Free and subsidised AI help for Victorian small businesses

At a glance

• Want an expert to talk your plans through? Digital Solutions (A$110 for up to 5 hours of mentoring) or a free 45-minute Business Victoria advice session.
• Want to learn at your own pace? The National AI Centre’s free short courses and templates, or Deakin’s free SEED-AI online program.
• Want to be in a room with other owners? Council workshops: Hobsons Bay on 27 October, Boroondara on 11 November (A$15).
• In a priority industry such as medical science or agriculture? An AI Adopt Centre may help for free.

Digital Solutions: A$110 for up to five hours of mentoring

Digital Solutions is an Australian Government program; in Victoria it’s delivered by Melbourne Innovation Centre (MIC). You get “up to 5 hours of 1:1 mentoring with experienced mentors who understand small business”, and “your cost is $110 for the whole package”. [1]

• Who can apply: “for-profit small businesses with an active ABN, fewer than 20 full-time equivalent staff (sole traders included), based in Victoria, South Australia or Tasmania.” [1]
• How it runs: mentoring is by video call over a 12-week program, in intakes; if an intake is full you go on a waitlist. It’s one package per business for the life of the program. [2]
• Free extras: registering is free, and so are MIC’s webinars, workshops and online learning. In-person workshops are in Melbourne. [2] The next free AI webinar is on 5 November 2026, 10:00–10:45 am, online. [3]
• Open now: applications are open, and MIC says the program is subsidised until 2031. [1]

Business Victoria: a free 45-minute advice session

Business Victoria offers free one-on-one virtual advice sessions. They last 45 minutes, bookings are essential, and “only one session is available for each business per 12-month period”. At least one of the advisers lists AI integration as a focus area. [4]

Business Victoria’s Digital Jobs Program does include AI training, but it’s for businesses with fewer than 200 employees in certain industries, such as construction, not cafés or shops. Round 3 is open until the end of 2026. [5]

Free courses and templates from the government

• National AI Centre (ai.gov.au): free self-paced “microskills” short courses, such as “Generative AI and its business applications” [6], and free templates, including an AI policy template and an AI register [7]. (We wrote a one-page version of the AI policy for small businesses.)
• business.gov.au: a practical guide to starting with AI, and free AI courses run by the National AI Centre with TAFE NSW. Questions: 13 28 46. [8]

Free online courses from universities and banks

• SEED-AI (Deakin University): free, online, 10 hours of live sessions plus self-paced learning, up to 300 people per cohort. It’s listed by the City of Monash but run by Deakin. The next date is 9 November 2026. [9]
• NAB: an AI for Business masterclass made with the National AI Centre, to watch on demand. [10]
• CommBank: free AI learning modules with short videos. [11]

Council workshops, October to December 2026

• Hobsons Bay: “Intro to AI for business”, 27 October 2026, Civic Centre, Altona. The page doesn’t give a price. [12]
• Boroondara: “Get your business visible in AI chats”, Wednesday 11 November, 6:30–8:30 pm, Camberwell Civic Centre, A$15. [13]

Many councils ran AI sessions earlier in 2026 that have already finished. Check your own council’s business events page.

AI Adopt Centres: free, but only for some industries

The AI Adopt Centres “provide free specialist services for eligible SMEs” in the National Reconstruction Fund’s priority sectors, such as medical science, agriculture, enabling technologies, and renewables and low-emissions technology. [14] In Melbourne, SMEC AI offers a free information line (1800 517 403), a free 45-minute consultation and self-service tools; its AI Audit costs A$1,000. Eligibility is “typically fewer than 200 staff”. [15]

Low-cost paid courses

Victoria University runs “AI for Small Business” for A$330: eight weeks, self-paced and online, with intakes in October 2026 and mid-January 2027. [16]

If you’d rather do it in Chinese

We didn’t find any free or subsidised government AI program delivered in Chinese. The City of Melbourne’s Business Concierge offers its services through interpreters [17], and you can ask any program above whether they can book one.

Questions

Sources

All checked on 22 October 2026. Programs change, so check the source before you apply.

1. Melbourne Innovation Centre, Digital Solutions.
2. Melbourne Innovation Centre, FAQ.
3. Melbourne Innovation Centre, The Future of Small Business, Run by AI Agents? (webinar, 5 November 2026).
4. Business Victoria, Virtual advice sessions.
5. Business Victoria, Digital Jobs Program.
6. National AI Centre, Training.
7. National AI Centre, Planning tools and templates.
8. business.gov.au, Artificial intelligence; Digital Solutions.
9. City of Monash, SEED-AI: free AI training (a Deakin University program).
10. NAB, AI for business.
11. CommBank, AI learning hub.
12. Hobsons Bay City Council, Workshops and events.
13. City of Boroondara, Get your business visible in AI chats.
14. business.gov.au, AI Adopt Centres.
15. SMEC AI, Is SMEC AI free?
16. Victoria University, Applied AI for business.
17. City of Melbourne, Business Concierge.

Written by the AI team at Super Intelligence Melbourne, 22 October 2026. We don’t work for or get paid by any of these programs. Found something out of date? Email hello@melb.si.

Want two jobs set up rather than advice?

Mentoring and courses help you plan. Our online AI setup is the doing part: two of your everyday jobs handed over to AI, with step-by-step instructions written for your business.