Deadline: 5-Mar-21
The Department of Communities (Communities) through the support of the Department of Finance has established a small grants program to build the capability of the Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCO) sector across Western Australia.
The ACCO Capability Building Grants Program is designed to support, develop and empower ACCOs to improve their capacity to procure, lead and deliver more culturally appropriate services for Aboriginal children, families, people, and communities.
Funding Information
- Grants of up to $45,454 per project are available for eligible Aboriginal not-for-profit or charitable organisations as determined through co-design with Communities ACCO PWG.
Items not eligible for grant expenditure
- Recurring maintenance or operational costs of existing programs or facilities including but not limited to rent, maintenance, service charges, administration, ongoing wages or salaries;
- Interstate and overseas travel;
- Purchase of capital items, infrastructure or equipment;
- Activities that involve commercial ventures, charitable events or fundraising activities;
- Gifts or payments for project participants;
- Projects that duplicate an existing or similar project or service within the community;
- Projects that are traditionally funded through other sources (e.g. disability access); and;
- Projects that could be delivered as part of agreed services under an existing service or grant agreement the organisation has with the Department of Communities.
Eligibility Criteria
- To be eligible for a grant through the ACCO Capability Building Grants Program 2021, applicants must be operating fully within the state of Western Australia and meet this definition in the Closing the Gap Agreement (Sc 44):
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community control is an act of self-determination. Under this Agreement, an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Community-Controlled Organisation delivers services, including land and resource management, that builds the strength and empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and people and is:
- incorporated under relevant legislation and not-for-profit.
- controlled and operated by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.
- connected to the community, or communities, in which they deliver the services.
- governed by a majority Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander governing body.
- To be eligible to apply, an organisation must be currently delivering or aspiring to deliver services on behalf of the Department of Communities.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community control is an act of self-determination. Under this Agreement, an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Community-Controlled Organisation delivers services, including land and resource management, that builds the strength and empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and people and is:
- Organisations not eligible to apply
- Commonwealth or State Government agencies;
- Individuals;
- Commercial, for-profit organisations; and
- Organisations located in the Indian Ocean Territories.
- Organisations that have outstanding acquittal or evaluation requirements from previous Communities’ grant or program funding are ineligible to apply until the required documentation has been submitted.
Assessment Criteria
Each application will be assessed against the following criteria:
- Demonstrate how the project will benefit the community or region during the project period and beyond.
- The project addresses current gaps in service delivery within the community or region.
- Identify anticipated governance and operational improvements that will be delivered by the project.
- Demonstrate the leadership and capacity-building skills acquired as a direct result of the project.
- Evidence of sound planning and ability to manage the project, including clearly defined project outcomes and project evaluation to measure the effectiveness, feasibility, and sustainability of the initiative.
- The requested grant amount demonstrates value for money and is reasonable to deliver the project activities and outcomes.
The overall funding for this program is finite and Communities will fund as many submissions as possible within the approved funding envelope.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3bqtYrL