FRRR ABC Heywire Youth Innovation grants
FRRR and our donor partners collaborate with ABC Heywire to help communities take action on the ideas generated by young Australians who attend the annual Heywire Regional Youth Summit.
Grants of up to $10,000 are available for communities across Australia to adopt, adapt and act on the ideas generated at the Heywire Summit.
FRRR first joined forces with the ABC in 2013 and the positive impact of the grants we’ve awarded so far is being felt in 160 rural and regional communities around Australia.
Image: ABC Heywire presentation event in the theatre at the Australian Parliament House, Canberra. 29/3/23 Photograph by Bradley Cummings.
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Project ideas
The 2023 ABC Heywire Youth Innovation Grant Program is now closed.
2024 program dates will be announced in early 2024
Recipient Announcements
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?
Lauren Ryan
1800 170 020
info@frrr.org.au
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 detailed in the Program Guidelines below carefully. Click on each headline to reveal the detail.
What are the program objectives?
The FRRR ABC Heywire Youth Innovation Grant program helps communities take action on ideas generated by young Australians on issues that matter to regional, remote and rural youth. The Heywire Project Ideas are developed annually at the Heywire Summit in Canberra.
Grants of up to $10,000 are available for communities across Australia to adopt, adapt and act on these ideas within their own community.
Is this grant available in my area?
Projects must take place in regional Australia, as defined by ABC Heywire – they must be outside of Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
How much funding is available? Are there priority areas?
In 2023, there is $115,000 available nationally, thanks to the generous support of the David Mactaggart Foundation, Sally Foundation, AMP Foundation and private donors.
In addition, there is $35,000 specifically for Queensland projects thanks to the support of The John Villiers Trust.
Projects that can demonstrate local youth engagement, consultation and/or involvement in the design and delivery of the project will receive preference.
What can be funded?
Funds will be available to implement or pilot one of the Heywire ideas. A broad range of charitable projects are considered under this program, including:
- Delivering, or providing activities, events, programs and services;
- Purchasing or hiring equipment and materials;
- Community infrastructure projects;
- Organisational capacity building;
- Community resource development.
Projects must be undertaken between November 2023 to June 2025.
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 and Local Governments;
- Prizes, gifts, trophies or awards;
- 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;
- Political lobbying;
- Projects that primarily benefit private business, a sole trader, or private interests;
- Projects solely focused on animal welfare.
Is my organisation eligible?
To apply, you must meet the following criteria:
- Applicant organisations must be a not-for-profit organisation with either an Incorporation Certificate and/or an ABN. If you are unsure if your organisation is a registered not-for-profit (e.g. if you are a Co-operative, Other Unincorporated Entity, Public Company or Trust), please contact FRRR;
- Project must be for charitable purposes and offer clear public benefit;
- Not-for-profit organisations with or without DGR-1 endorsement are eligible;
- Organisations can submit one application per grant round;
- Projects must address a local issue distinctive to your community.
- Projects must take place in regional Australia, as defined by ABC Heywire – that is, outside of Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth or Sydney.
- For program purposes, youth is generally defined as ages 12-28.
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 (i.e. a registered not-for-profit), without the written consent of the governing / partnering body who holds the ABN / Incorporation Certificate;
- Application is submitted without required financial documentation (see below);
- Overdue 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.
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;
- FRRR conducts a broad range of due diligence queries when reviewing applications, such as: reviewing current and past incorporation, DGR and ACNC status. If your organisation has happened to have their incorporation status, DGR status or ACNC status changed or ACNC registration revoked or voluntarily withdrawn, please let us know the reasons for this.
- Please contact us if you cannot provide required financials or you are unsure about what to provide.
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
We have grouped the kinds of projects communities commonly ask us to help fund into seven areas, which we call the Activity Tree:
1. Building community resilience
2. Developing organisational resilience and capacity
3. Enhancing environmental sustainability
4. Fostering cultural vibrancy
5. Lifelong learning and education
6. Economic strength
7. Improving community health and social wellbeing
We ask you to nominate one of those 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.
Helpful resources:
It is time to submit your application. If it is helpful, you can download a sample 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.
Before you submit your application via the online Grants Gateway, please ensure you have:
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
“It has been an absolute pleasure to work with FRRR. The process has been easy to navigate and the support from the organisation has been beyond what was expected. They have been very helpful when I have had questions and extremely flexible allowing time for acquittal and understanding when changes have been needed.
Through support from the FRRR ABC Heywire Youth Innovation Grants we were able to reach more than 600 young people through the Our Voice project. The Our Voice presentations have been truly magical as they have evolved through the period of this funding. The lived-experience youth presenters started very tentatively and nervously, as they found their confidence and strength in their own voices and their comfortability within presenting and connecting to the young people that they were supporting. To watch their growth personally within self and as presenters has been a beautiful success and shows the power and beauty of storytelling from lived experience.
The thing that we most appreciate is that these grants have been designed by and decided upon in collaboration with our youth. This makes this project very, very special!
Megan Stray, Heal.ed Tribe – Heywire Grantee 2021
Inspiration – Past projects
Explore some of the projects we’ve previously funded to see how other organisations have helped their community thrive.
Helping regional youth discover their future
When the 2021 Heywire Ideas Lab was held in Broken Hill, NSW, Far West University Centre adopted an idea generated by local high school students – to host an event for local youth that would show them career and education options within their region.
Gulf Youth in Ag’s ‘Paddock to Plate’
Gulf Youth in Ag adopted and adapted the Heywire 2020 We Need Farmers project concept, receiving a grant for $9,979 to deliver a series of Paddock to Plate microdocumentaries. The 12 students learnt film and sound production, developed storyboards, and the basics of editing.
Contribute to the change
Riverland Youth Theatre used an FRRR ABC Heywire Youth Innovation Grant to develop the Contribute to the Change project idea to develop the ‘There I Am’ project to support LGBTQIA+ youth in Renmark, SA.
