Bio

Simone Barker is a leading government grant advisor. Based in Melbourne, she supports clients nationwide to secure government grants across Commonwealth and State government jurisdictions.

Simone supports Australian companies to access the capital required to accelerate growth, improve productivity, scale innovation, decarbonise, and enhance global competitiveness.

She is an expert in working with organisations to identify the investment projects that align with Commonwealth and State policy priorities, then positioning them to maximise access to competitive funding programs.

Simone works with clients through the full funding lifecycle – from opportunity identification and project‑to‑program alignment confirmation, to project scoping and strategy development, application preparation and the development of compelling, evidence‑based business cases. Her approach emphasises crafting clear proposals that maximise competitiveness and demonstrate a strong value proposition for government participation.

With extensive experience quantifying economic, commercial, and sovereign capability benefits, Simone’s practical understanding of grant guidelines, assessment criteria, incentive programs, government policy frameworks, and industry development priorities enable clients to navigate complex grant funding environments with confidence.

She is recognised for her expertise in advanced manufacturing, defence industry grants, clean energy funding, circular economy programs, decarbonisation initiatives, and commercialisation support for innovative and emerging technologies.

Simone leverages her background in management consulting and international business to achieve her strong track record in securing government grant funding to accelerate her clients’ strategic ambitions. Prior to joining Crestview, Simone lead the government grant service offering at Grant Thornton Australia.

Simone holds a Bachelor of Arts – Asian Studies from The University of Melbourne, and a Master of Communication from Deakin University.