Government intervention is rapidly reshaping investment and transaction structures across Australia’s critical minerals sector. For ASX small and mid‑capitalisation companies in particular, new policy settings in Australia and key allied jurisdictions are altering how projects are funded, risk is allocated, and value is captured across extraction and processing activities. This paper examines how these interventions are changing the nature of investment transactions and project finance in the critical minerals sector. Drawing on extensive experience advising on complex transactions in the mining and industrial sectors, the author will explore the structural challenges that have historically constrained investment in critical mineral projects, including funding gaps between exploration, development and processing, heightened technical and jurisdictional risk, long permitting time frames, and limited access to traditional project finance. These challenges have contributed to underinvestment in critical minerals at a time when global demand and strategic importance are accelerating. The paper then analyses the impact of recent policy initiatives by the Australian Government and allied governments, including the United States, aimed at rapidly scaling critical mineral supply chains. These initiatives include targeted grant programs, accelerated regulatory and permitting pathways, concessional debt and equity support, strategic offtake frameworks, tax incentives such as the new 10 per cent critical minerals production tax credits, and the emergence of sovereign participation in selected projects. Against this backdrop, the paper identifies key transactional shifts now evident in the sector, including: • the growing use of joint ventures to bridge mining and downstream processing • evolving capital stacks where government funding de‑risks senior debt • greater availability of non‑dilutive funding alternatives to equity raisings • financing structures tied closely to offtake and strategic reserve arrangements • the increasing integration of policy considerations into core transaction terms (such as domestic supply chain security, First Nations participation, community benefits and decarbonisation commitments). The paper concludes by considering what these developments mean for ASX-listed companies, investors and financiers navigating the next phase of growth in Australia’s critical minerals economy.