Grants for Resilience and Wellness (GR&W)
The Grants for Resilience & Wellness (GR&W) program has a specific focus on providing assistance towards community-strengthening and resilience-building projects for communities affected by the 2009 Victorian bushfires.
It recognises that while the fires were in 2009, recovery takes time and an important part of community recovery is having opportunities to connect, share experiences, enhance individual and community wellbeing and resilience, and to build strength and capacity for the future.
This program will run until funds are expended, recognising that it takes time for communities to recover from such natural events and that individuals and communities recover in different ways. It also acknowledges that an important part of community recovery is having opportunities to connect, share experiences, enhance individual and community wellbeing and resilience, and to build strength and capacity for the future.
Proudly supported by
Currently assessing
Round 18 recipients to be announced 12 July 2021
This program is currently closed.
How to apply
Please read the information on each of the three tabs below to make sure this is the right grant for your project.
If you want to explore other grant options, please go to Find Funding Now.
I have a question, who can I talk to?
Nina O’Brien
info@frrr.org.au
1800 170 020
Confirm you are eligible to apply for this grant
To make sure this is the right grant for your community, please read the grant information below carefully. Click on each headline to reveal the detail.
What are the program objectives?
Grants are available for projects that directly benefit the long-term recovery of communities impacted by the 2009 Victorian bushfires. There is a preference for smaller grants (up to $20,000), however FRRR is willing to discuss larger projects that are identified as a priority by your community. The GR&W program aims to support the following priority outcomes:
- Improved mental health and wellbeing of communities and individuals;
- Enhanced wellbeing and resilience of pre-school, primary and secondary school aged children and young people;
- Strengthened community connectedness, sense of place and community identity; and
- Increased community capacity for preparedness for future disasters.
Is this grant available in my area?
Eligible Local Government Areas
Following is a list of Local Government Areas (LGAs) impacted by the 2009 Victorian Bushfires. Note not all towns in LGAs were affected and applicants will need to demonstrate that their project is supporting an impacted town / community.
| Alpine | Horsham | Nillumbik |
| Baw Baw | Indigo | South Gippsland |
| Cardinia | Latrobe Valley | Wangaratta |
| Casey | Mitchell | Wellington |
| Greater Bendigo | Mount Alexander | Whittlesea |
| Hepburn | Murrindindi | Yarra Ranges |
Organisations with projects in Alpine, Indigo, and Murrindindi Shires and the community of Strathewen, are encouraged to contact their local Community Foundation to discuss their project. These Community Foundations have been established in fire affected regions with VBAF support:
- Alpine / Indigo region: Into our Hands Community Foundation: http://intoourhandsfoundation.com/
- Murrindindi Shire: Marysville Triangle Foundation: http://marysvilletrianglefoundation.org.au/
- Nillumbik Shire (Strathewen): http://www.strathewen.com.au/
How much funding is available? Are there priority areas?
The Grants for Resilience & Wellness program currently offers grants up to $20,000 for not-for-profit community-based organisations that were affected by the Victorian 2009 Bushfires. Eligible Local Government Areas and Priority Locations are listed in the section above titled ‘Is this grant available in my area’. There is $360,000 available to grant in Round 18.
FRRR is willing to consider funding for larger projects that are identified as a priority by your community – please contact the Disaster Recovery and Resilience team to discuss this.
What can be funded?
Projects must directly assist those individuals and communities that have been affected by the 2009 Victorian bushfires:
- Applicants must identify a specific need / hardship that is related to the impacts of the bushfires, which the activity intends to relieve.
- Applicants must be able to demonstrate wide community support and involvement of a range of community groups / representatives.
- Projects led by local communities will be given preference.
- Priority will be given to organisations run by, and based in, bushfire-affected communities over those delivering services to, but not based in, bushfire-affected areas
What can’t be funded?
There are several areas that we can’t fund through this program. If in doubt, please contact us.
- Projects that support core business and areas of responsibility of Federal, State or Local Governments;
- Ongoing core organisational operational costs (e.g. rent, utilities, regular wages, loan repayments);
- The encouragement or advancement of sport, recreation and social activities are not considered charitable activities under Australian law. Applications from sporting organisations need to clearly demonstrate charitable outcomes and benefit to the wider community that are above and beyond the sporting activities of the club;
- Overseas travel and overseas projects;
- Prizes, gifts, trophies or awards;
- Political lobbying;
- Projects that primarily benefit private business or private interests;
- Projects solely focused on animal welfare.
Is my organisation eligible?
To apply, you must meet the following criteria:
- Not-for-profit community-based organisations that were affected by the Victorian 2009 Bushfires. Eligible Local Government Areas and Priority Locations are listed above.
- Organisations with an ABN or Incorporation Certificate are eligible.
- Organisations with and without DGR endorsement are eligible; no specific tax status is required.
