Subjects: The Federal Government's Maker Grants Program.

LISA CHESTERS: Thank you all for coming out today. I’m Lisa Chesters, Federal Member for Bendigo, and I have a special guest with me today here at the Bendigo Discovery Centre. Can I give a shout out to Alissa and the entire team here at the Bendigo Discovery Centre who engages kids in science and excites kids and gets kids really energetic about science. As a mum of two kids, I know how much they love coming here and I know how much Bendigo loves this space and how we've seen it grow over the years to be hosting today, as a Curiosity Centre. I'm here today with a special guest, a good friend of mine, Senator the Hon Tim Ayres, who is the Minister for Innovation, Science and a whole bunch of other great and exciting things. And he's here to talk more about the work that we're doing at a federal level to help encourage kids to develop that love of science from an early age, that they might consider a career in STEM, but they also might consider just engaging in lifelong learning about science. So, welcome, Senator.

SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: Well, I'm just absolutely delighted to be here in Bendigo at this wonderful centre. Alissa and the team are showing us not just kids here, but there's little kids and big kids, there's parents and grandparents experiencing the wonder of science. And I hope and think it’s inspiring future generations to grab hold of the opportunities in science, and technology, and engineering, and maths and to see how exciting and inspiring all this is.

Of course, I'm here to announce that the Federal Government's grants program, the Maker Grants, is open again today. And this centre is a living example of a Curiosity Centre that has grabbed hold of that grant opportunity and deployed it not just here in Bendigo at this wonderful centre, but also all around Central Regional Victoria. And the Albanese Government firmly believes that regional kids should have the same opportunities as city kids. Access to science learning, to maths learning, to the wonder of science and education. We're just so pleased at the work that Alissa and the team have done with Lisa's support, to bring that science here and libraries right through Central Victoria. This grant program has led to 2,000 regional Victorian kids interacting with this amazing facility and being encouraged to come here with their mums and dads or their grandparents to come back and experience this wonderful centre. Happy to take any questions.

JOURNALIST: How many grants are available in this new round?

AYRES: So, the grants program operates from $20,000 up to $100,000. It's a $2 million grant program. So, of course, the number of final grants will depend upon the assessment process. But if you're in regional Australia in particular, grab hold of the opportunity. I want to see kids have these opportunities in primary school to inspire them to grab hold of these courses in high school and think about trades education or further education, because Australia needs young scientists and we need young engineers to capture the opportunities and deal with the challenges of our future.

JOURNALIST: It's a bit of a nuts-and-bolts question, but when do the applications open and when do they close?

AYRES: Applications open today, so you can jump online, grab hold of the application form. They close in the middle of June, so there's a good six weeks or so out there for institutions to grab hold of these applications. There's a real focus here on making sure that they're not just individual applications from institutions, but they're reaching out across, to collaborate across the community, drag more experts, more capacity into country towns and regional areas to make these programs a real success for kids.

ENDS.