Applying for Back to Work payments through QGrants
Applications for Back to Work payments are made online through QGrants.
QGrants is a whole-of-government grants management portal, allowing Queenslanders to apply for various grants across the Queensland Government.
Using QGrants
- Go to the QGrants website.
- Select the Register link. You'll need to enter your:
- given name
- surname
- password (must be a combination of 8–20 characters using numbers and letters).
- When logging in for the first time, complete your details including your:
- address
- contact details, such as phone numbers.
Record your email and password so you can log back into QGrants.
If your organisation doesn't already existing in QGrants, you'll need to create an organisation account:
- Register your organisation by selecting New account under the Accounts tab.
- Select Organisation as the account type. You'll need to enter:
- ABN
- organisation name
- street and mailing addresses
- contact details
- your relationship to the organisation, such as role or position.
By default, you'll be registered as the primary contact for an organisation that you create. You can change this when other contacts are linked to the organisation.
The organisation must keep the primary contact up to date. To update your primary contacts, email backtowork@desbt.qld.gov.au, providing the organisation name, ABN, contact name and contact number.
If your organisation already exists in QGrants, you'll need to add yourself as a contact:
- In the Accounts tab, select Link to existing organisation.
- Select Contact person.
- Enter the ABN or Account ID for the organisation and select Request link.
An email will be sent to the organisation's primary contact officer to approve your request.
- Go to the Applications tab and select New application.
- Under Choose the grant program, select the Back to Work support payment you wish to apply for:
- BTW Employer Incentive Payment (which also includes Youth Boost)
- or
- Back to Work Small Business Support Pool.
- Select the Applicant from the drop-down list.
- Answer the questions on the online form to determine your eligibility. Ensure you have read the specific guidelines for funding before applying.
- Save your progress at every stage to avoid losing important information.
- Supply supporting documentation and ensure you enter your correct bank details.
- Read and agree to the terms and conditions and declarations. You are entering into a legal agreement with the Queensland Government—the information you provide must be true and correct.
- Submit the application.
Record your account and application numbers in case you need to follow up on your application—these are found in your QGrants account.
You can edit any application that is in draft status until it has been submitted. If you have submitted a form but have spotted an error, email backtowork@desbt.qld.gov.au.
Getting evidence documents witnessed
When applying for Back to Work support payments, you must support your application with evidence documents that have been witnessed by an independent authorised person as true and correct at the time of submission. Search for an authorised person.
Note that original evidence documents (e.g. an original driver licence) is not a certified copy. An exact copy of the original evidence document (e.g. copy of the driver licence), which has been witnessed by an independent authorised person, is a certified copy.
The documents help to determine your eligibility for the program, and protect against potential fraud or identity theft.
QGrants status definitions
When you have lodged an application through QGrants, it will be assigned a status. Your application status can be checked anytime by logging into your QGrants acccount.
If you start an application in QGrants and save it without submitting it, the application will be in draft. This means the application has not been sent and cannot be assessed by us.
To progress the application, you must:
- complete it
- attach all the requested documents
- submit the application within the relevant application timeframes.
Save your progress at every stage to avoid losing important information.
You must meet all required eligibility for the specific Back to Work support payment you are applying for. If your application doesn't meet the eligibility criteria, it will be deemed ineligible and will not be submitted to us for further assessment.
Ensure you read through and can meet all the eligibility criteria prior to applying.
Once your application is successfully submitted through QGrants and has passed the system validations, its status will be in process. This means that your application has been successfully submitted to us for processing.
All approvals are dependent on our review to ensure all eligibility criteria is met and evidence supplied meets the program guidelines. Processing times for applications will vary depending on the complexity of applications and the number of applications received. Applications submitted with all complete and correct information and evidence documents are usually process within 15 business days.
Once we've processed your application and it is deemed to have met all eligibility criteria it will be approved. Payments will be made to the bank account you provided in approximately 5–10 business days of the application being approved. Your financial institution's payment processing times may vary.
You'll receive an email informing you of the approval and your obligations as a recipient of funding under the Back to Work program. The approval is subject to the right and limitations in the terms and conditions, including if it is reasonably determined that you have received a payment for which the eligibility criteria were not met, the Queensland Government will require you to repay that payment.
If your application has been assessed as not meeting the eligibility criteria, you'll be notified that it has not been approved. You'll be provided with reasons why your application was not approved and you can request a review of that decision. Find out how in the guidelines for funding for the specific payment.
During the assessment process, you may be asked to provide further information to support your claim. If so, we'll re-open your application in QGrants, changing the status to more information required. This means the application is back with you to add further information—details of what you need to do will be emailed to you, as well as contacts if you need more assistance.
You must ensure that all information provided is correct throughout the whole application as the Employer Declaration must be reaffirmed.