Please note, you will be considered ineligible if the:
- Application is submitted by individuals, sole traders, private or commercial businesses (as per the submitted ABN);
- Application is submitted by an organisation that is not a legal entity, without the written consent of the governing / partnering body who holds the ABN / Incorporation number
- Application is submitted without required financial documentation (see additional information on the second tab);
- Final report/s from any FRRR grants awarded in the previous seven years have not been acquitted (delivery organisations should check with legal organisation to see if there are any outstanding final reports);
- Application is for a project or activity that has already occurred / is occurring prior to the announcement of funding;
- Application is incomplete. NOTE: Due to the volume of applications received, applications are assessed based on the documentation received at the time of application. FRRR is unlikely to follow up missing documentation after applications have been submitted.
If you need to share this information with others, you can download the guidelines above.
Gather information to support your grant application
Please read the information below to plan and prepare your project. The information below sets out what you MUST include for your project to be considered. There are plenty of helpful resources to support you along the way.
Please contact FRRR if you have any questions about the following information.
Your grant application MUST include:
Clear project information
Why is this important?
FRRR needs to clearly understand your project to assess its merits. Applicants should focus on addressing the what, when, where, who, why and how of the project, as this is the best formula to clearly communicate the details of the project.
A ready community is best placed to achieve the aims of your project, so during assessment, our staff look for
information that tells us that good leadership, skills and awareness exist in your community to support the project now and in the future.
A clear description of exactly what the grant funds will be used for, when and where the project will happen, who will benefit and who will be involved in delivering the project, why the project and grant funds are needed, how funds will be spent and how the activities and success of the project will be recorded, evaluated and shared.
Where possible, also indicate that your community is ready to deliver the project and if required, can support the initiative ongoing – i.e. awareness of need is widespread, appropriate leadership, resources, skills and knowledge exist in the community.
Helpful resources:
Financial information
Why is this important?
FRRR uses this information to understand your organisation’s ability to manage the grant funds and its financial viability.
Applications received without the requested financial information are ineligible. Providing incorrect information on financials is currently the most frequent reason why applications are not considered.
- For organisations that have audited financials: Attach the most recent annual audited statements;
- For organisations that do not have audited financials: Attach the most recent 12 months Income and Expenditure Statement. If you have a Balance Sheet, please also submit;
- For organisations less than one year old: Provide Bank Statements for the period you have been operating.
Please note:
- If financial documents are more than 18 months old, please provide an explanation as to why the organisation does not have more recent documents;
- Bank Statements are only acceptable as financial documentation if your organisation has been operating for less than one year;
- Explain any deficits and steps to sustain the organisation financially;
- Provide a brief explanation of any large financial surplus or current assets and reasons why FRRR funds are still required;
- Income and Expenditure statements must cover a full 12-month period.
- Please contact us if you cannot provide required financials or you are unsure about what to provide.
- Why is this important?
- FRRR uses this information to understand your organisation’s ability to manage the grant funds and its financial
- viability.
Project budget
Why is this important?
A clear budget helps FRRR to understand the size of your project, exactly how FRRR funds will be spent and helps demonstrate community support for your project through in-kind contributions either from your organisation or partners / community members.
You must include a project budget that clearly shows the items that FRRR grant funds will be used for and shows all income and expenses related to your project.
Budgets should be realistic and must add up – i.e. total expenditure must match total income.
Applicant contributions in cash or in-kind are highly regarded. Quotes or detailed rationale for items over $1,000 are
required, where possible. Note: FRRR suggests costing unskilled volunteer labour at $41.00 per hour.
Helpful resources:
Eligible legal entities
Why is this important?
The Strengthening Rural Communities program is only able to distribute funds to not-for-profit organisations with an ABN or Incorporation number, and FRRR needs to know that the organisation with that ABN / Incorporation number understands and agrees to carry out their responsibilities in relation to your project, if successful.
Every application needs to include an organisation that holds either an ABN or Incorporation Certificate. If your organisation doesn’t have that, FRRR could still fund the project (with your organisation as the delivery organisation) but you need another organisation’s support, which we refer to as the ‘legal organisation’.
Even though your organisation may complete the application (and will be doing the work), it’s the overarching organisation’s legal and financial information that needs to be provided. They also need to provide a letter of support, confirming they are willing to play this role.
This situation often occurs often when the organisation delivering the activity or project is a branch of an overarching organisation – such as a local CWA or YMCA branch.
Supporting materials
Why is this important?
FRRR seeks to fund projects that are well-supported by the broader local community, are locally led and delivered, show good partnerships and benefit multiple parts of the community. As FRRR is not always familiar with your community, our staff consider support material as evidence toward understanding level of community need, benefit and support.
FRRR strongly recommends that you provide supporting materials such as letters of support, community plans, survey results, photographs, media clips and research reports that can show the wider community support and partnerships involved in the project.
