Elevate Learning Grants Program in Australia

Deadline: 13-Nov-22

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has announced its Elevate Learning Grants Program to deliver a systematic approach to the education and professional development of the Performance Pathways workforce.

The Key Strategic Pillars of the AIS Performance Pathways Strategy is to develop and improve the effectiveness of Australian high-performance pathways to successfully identify, develop, support and progress talented athletes to achieve medal winning performances in the future.

A key focus area is to increase the capacity and capability of the Performance Pathways workforce, working with nationally categorised athletes at the Emerging, Developing and Podium Potential levels.

Purpose

The purpose of the Program is to invest in education and professional development opportunities for a sport-specific learning experience to improve the ability of the workforce to identify, develop, support and progress talented athletes (i.e. Categorised by the NSO).

The cost of education, professional development opportunities and associate expenses can be supported.

The AIS Elevate Learning Grants Program targets:

• Performance Pathway Coaches currently working directly with Performance Pathway athletes categorised as Emerging, Developing or Podium Potential;
• Performance Pathway Leads and Managers currently supporting the pathway network and currently work to lead with Performance Pathway athletes categorised as Emerging, Developing or Podium Potential.
• Performance Pathway Practitioners and Performance Support Team members currently working directly with Performance Pathway athletes categorised as Emerging, Developing or Podium Potential.

Funding Information

• The total budget for the AIS Elevate Learning Grants program in 2022/2023 is $150,000.
• The maximum grant available to any individual is $5,000 (exclusive of GST).

Eligible Expenses

What can the grant money be used for? Activities and opportunities that will be supported may include (but are not limited to).

• Coaching Accreditation.
• Sport/discipline-specific learning courses.
• Mentoring and training with peers (within and/or across disciplines).
• Attending conferences relevant to the performance pathway strategic pillars.
• Participation in formal network activities (e.g., attending an AIS conferences).
• University or other educational based qualification relevant to the performance pathway strategic pillars.
• Travel costs associated with the above activities.
  • The AIS will consider the following criteria in determining whether the travel and travelrelated expenses are supported:
    • The travel is necessary to fulfill the objective of the activity and it directly benefits the activity, and;
    • The cost for travel is reasonable and represents efficient use of the grant.
  • Accommodation costs may be supported but only up to a maximum of $200 per night (if the $200 threshold is exceeded applicants will be expected to cover the additional expense)
  • Travel costs must be the lowest practical cost available, and the AIS may reduce the grant provided inline with typical costs for a given travel route.
    • Eligible travel costs include airfares, car hire, or Taxi/Rideshare at destination (with full receipt), or fuel costs for private car (only if destination is greater than 200km from home origin).
      • Fuel costs for private vehicle use will be calculated based off the ATO figures for 2022-23 of 0.78 cents per kilometer.
  • Food/meals and incidental costs will not be eligible expenses under travel costs.

Eligibility Criteria

The applicant must satisfy all the following criteria:

• Be either a coach, performance support practitioner or lead/manager working with nationally categorised pathway athlete (Emerging, Developing or Podium Potential categories), or working directly in a performance pathway environment (i.e. NIN) within an AIS categorised sport.
• Be endorsed by their NSO (Performance Pathway lead or Performance Director) and/or an appropriate NIN Personnel (Senior Manager).
• Apply for grant support for an activity commencing in 2022 and 2023 but has not been commenced at the time when the application is submitted.
• Not currently employed by the Australian Sports Commission.

Assessment Panel Consideration Framework

• Submission review
  • Does the application clearly outline the purpose, impact on performance pathway athletes, risk if not funded and budget of the project?
  • Does the Coach/Practitioner application align to the NSOs performance pathway strategic plan?
  • Does the project comply with the grant program purpose?
• Project sustainability
  • What is the NSO level of need for the project against their strategic priorities?
  • Has the NSO offered similar opportunities in the past?
  • What will the opportunity provide that is not currently accessible (affordable?) by the Coach/Practitioner? Does the expected outcome of the project align with the desired objective of the AIS Performance Pathway?
  • Does the expected outcome of the project align with the desired objective of the AIS Performance Pathway?
  • What is the impact/benefit of the proposed course/training to the applicant, the supporting organisation or the sport?
  • Demonstration of how the proposed project/training will benefit the applicant to progress the performance pathway.
• Risk identification
  • What level of risk is associated with the project completion?
  • To what extent does the applicant have the ability to successfully carry out the project given their role within the NSOs performance pathway?
• Budget
  • How appropriate is the grant application in terms of dollars requested?
  • Has the grant application received the endorsement/support of the NSO?

For more information, visit AIS.

For more information, visit https://www.ais.gov.au/career-and-education/elevate-learning-grants-program