Despite another year-on-year decline in the number of applications received, Queensland experienced an 11% increase in the total funds awarded across the state, and a 10% increase in overall funding awarded nationally. A total of 156 grants were awarded (the same number as in FY22), with two thirds of all funding supporting emergency recovery or preparedness projects ($2,320,059). Nearly 44% of these grants (or 56% of the funds awarded) were used to invest in infrastructure and equipment, and a further 27% (22 projects totalling $435,157) focused on providing access to services or activities.
Awarded
$3,519,870
___________
Grants
156
____________
Newscorp Bushfire Fund | Newscorp Australia | $25,000
Creative bushfire recovery in Scenic Rim
On Yugambeh Country
The Little Pocket Association is located in Beechmont, a quiet village nestled in the Scenic Rim in south east Queensland. In the wake of the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires, they undertook a 24-month community-led creative recovery project with the help of a grant from the News Corp Bushfire Fund Program.
The project involved community workshops, events and collaborations, and brought together local artists, Indigenous Elders, Scenic Rim counsellors and residents who were deeply impacted by the bushfires. The culmination of the initiative will be a series of beautiful murals and a memorial adorning the community, representing the community’s shared experience of the bushfires.
Throughout the project there have been many moments full of reflection, self-care, deep connection, healing and learning. The connections and friendships that formed through the community workshops have established the foundations that the project has been built upon. As a result, social inclusion has been boosted and a sense of belonging and connectedness within the community has been restored.
Tackling Tough Times Together | Australian Government | $45,000
The return of the Outback Festival to Winton
On Guwa Country
After a year that would be remembered for masks, lockdowns and vaccine rollouts, the biennial Winton Outback Festival returned with a bang in 2021. With the help of a $45,000 FRRR grant funded by the Australian Government through the Tackling Tough Times Together program, Outback Festival Inc was able to reinvigorate the Queensland outback with a sense of connectedness, not to mention a much-needed influx of revenue, with more than $1.2 million being spent by attendees during the five days of quintessential Aussie fun.