What is the Veteran and Community Grants?
The Veteran and Community Grants is a program to maintain and improve the independence and quality of life for members of the Australian veteran community by providing funding for projects that sustain or enhance health and wellbeing.
Background
The Veteran and Community Grants Program forms part of Program 2.4 Veterans Community Care and Support in DVA’s Portfolio Budget Statement. The V&CG Program is now a targeted competitive program.
Under this grant opportunity, practical projects and activities that support safe, accessible environments for veterans and their families to enable social connection and positive engagement to improve wellbeing are encouraged. This includes small-scale non-capital infrastructure projects.
Funding
The Australian Government has announced a total of $2,505,000 (GST exclusive) for the Veterans and Community Grants Program for the 2021–22 financial year. Applications will be considered under 2 grant categories: small grants (up to a maximum of $50,000 per grant) or large grants (from $50,001 to a maximum of $150,000 per grant). There are no pre-determined numbers or funding split for small or large grants applications.
You may only apply for one grant in this grant opportunity (one small grant application, or one large grant application), to maximise the number of organisations and communities benefiting from the program.
Small grants of up to $50,000 per grant are available for local, community-based projects and activities.
At the discretion of the decision maker, a small number of large grants from $50,001 and up to a maximum of $150,000 are available for projects that deliver wellbeing support services and activities of broad-scale benefit to the veteran community. Applicants for large grants will need to provide more detailed information (compared to small grant applicants) about their proposal against the nominated assessment criteria to justify the higher funding amount requested and enable assessment of their applications.
Eligible Projects
Funding must be used to deliver projects and activities that meet the objective and intended outcomes of the Veteran and Community Grants Program.
For small grants under this grant opportunity, practical projects and activities that support safe, accessible environments for veterans and their families to enable social connection and positive engagement to improve wellbeing are encouraged. For large grants under this grant opportunity, grants will be considered for projects that deliver
wellbeing support services and activities of broad-scale benefit to the veteran community.
Examples of activities that may be funded include:
- small-scale non-capital infrastructure projects
- improvements to support safe and accessible environments, for example, purchase of a defibrillator, repair/replace heating and cooling, repair/replace electrical wiring, building modifications (ramps, wider doorways, and such) to improve accessibility
- purchase of minor tools and equipment, for example, wood-working/art/craft tools, tools for Men’s Sheds
- activities to increase social connectedness and reduce social isolation, for example, classes to learn a new skill or hobby, online book club, and such.
- promoting and enhancing healthy lifestyles, particularly physical activity and mental wellbeing, for example, exercise classes, yoga or meditation sessions, cooking classes, development of a community garden
- building repairs and maintenance, for example, small-scale kitchen refurbishments
- addressing gaps in local services for the veteran community consistent with the program guidelines.
The Veteran and Community Grants program has funded a broad range of projects and activities over the past few years. Some examples include:
- camping and social inclusion activities for veterans and their families
- sports activities such as indoor rowing, rugby, dragon boating and mountain biking
- purchase of minor equipment such as defibrillators, computers, air conditioning and tools for Men’s Sheds
- excursions for senior veterans such as bus trips to reduce social isolation
- transition workshops
- online healthy living programs and exercise classes
- minor renovations such as paving, decking, kitchen refurbishments and improving disabled access to venues
- video training courses on starting a small business
- mental health first aid training
- development of apps for veterans to engage with each other
- cooking and healthy eating workshops
- peer support and career coaching programs.
Eligible Applicants
To be eligible to apply you must be either:
- an Ex-Service Organisation (ESO); OR
- a non-ESO (an organisation external to the ESO community) operating as a Trustee on behalf of a Trust that includes an ESO; OR
- a non-ESO in a partnership or consortium arrangement with at least one ESO; AND
- one of the legal entity types listed at section 4.1.2 of the guidelines
- incorporated by the closing date and time of this grant opportunity
Applicants that satisfy the above eligibility criteria are eligible to apply for either a small or large grant. The following provides relevant definitions for the above eligibility requirements.
Timing
Applications close 20 January 2022.
More Information
