Deadline: 9-Dec-20
The Australian Government is inviting entities to apply for grant funding under the Women’s Leadership and Development Program (WLDP) Project Grants.
Focus Areas
The objective of the WLDP is to improve outcomes for Australian women in 5 key focus areas:
- Women’s Job Creation: Jobs and employment pathways are created for women, and women are equipped for jobs of the future, particularly in non-traditional and/or male-dominated industries. The types of projects that may be funded include but are not limited to:
- Projects that address women’s unemployment and set up women for the future, especially in non-traditional and/or male-dominated industries.
- Projects that complement existing initiatives under the government’s JobMaker Plan, such as the JobTrainer Fund, supporting job seekers and young people, including school leavers, to maintain labour market connections, to train and upskill and to move into employment as the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Women’s Economic Security: Women’s economic security improves across their lifetime. The type of projects that may be funded include but are not limited to:
- Mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on women, such as providing online support during the crisis to improve financial literacy skills and supporting women through the recovery phase of the crisis.
- Initiatives that reduce women’s homelessness such as helping women accumulate retirement savings in the future, including pay equity, financial capability and superannuation.
- Women’s Workforce Participation: Women’s workforce participation increases and barriers are reduced, especially in sectors where women are under-represented. The types of projects that may be funded include but are not limited to:
- Maximising women’s participation in the paid workforce by increasing women’s work choices and addressing barriers to women working in the paid workplace; including access to flexible work arrangements, preventing and responding to sexual harassment and access to women leaders.
- Job-focused skills training, including skill refreshers for women returning to the workforce after career breaks and upskilling for women looking to increase their participation, particularly in traditionally male-dominated fields and sectors.
- Programs to support and encourage women into entrepreneurship, particularly in high growth fields such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
- Women’s Leadership: Women’s representation on boards and in other leadership positions increases, especially in sectors where women are under-represented. The types of projects that may be funded include but are not limited to:
- Scholarships, programs or events, which promote women’s leadership, particularly in high growth fields such as STEM; and initiatives that improve women’s leadership capability, including participation and leadership in sport.
- Women’s Safety: Women are safer in their homes and communities. The types of projects that may be funded include but are not limited to:
- Initiatives which seek to support women who have experienced domestic, family and sexual violence to participate at work, particularly those seeking to enter, return to or retain work.
- Initiatives which seek to address forms of violence against women and provide services to women affected by violence.
- Support for initiatives that reduce the incidence of female genital mutilation.
- Preventing the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.
Funding Information
- Up to $40 million GST exclusive is available for this grant opportunity over 2020–21 to 2023–24.
- It is anticipated that most grants will be between $200,000 to $800,000 GST exclusive, depending on the scope of the grant activity and its complexity.
- Multi-year grants are available, however, your project must not extend past 30 June 2024.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible you must be one of the following entity types:
- Indigenous Corporation;
- Company;
- Cooperative;
- Incorporated Association;
- Sole Trader;
- Statutory Entity;
- Partnership.
Not Eligible
You are not eligible to apply if you are:
- Commonwealth Company;
- Non-corporate State or Territory Entity;
- Non-corporate State or Territory Statutory Authority;
- Local Government;
- Non-Corporate Commonwealth Statutory Authority.
Assessment Criteria
You must address all of the following assessment criteria in the application. All the assessment criteria are equally weighted. The amount of detail and supporting evidence you provide in your application should be relative to the size, complexity and grant amount requested. The application form includes character limits – up to 6,000 characters (approx. 900 words) per criterion. The application form will not accept characters beyond this limit. Please note spaces are included in the character limit.
Criterion 1
Describe your project, how it will support the objective of the WLDP and outcomes of the WLDP Project Grants grant opportunity? When addressing the criterion strong applicants will:
- Describe your project, including what problem/s your project will address.
- Describe how your project aligns with the objective of the WLDP and the priority areas described in section 2.1.
- Describe how your project will deliver new value to Australian women and link with or complement existing services or government initiatives such as the JobTrainer Fund.
Criterion 2
How will your project be delivered and what are the intended outcomes for all stakeholders? When addressing the criterion strong applicants will:
- Describe what success would look like for your project, including key milestones or achievements and how you will measure success over the funding period.
- Describe the impact of your project, including how many women will benefit and what cohorts (such as young or older women; or women living in rural, regional and remote areas). If your project focusses on job creation, you must describe how many award paying jobs (whether they are full-time, part-time or casual) or employment/training pathways you will deliver over the project period.
- Describe how your project will deliver sustainable change or an ongoing impact without further funding under the WLDP.
Criterion 3
What is the capability and capacity of your organisation to undertake the activity? When addressing the criterion strong applicants will:
- Describe your organisation’s capacity and capability to successfully deliver the project, including experience in delivering similar projects.
- Describe your organisation’s governance structure, the experience and role of staff, and the organisation’s prior experience in delivering outcomes through similar services particularly projects to support vulnerable cohorts.
- Explain how your project can be delivered in a COVID-19 context, in line with Commonwealth and state or territory requirements, including in the event of increased restrictions.
For more information, visit https://www.communitygrants.gov.au/grants/womens-leadership-development