Sub-Fund Grants Program – Australia

Deadline: 09-Aug-2024

The Victorian Women’s Benevolent Trust is currently accepting applications for the Sub-Fund Grants Program.

The grants help women, girls and gender diverse people to thrive. Since 1985, they have seen the targeted grants help community projects take shape, grow and change lives.

They are one of Australia’s few grant-makers dedicated to supporting women and girls across Victoria. Each year, they give to high impact initiatives through the community grants program; and proudly honour the life and contribution of women through their many Sub-Funds.

The Sub-Funds provide small grants to eligible organisations for innovative programs that directly address the purposes of each Sub-Fund.

Categories

• If you are uncertain about which Sub-Fund might fit your project, please feel free to make an application with the following general categories in mind:
  • Health and well-being
  • Family violence and sexual harassment
  • Poverty and income insecurity
  • Housing and homelessness
  • Gender equality and discrimination
  • Disability
  • Leadership
  • Education and empowerment
  • First Nations rights

Sub-Fund Purposes

• Every Sub Fund honours women in some way. Some are named after a woman or a couple, others are established in their memory, or have a giving focus that honours a woman’s life, passions, and contributions. Each invest in creating a better world for women and girls. They have seventeen named Sub-Funds to choose from. Read on to find out which might suit your application best.
• Important: Your application must address at least one purpose of your chosen Sub-Fund. You do not need to address all listed purposes.
  • Fleur Spitzer Sub-Fund 
    • Supports projects that:
      • increase the literacy, educational opportunity and empowerment of women and girls; or
      • identify and address barriers that deny older women safety, security, and dignity.
  • Con Irwin Sub-Fund 
    • Supports innovative social justice projects that offer circuit breaking solutions to:
      • discrimination;
      • violence against women and children; and
      • inequality of educational opportunity.
  • Christine Friday & Kathleen Pooley Sub-Fund 
    • Supports project applications from Aboriginal community organisations that:
      • address the education, health needs and housing of Aboriginal women and girls in Victoria.
  • Humanitas Sub-Fund 
    • Supports project applications from women from African countries living in Victoria, including those who are refugees or asylum seekers that:
      • enable them to avail themselves of educational, employment and other economic opportunities in Australia.
  • Jan Webster and Sue Peterson Sub-Fund 
    • Supports projects that work with:
      • women exiting prison;
      • educational and leadership opportunities for Aboriginal women; and
      • pathways for women out of homelessness.
  • Loula Rodopoulos Sub-Fund 
    • Supports projects that:
      • assist women recovering from mental illness or other difficult circumstances; or
      • support and enable programs which encourage young and established female writers.
  • Union of Australian Women Sub-Fund (Victoria) 
    • Supports projects from Aboriginal organisations which address:
      • Indigenous rights, leadership and training for Indigenous girls in Victoria.
  • Ruth Owens & Kevin Lynch Sub-Fund 
    • Supports grassroots projects that address and enhance educational and employment opportunities for:
      • single women as parents; and
      • refugee and migrant women.
  • Prue Myer Sub-Fund 
    • Supports projects for immigrants, refugees and disadvantaged girls and young women that:
      • provide them with positive mentoring opportunities;
      • improve their academic and educational outcomes; and
      • encourage their engagement and participation in political life.
  • Jean Mccaughey Social Justice Sub-Fund 
    • Supports research projects that relate to women in the areas of:
      • homelessness;
      • poverty and family well-being; and
      • strengthening local communities.
  • Joan Hudson Sub-Fund 
    • Supports projects that provide:
      • positive and effective community supports for mothers and their children;
      • new and/or improved opportunities for respite care for mothers of children with high-need disabilities; or
      • practical support for young women from less advantaged backgrounds to access educational and academic opportunities.
  • Alma & Albert Tivendale Sub-Fund 
    • Assist projects which:
      • Support girls who are disadvantaged in overcoming barriers to participation in physical activities such as sport and dance; and
      • foster imaginative community models to assist women and their families experiencing financial hardship due to health and medical crises.
  • Deborah Ganderton & John Henry Sub-Fund 
    • Assist projects which:
      • support young women and gender diverse people in developing their skill and capacity in strategic foresight and strategic planning to advance full gender equality.
  • Supriya Singh Sub-Fund 
    • Supports projects which:
      • financially empower women who have experienced violence and abuse; or
      • deepen the understanding and communication of gender, money, power and control in intimate relationships.
  • Essie Burbridge Sub-Fund 
    • Supports projects that provide:
      • positive and effective community supports for mothers and their children;
      • new and/or improved opportunities for respite care for mothers of children with high-need disabilities; or
      • practical support for young women from less advantaged backgrounds to access educational and academic opportunities.
  • Nancye & John Cain Sub-Fund 
    • Assist projects for women, girls and gender diverse peoples with disability or disabilities, including hearing loss, in ways which:
      • support their participation, civic engagement and leadership capacity;
      • address barriers in society that prevent their full and equal enjoyment; and
      • empower them to have independence, choice, and control in their own lives.
  • Fay Marles Equal Opportunity Sub-Fund 
    • Supports projects that provide:
      • leadership training to increase young women’s working knowledge of equal opportunity legislation, structures and processes;
      • research that strengthens knowledge of loopholes and gaps in equal opportunity legislation, with a view to system improvement and policy change; and
      • education and engagement on equal opportunity issues in workplaces, organisations and in the broader community.

Funding Information

• Grants can range from small sums up to $10,000 depending on the Sub-Fund.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Victorian Women’s Benevolent Trust cannot fund individuals.
• Grant applicants must be endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office for Item 1, Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR), and either Tax Concession Charity (TCC) or can prove that they would be charitable but for their connection with government (usually established by a letter from the ATO). Applicants must provide a copy of these endorsements, or a letter from the ATO, at the time of application.
• Eligibility is strictly limited to groups that operate for charitable purposes and either provide relief of poverty, sickness, suffering, distress, misfortune, destitution, or helplessness amongst Victorian women or operate for purposes beneficial to Victorian women.
• Projects must address the needs of women and girls living in Victoria.
• VWBT is open to funding the project of an eligible organisation in partnership with another organisation.
• VWBT does not provide matching or shortfall funding for government funded projects, infrastructure, or operational costs.

For more information, visit Victorian Women’s Benevolent Trust.