the funding well before a business that applies later has a chance, even if that business is equally eligible. Submitting an incomplete application, or one missing a required document, risks losing a place in the queue while the missing information is chased up.
What to prepare before applying
Given the first come, first served structure, the most useful preparation is speed combined with completeness. That means lining up a licensed Class 2 WA Security Installer early, getting a dated, itemised quote that matches the technical requirements exactly, and gathering every supporting document in the correct PDF format before starting the SmartyGrants application, rather than starting the form and then scrambling to find paperwork partway through.
It is also worth double-checking that your proposed system genuinely meets every technical requirement, particularly the hard-wired requirement and the minimum 5-megapixel, 3-terabyte specifications, since a system that falls short on any of these points would not be eligible even if the overall cost is the same.
Businesses that operate from leased premises should also build in time to obtain a signed consent letter from their landlord or managing agent, since this is a required document and can take longer to arrange than the quote itself.
Why this program exists
Retail crime and antisocial behaviour have been a persistent cost for small, customer-facing businesses across Western Australia, particularly those that trade late into the evening or operate in areas with higher foot traffic. For a small operator with fewer than 20 staff, the cost of a proper, hard-wired CCTV system with adequate storage and resolution can be a genuine barrier, especially when margins are tight and the business is also juggling rent, wages and stock costs.
By subsidising half the cost of a compliant system, up to a $2,000 cap, the WA Government is aiming to lift the baseline standard of security footage available to police and to business owners themselves, while also feeding newly installed systems into the Cam-Map WA network. That network effect is part of the point: a single business upgrading its cameras helps that business directly, but a street or shopping strip where many businesses have upgraded, and registered, gives police a much richer pool of footage to draw on when investigating an incident anywhere nearby.
The 75/25 metro-to-regional split in the funding pool also reflects a deliberate choice to make sure regional WA businesses are not crowded out by the sheer number of applicants likely to come from the Perth metropolitan area. A regional retailer applying early still has a meaningful chance at their share of the pool, rather than competing directly against every applicant in the state.
Ongoing obligations after you receive the rebate
Receiving the rebate is not the end of the business’s responsibilities under the program. Recipients are expected to:
Keep the CCTV system in proper working order for an ongoing period after installation, rather than letting it fall into disrepair once the rebate has been paid.
Provide footage to WA Police on request, consistent with the program’s stated goal of supporting police investigations in the local area.
Allow the SBDC to audit compliance with the program’s conditions if asked to do so.
Keep relevant records, including the tax invoice, proof of payment and registration confirmation, for 12 months after the rebate payment is made.
Comply with ordinary privacy and surveillance laws that apply to any CCTV system, including appropriate signage notifying customers and staff that cameras are in use, and not positioning cameras to capture private areas such as toilets or staff-only spaces.
These obligations are generally consistent with what any responsibly operated CCTV system should already be doing, so a business installing a system to a proper standard in the first place should not find them onerous.
Related funding options
A CCTV rebate is only one small piece of the funding support available to small businesses in Western Australia. If this program is not the right fit for your business, or you want to see what else might apply once your security upgrade is sorted, it is worth exploring the broader landscape of WA small business grants and the range of grants available to small businesses in WA, including programs that go beyond this single rebate and cover growth, equipment and other operating costs across the state.
Frequently asked questions
Is the WA Small Business CCTV Rebate a cash grant I receive upfront?
No. It is a reimbursement rebate. Your business pays for the CCTV system first, after receiving pre-approval, and then claims back up to 50 per cent of the eligible cost, capped at $2,000, once installation is complete and the required paperwork is submitted.
Can I install my CCTV system first and apply for the rebate afterwards?
No. The program requires pre-approval before installation begins. A system installed before pre-approval was granted does not qualify for the rebate, so the order of steps matters.
Does a wireless CCTV system qualify?
No. The program specifically requires a hard-wired system that meets the stated technical standard, including minimum camera resolution, a recorder with sufficient storage, and infrared or low-light recording capability. A wireless-only system does not meet this requirement.
What happens if the funding pool runs out before my business applies?
Because the program is assessed first come, first served against a fixed $1.15 million pool, split between metropolitan and regional applicants, funding could be exhausted before a formal closing date is reached. The official program page will confirm the current status of the round.
Who can I contact with questions about this program?
Specific enquiry details are listed on the program’s official page. Businesses considering this rebate should check that page directly for the most current contact information and any updates to the eligibility criteria or technical requirements.
Does the rebate cover an upgrade to an existing CCTV system, or only a brand new one?
Both. The program covers a new CCTV system or an upgrade to an existing one, as long as the finished system meets the required technical standard (hard-wired, minimum 5-megapixel cameras, at least a 3-terabyte recorder, infrared or low-light capability, time and date stamping, and exportable footage) and is installed by a licensed Class 2 WA Security Installer after pre-approval.
Can my accountant or security installer submit the application on my behalf?
No. The application must be submitted by a Responsible Person for the business, meaning an owner, director or senior manager. A third party such as an accountant, bookkeeper or the installer supplying the quote cannot lodge the application on the business’s behalf.
Is there a separate pool of funding for regional Western Australian businesses?
Yes. The $1.15 million total pool is split so that 75 per cent is available to businesses in the Perth metropolitan area and 25 per cent is set aside for regional WA businesses, so regional applicants are not competing against the full volume of metro applications for the same funding.
Want to keep exploring your options? Grants Assist’s online portal gives you access to detailed, regularly updated information on grants and assistance programs across Australia. Explore the Grants Assist portal to browse more programs like this one, or call us on 1300-005-999 to speak with one of our advisors.