Large documents should be referenced and explained in the application.
Helpful resources:
Focus area
Why is this important?
FRRR makes grants to communities, but we also need to be able to demonstrate to our funding partners where communities need support. Applications must clearly demonstrate a focus on one project activity area from FRRR’s Project Activity Tree. Click on the activity to reveal examples of what could be funded. These are indicative only of the types of projects that can be supported. Applicants are encouraged to ensure project applications suit their local community’s needs, priorities and interests.
1. Building community resilience
For example, projects that:
- Support community information sharing, media and communications including communication mediums such as community radio, UHF networks, community newsletters (electronic/hard copy), community noticeboards.
- Support community based skill / capability development including developing leadership capacity within the community.
- Invest in community assets / infrastructure such as improving minor community infrastructure and meeting places.
- Strengthen local resourcing / delivery capacity through the purchase of tools and equipment such as trailers, emergency services, training, signage, water tanks, and BBQ’s.
- Support community planning or management that increases community preparedness for natural disasters.
- Support the development or operation of local community networks or coordinating alliances that help link things up within the community.
2. Building organisational resilience & capacity
For example, projects that:
- Build Organisational Capacity through:
- Training NFP committees / boards in governance, planning, financial management, human resource management, risk management, asset management.
- Developing and embedding policies / procedures, financial systems & processes, evaluation frameworks and processes: positions need to leave a legacy within the organisation.
- Increase Viability and Sustainability through:
- Engaging skilled support to assist with strategic planning, business planning and implementation support, financial analysis & planning for sustainability, shared back office services across similar geographic or service boundaries, exploring collective impact approaches to key social issues, legal support for mergers, community engagement.
- Increase Cost Efficiencies for Community Infrastructure through installing solar panels or water tanks.
3. Enhancing environmental sustainability
For example, projects that:
- Increase awareness of local environmental issues caused by the recent disaster.
- Provide opportunities for local residents to care for the local environment.
- Work to restore the local natural environment.
4. Fostering cultural vibrancy
For example, projects that:
- Support community recovery through the arts.
- Provide opportunities for self-expression of primary school-aged children and adolescent youth.
- Celebrate local culture & identity i.e. support place making and identity making.
5. Lifelong learning & education
For example, projects that:
- Provide local residents with skills or training opportunities that support volunteer capacity and reduce volunteer fatigue related to disaster recovery.
- Increase community preparedness for future disasters.
- Support school engagement and student wellbeing.
6. Economic strength
For example, projects that:
- Drive local economic recovery and renewal post disaster.
- Promote local tourism.
- Promote agricultural industry sustainability /development.
7. Improving community health & social wellbeing
For example, projects that:
- Promote mental health and psychological wellbeing of disaster-affected residents.
- Promote or improve community safety.
- Increase community cohesion and engagement.
- Increase inclusiveness and participation of disadvantaged, marginalised or at-risk members of the impacted community.
- Support the physical and mental health of primary school-aged children and adolescent youth.
We ask you to nominate one of these seven areas when you apply. So, before you lodge your application, download the Activity Tree to help you identify your focus area.
Need some more help?
We have a large selection of resources on our Grant Seeker Resources Page to help you along the way.
Submit your grant application via the Grants Gateway
Please contact FRRR if you have questions about any aspect of the Grants Gateway online application form.
Before you submit your application via the online Grants Gateway, please ensure you have:
It is time to submit your application. If it is helpful, you can download a copy of the application form.
Please read the instructions on how to use the Grants Gateway How-to Guide and have your questions answered with our Grants Gateway FAQs.
If you have significant issues accessing a stable internet connection, please contact our team to discuss an alternative way of applying:
Ph: 1800 170 020 or Email: info@frrr.org.au
Inspiration – Past projects
Explore some of the projects we’ve previously funded to see how other organisations have helped their community thrive.
Community wellbeing retreats aid recovery
Jindivick is a rural dairying community in the south-east of Victoria renowned for producing Jindi cheese and local gourmet produce. It is a small community striving to become put itself on the map as a popular tourist destination to strengthen its struggling local economy.
GR&Wing Whittlesea’s Men’s Shed
The Whittlesea Men’s Shed is an integral part of the local community, providing a supportive environment for men to come together, share and learn skills and contribute to their local community. Such is the reputation the group is regularly called upon to build quality items such as outdoor furniture, toys and restorations for community groups. They received $19,000 from the Grants for Resilience & Wellness (GR&W) program to build a dedicated facility to store timber that is either bought or donated to the Men’s Shed.
Helping little kids with big feelings
Arthurs Creek Strathewan CFA were given a $15,730 grant from the Grants for Resilience and Wellness program funded by Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund to deliver the Strathewen Primary School Fire Awareness Program, designed to support local students and help build their confidence around fire safety and preparedness.
