Deadline: 28-Mar-25
The WorkSafe Victoria is requesting applications for its Return to Work Innovations Grants to help improve recovery and return to work outcomes.
Each round will have a specific theme, aligned to the key return to work areas of focus and designed to address key barriers facing injured workers. This will include funding for initiatives including:
- Education and training programs
- New treatment and support services
- Programs that promote recovery at work
Focus Areas
- Early access to treatment/support services: Implementing an innovative and improved early intervention triage program/process to identify appropriate treatments to improve return to work outcomes.
- Recover at work: Develop and implement healthy and safe processes, procedures and/or programs that support a worker (with a primary mental injury) that has chosen to remain at work during their recovery. This may include however is not limited to, new and innovative flexible work practices, work re-design, facilitated graded return to work, social supports, retraining, job-seeking support, and service coordination.
- Training and education: Developing training materials; train or educate workplaces on early intervention for primary mental injuries experienced within the workplace; educating employers, workers and medical practitioners on the protection and promotion of worker health.
- Support: Providing services and education to high-risk industries or communities with a higher population of people impacted by primary mental injuries.
Priority Industries
- Health care and social assistance
- Education and training
- Transport, postal and warehousing
- Construction
- Professional, scientific and technical services
- Manufacturing
- Retail trade
- Wholesale trade
- Administrative and support services
Funding Information
- Grant amount up to $500,000 over two (2) years.
Ineligible Projects
- Projects with the primary aim to prevent injuries.
- Projects with the primary aim to undertake research.
- Purchase of equipment – where the principal activity is the purchase of equipment. They expect that if the purchase of equipment is included as a component of the project, it is delivered alongside other risk management measures.
- Capital works, commercial activities or projects that seek funding for operational expenses that should be covered by the workplace.
- Activities that are being funded through other WorkSafe programs (for example sponsorship, funding agreements or other grants).
- Fundraising activities or competitions.
- Activities run by WorkSafe.
- Services provided by or on behalf of WorkSafe.
- Retrospective funding – reimbursement for activities that are already underway or commenced prior to the date of contracting.
- Projects that seek to implement industry standard controls that are widely used.
- Projects for activities which are considered ‘business as usual’ or to meet an employers obligation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013
- Projects that will be delivered to workplaces outside Victoria.
- Projects that seek funding to develop a proposal (e.g. seed funding).
- Applications that intend to auspice another organisation to manage the project – the organisation applying must be the one that will run the project. This does not prohibit the use of subject matter experts in the delivery of your project.
- Projects that will use the funds to provide grants to workplaces or individuals.
- Projects that will be delivered on a “for-profit” basis or commercial gain.
- Projects not deemed to be ethical in their design or delivery.
Eligibility Criteria
- Align to the Investment principles;
- Be from an organisation registered for GST and an ABN;
- Demonstrate improvements to return to work outcomes. Include best practice and evidence-based approaches where possible, and provide evidence to support the application (this may be internal data from a workplace or published peer reviewed literature);
- Demonstrate value for money and sustainability beyond the grant funding;
- Include evidence of support for the project approach from all proposed partner organisations, if the project is being delivered as a partnership;
- Allocate a reasonable percentage of project budget towards contracting experts if required;
- Allocate a reasonable percentage (approximately 10%) of project budget towards monitoring and evaluation;
- Allocate a reasonable percentage of project budget, according to scale and scope, towards salary (FTE) costs if required (not including engagement with subject matter experts or professional services);
- Maintain or obtain the appropriate type and level of insurance(s) for the activities that are the subject of this grant application, such as public liability or product liability insurance.
For more information, visit WorkSafe Victoria.