Deadline: 30-Apr-24
The Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal is seeking applications for grants supporting mental health in rural communities across Australia.
In a Good Place program gives small remote, rural and regional communities across Australia the opportunity to access funds for a broad range of community-driven projects, services, activities or initiatives, which clearly and directly focus on strengthening mental health and wellbeing of vulnerable community members who are at risk of, or are experiencing, mental health issues.
The program aims to support a range of approaches that are preventative or responsive in nature, reduce social isolation by increasing social participation and connectedness, and reduce stigma surrounding mental health by encouraging open discussion and supporting self-help-seeking.
There are now two streams within the program:
- Community wellbeing for projects focussing on mental health and wellbeing within remote, rural and regional communities;
- Farmers and farming communities for project specifically supporting mental health and wellbeing of farmers and the communities they live in.
Objectives
- Reducing stigma surrounding mental health and self-help seeking;
- Increasing help-seeking of vulnerable community members who are at risk of, or are experiencing, mental health issues;
- Supporting farmers and farming communities;
- Reducing social isolation; or
- Increasing social participation and connectedness.
Priorities
- While all requests will be considered, the priorities for funding are outlined below:
- Projects that respond to specific mental health and wellbeing issues within a local community;
- Projects that are initiated and delivered by local community and not-for-profit organisations, rather than organisations from outside of the beneficiary community. Organisations from outside of beneficiary communities applying for funds will need to provide sufficient evidence that the local community endorses the organisation and the project, or has initiated the partnership to deliver the project, such as support letters;
- Projects serving communities with populations under 10,000 in remote, rural, and regional communities are preferred. Applications from population centres greater than 10,000, for projects that support community members from smaller population centres are also considered;
- Projects that do not duplicate an existing service or program;
- Projects that are sustainable beyond the period of the grant.
Funding Information
- This year, the In a Good Place program will offer grants of up to $20,000, from a funding pool of at least $290,000.
What can be funded?
- The program is open primarily to charitable projects that use non-clinical approaches to engagement, and are community-based and accessible to everyone. Priority will be given to initiatives that:
- Are delivered by non-clinical providers of mental health care, such as school counsellors and teachers, pastoral care teams, neighborhood or community groups;
- Improve accessibility and availability of mental health services, tools or support to areas with limited or no access to the same, through technology or other innovative methods;
- Improve knowledge of mental health services, tools or support through the development of local community resources;
- Provide innovative responses that are inclusive and which build social connections that lead to better mental health, such as delivering, or providing activities, events, programs and services;
- Confront stigma surrounding help-seeking behaviour in locally responsive ways such as community events and/or activities with strong and positive mental health messaging.
- Projects must:
- Be conducted for charitable purposes and consistent with broad public benefit;
- Directly relate to one or more of the objectives of In a Good Place;
- Demonstrate strong community support for the project and involvement of a range of community perspectives;
- Be undertaken within 12 months of receiving the funding, reporting back to FRRR on the outcomes of the project within three months of project completion, with a further follow up phone-based review with FRRR in the following three months.
What can’t be funded?
- Projects that support core business and areas of responsibility of Federal, State and Local Governments;
- Solely ongoing core organisational operational costs (e.g. rent, utilities, regular wages, loan repayments);
- The encouragement or advancement of sport, recreation and purely social activities are not considered charitable activities under Australian law. Applications from sporting organisations need to clearly demonstrate charitable outcomes and benefit to the wider community that are above and beyond the sporting activities of the club;
- Overseas travel and overseas projects;
- Prizes, gifts, trophies or awards;
- Political lobbying;
- Projects that primarily benefit private business, a sole trader, or private interests;
- Projects solely focussed on animal welfare.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicant organisations must be a not-for-profit organisation with an ABN or Incorporation Certificate.
- Project must be for charitable purposes and offer clear public benefit;
- Not-for-profit organisations with or without DGR-1 endorsement are eligible;
- Organisations can only submit one application per grant round;
- Projects must benefit communities in remote, rural or regional Australia.
Ineligibility Criteria
- Please note, you will be considered ineligible if the:
- Application is submitted by individuals, sole traders, private or commercial businesses (as per the submitted ABN);
- Application is submitted by an organisation that is not a legal entity (i.e. a registered not-forprofit), without the written consent of the governing/partnering body who holds the ABN/Incorporation Certificate;
- Application is submitted without required financial documentation;
- Final report/s from any FRRR grants awarded in the previous seven years have not been acquitted (delivery organisations should check with legal organisation to see if there are any outstanding final reports);
- Application is for a project or activity that has already occurred/is occurring prior to the announcement of funding;
- Application is incomplete.
For more information, visit FRRR.
