LGBTIQA+ Organisational Development Grants (Australia)

Deadline: 14-Apr-25

Submissions are now open for the LGBTIQA+ Organisational Development Grants to strengthen Victoria’s LGBTIQA+ communities by supporting LGBTIQA+ organisations and groups to grow their crucial work.

Objectives

• Organisations and groups funded through this program must show the positive impact their organisation’s activities have on Victoria’s LGBTIQA+ communities. The proposed activities must deliver against at least one of the following 5 program objectives.
  • Capacity building
    • To build organisations and equip their people with:
      • knowledge
      • skills
      • processes
      • resources.
  • Sustainability
    • Support strategic planning by LGBTIQA+ organisations and groups. This includes support to form partnerships with similar and aligned organisations, to:
      • achieve mutual goals
      • promote long-term viability
      • reduce reliance on external funding
      • increase ongoing capacity.
  • Accessibility and inclusion
    • Support LGBTIQA+ organisations to improve inclusive practices that engage diverse and intersectional LGBTIQA+ people. Funding priority is for LGBTIQA+ organisations that focus on working with:
      • Aboriginal and First Nations people
      • people with disability
      • culturally and linguistically diverse people
      • faith-based communities
      • asexual communities
      • trans and gender diverse communities
      • intersex people
      • LGBTIQA+ people from low socio-economic backgrounds
      • seniors and older people
      • bi+ communities
      • communities in the following areas:
      • outer suburban
      • peri-urban
      • regional
      • rural.
  • Expansion
    • Enable the growth of core operations into new locations with a focus on regional and rural communities.
    • Improve processes to support meaningful engagement with diverse and intersectional LGBTIQA+ communities.
  • Governance
    • Strengthen organisational governance to make sure organisations are stable and secure to respond to the needs of LGBTIQA+ communities. This includes formalising the structure of a board or management committee.

Funding Information

• The total available funding is $400,000.
• Funding is available under 2 streams:
  • Stream 1: Grants of up to $20,000 for new organisations
  • Stream 2: Grants of up to $40,000 for established organisations.

Eligible Activities

• The following are examples of activities that the program could fund:
  • develop plans, for example:
    • strategic
    • business
    • marketing
    • fundraising
  • develop and deliver engagement plans across diverse LGBTIQA+ communities
  • identify new income streams to increase business growth
  • develop or deliver community engagement plans and strategies (including online delivery), in the following areas:
    • regional
    • rural
    • peri-urban
    • cross-border
    • outer suburban
  • advice from consultants or subject matter experts, such as:
    • legal
    • business
    • financial
    • fundraising
  • undertake research with practical applications to benefit Victoria’s LGBTIQA+ communities
  • employment of fixed-term contract staff engaged to deliver the proposed project (see note below)
  • create or strengthen partnerships to leverage resources and opportunities with other organisations
  • training and development of staff, volunteers and board members. This training must directly benefit the organisation and improve knowledge. It may include:
    • organisational planning
    • policy review
    • governance
    • leadership and management
    • financial management
    • fundraising
    • volunteer management
    • marketing
    • social media
    • website development
    • Advertising

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible to apply for this funding program, your organisation or group must be either a:
  • community, not-for-profit or peak community body based in Victoria that is an incorporated legal entity under:
    • the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) or
    • the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2001 (Vic) (or equivalent legislation in a neighbouring state) or
    • a similar type of organisation
  • social enterprise with a clearly stated purpose or mission related specifically to supporting LGBTIQA+ communities.
• You must also:
  • be operating for and across the LGBTIQA+ sector or communities
  • be an organisation with limited experience (for stream 1) or established experience (for stream 2) in supporting LGBTIQA+ people and communities
  • have a current Australian Business Number (ABN) or an auspice with a current ABN
  • have an appropriate level of public liability insurance to cover all aspects of the program or an auspice arrangement with this insurance cover
  • have no overdue reporting from other grants provided by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH).
  • The department will prioritise applications from LGBTIQA+ community organisations and groups.

Who cannot apply? 

• The following cannot apply for these grants:
  • sole traders or individuals (including sole traders or individuals with an auspice)
  • state and federal government departments and agencies
  • trusts
  • local government authorities (LGAs) including:
  • LGA-managed, operated, administered and regulated trusts
  • registered primary and secondary schools
  • preschools
  • TAFE institutes
  • universities
  • applicants with overdue or outstanding reports from previous or current Victorian government grants.

For more information, visit Government of Victoria.