Once you've provided the requested information and resubmitted the application, the status of your application will change to in process and proceed to us for processing.
QGrants technical assistance and troubleshooting
Device usage
Browser compatibility is important to ensure that your application can be both read and saved successfully in QGrants.
Compatible browsers for computers and laptops:
- Microsoft Windows
- Microsoft Edge (version 60.x.x and above)
- Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 11 and above)
- Mozilla Firefox (version 70.x.x and above)
- Google Chrome (version 70.x.x and above)
- Apple OS X
- Safari (version 10.x.x and above)
- Mozilla Firefox (version 70.x.x and above)
- Google Chrome (version 70.x.x and above)
- Note: Microsoft Edge is not currently supported.
We don't recommend applying on mobile devices. If it is unavoidable, ensure your device is using a recommended browser:
- iPad/iPhone at iOS 10.x and above using Safari
- Google Android device using Google Chrome 70.x.x and above.
Account maintenance
You must log in with the email address that was used to register the account. To change your login email address:
- Login to the QGrants website.
- In the Accounts tab, select Change login ID and email.
- Enter the new email address and select Submit.
- An activation code will be sent to your email – enter this in QGrants and select Activate.
To reset your password:
- Use QGrants forgot password function, found on the login screen. Enter your registered email address.
- You will receive an email from do_not_reply@osr.qld.gov.au. If you haven't received an email within 15 minutes, check your junk or spam mail folder.
- Use the password reset link contained in the email within 24 hours of receiving it to log into QGrants.
If the reset password screen tells you that the email address doesn't exist, you may have registered with an incorrect email address.
You will need to register again with the correct email address.
Troubleshooting
It may take a few minutes to receive emails from QGrants (registration, validation, etc). If you still haven't received the email after 15 minutes:
- Check your email junk or spam folder – save the senders email (do_not_reply@osr.qld.gov.au) to your safe list to ensure future email communication is received in your inbox.
- Are you behind a corporate firewall? Email filters may be applied by your business – check with your IT team if the QGrants email is being blocked.
If still unresolved, try resetting your password. Access this function via the QGrants login page. Once you receive this email, reset your password. You should be all set to access QGrants.
As a security precaution, QGrants will automatically log you off if there has been no activity for 15 minutes. This means that if you have spent more than 15 minutes on a step and you haven't saved your draft work, you may lose information you have entered.
We recommend you save your work every 15 minutes – use the Draft Save button after every second or third question. It may save you having to re-enter information or restarting your claim if you are logged off automatically. Note: The Draft Save button doesn't retain documents earmarked for uploading to QGrants – documents are only uploaded once you submit your application.
If you are experiencing a distorted webpage, your current browser may be incompatible.
For the best experience, use a computer or laptop to apply.
From time to time, QGrants may be in high demand which may cause connection or time out issues when making a claim. When we are made aware of issues, we'll post a message on the Back to Work program to let you know.
If you are unable to connect to the QGrants portal, close your internet browser and try again later.
If pages within QGrants are loading slowly, you may have a slow internet connection, or poor connectivity.
- Make sure that you (or other people on the same connection) are not using the internet for other things when you're applying (e.g. watching a streamed video).
- We recommend you save your work every 15 minutes – use the Draft Save button after every second or third question. It may save you having to re-enter information or restarting your claim if you are logged off automatically. Note: The Draft Save button doesn't retain documents earmarked for uploading to QGrants – documents are only uploaded once you submit your application.
- Don't leave the system idle for too long (for example, more than 15 minutes). You may be logged off for inactivity.
If you get a compatibility view error in Internet Explorer:
- Access the Tools menu in Internet Explorer (press the Alt key on your keyboard).
- Select Compatibility view settings.
- In the box under Add this website, type qld.gov.au.
- Select Add.
- Select Close.
Some versions of the Firefox web browser may have issues presenting dropdown lists.
Try selecting dropdown items using your keyboard.
Alternatively, try a different browser.
Some content delivered by QGrants is via pop-up windows. If you have pop-up blocking software installed on your computer, then some pages may not display as intended.
If you are having trouble uploading documents in the Specified Attachments screen, try using the Optional Attachments function at the bottom of the Attachments page.
This will allow you to provide additional supporting documentation.
If the system is left idle for too long, you may see a timeout, error message or a blank screen.
Try to enter your information again, without taking too much time between entering data.
Use the Draft Save button after every second or third question. It may save you having to re-enter information or restarting your claim if you are logged off automatically. Note: The Draft Save button doesn't retain documents earmarked for uploading to QGrants – documents are only uploaded once you submit your application.
If you are experiencing difficulties having the system accept your street address, email backtowork@desbt.qld.gov.au.
- Last reviewed: 1 Jul 2024
- Last updated: 1 Jul 2024