In a Good Place (IAGP)
Supporting mental health in rural communities
The In a Good Place program gives small remote, rural and regional communities across Australia the opportunity to access funds for a broad range of community-driven projects, services, activities or initiatives, which clearly and directly focus on strengthening mental health and wellbeing of vulnerable community members who are at risk of, or are experiencing, mental health issues.
The program aims to support a range of approaches that are preventative or responsive in nature, reduce social isolation by increasing social participation and connectedness, and reduce stigma surrounding mental health by encouraging open discussion and supporting self-help-seeking.
Proudly supported by
Future rounds
2024 dates yet to be determined.
The 2023 program is now closed
Funding announced by early September.
How to apply
Please read the information on each of the two 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?
Jeanice Henderson
j.henderson@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 detailed in the Program Guidelines below carefully. Click on each headline to reveal the detail. If you need to share this information with others, you can download the guidelines below.
What are the program objectives?
The In a Good Place program gives small remote, rural and regional communities across Australia the opportunity to access funds for a broad range of community-driven projects, services, activities or initiatives, which clearly and directly focus on strengthening the mental health and wellbeing of vulnerable community members who are at risk of, or are experiencing, mental health issues.
The program aims to support a range of approaches that are preventative or responsive in nature, reduce social isolation by increasing social participation and connectedness, and reduce stigma surrounding mental health by encouraging open discussion and supporting self-help-seeking.
Is this grant available in my area?
In a Good Place is a national grants program, supporting projects serving communities with populations under 10,000 in remote, rural and regional communities.
Population centres greater than 10,000 for projects that support community members from smaller population centres will also be considered.
How much funding is available? Are there priority areas?
In a Good Place offers grants of up to $20,000, from an annual funding pool of $250,000. These grants are available thanks to the generous support of CCI Giving. While all requests will be considered, our priorities for funding are outlined below:
- Projects that respond to specific mental health and wellbeing issues within a local community;
- Projects that are initiated and delivered by local community and not-for-profit organisations, rather than organisations from outside of the beneficiary community. Organisations from outside of beneficiary communities applying for funds will need to provide sufficient evidence that the local community endorses the organisation and the project, or has initiated the partnership to deliver the project, such as support letters;
- Projects serving communities with populations under 10,000 in remote, rural, and regional communities. Applications from population centres greater than 10,000, for projects that support community members from smaller population centres are also considered;
- Projects that do not duplicate an existing service or program.
- Projects that are sustainable beyond the period of the grant.
What can be funded?
The program is open primarily to charitable projects that use non-clinical approaches of engagement, and are community-based and accessible to everyone. Priority will be given to initiatives that:
- Are delivered by non-clinical providers of mental health care, such as school counsellors and teachers, pastoral care teams, neighbourhood or community groups;
- Improve accessibility and availability of mental health services, tools or support to areas with limited or no access to the same, through technology or other innovative methods;
- Improve knowledge of mental health services, tools or support through the development of local community resources;
- Provide innovative responses that are inclusive and which build social connections that lead to better mental health, such as delivering, or providing activities, events, programs and services;
- Confront stigma surrounding help-seeking behaviour in locally responsive ways such as community events and / or activities with strong and positive mental health messaging.
Projects must:
- Be conducted for charitable purposes and consistent with broad public benefit;
- Directly relate to one or more of the objectives of In a Good Place;
- Demonstrate strong community support for the project and involvement of a range of community perspectives;
- Be undertaken within 12 months of receiving the funding, reporting back to FRRR on the outcomes of the project within three months of project completion, with a further follow up phone-based review with FRRR in the following three months.
Applicants are required to submit a brief EOI outlining their proposed project. If the project and organisation meet the eligibility criteria and program objectives, a link to the more detailed online application form will be provided by email.
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;
- 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, 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 (for example, if you are a Co-operative, Other Unincorporated Entity, Public Company or Trust), please contact FRRR;
- Project must offer clear public benefit (i.e. has a charitable purpose);
- Not-for-profit organisations with or without DGR-1 endorsement are eligible.
- Organisations registered as charities with the ACNC are preferred but not essential;
- Organisations can submit one application per grant round; and
- Projects must be in a remote, rural or regional area.
If your project involves working directly with children / youth under 18 years, your organisation must have policies and procedures around working with children, Working with Children Checks, and the handling of child abuse complaints, or the project may not be funded. See the Frequently Asked Questions section on our website for further information.
Applicants with outstanding final reports are not eligible to apply unless a time extension has been granted.
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 not for charitable purposes, i.e. is for private benefit or is the core responsibility of Government);
- 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.
The 2023 In a Good Place program is now closed for Expressions of Interest.
Full applications are due by 5pm VIC time (AEST), 7 June 2023.
Please contact FRRR if you have questions about any aspect of the Grants Gateway online EOI form.
Before you submit your Expression of Interest via the online Grants Gateway, please ensure you have:
Gather information to support your grant application
Organisations that are invited to submit a full application must do so by 5pm AEST, 7 June 2023. A link to the full application form will be emailed to you.
Please read the information below to help you 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.
If you are invited to submit a full application, please ensure you have:
Your grant application MUST include:
Clear project information
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.
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.
Helpful resources:
Financial information
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.
Why is this important?
FRRR uses this information to understand your organisation’s financial viability and ability to manage grant funds.
Project budget
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.
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.
Helpful resources:
Eligible legal entities
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.
Why is this important?
This FRRR 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.
Supporting materials
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.
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.
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 these seven areas when you apply. So, before you lodge your application, download the Activity Tree to help you identify your 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.
Need some more help?
We have a large selection of resources on our Grant Seeker Resources Page to help you along the way.
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
Explore some of the projects we’ve previously funded to see how other organisations have helped their community thrive.
Deadly Yarning & Learning – Mental Health training for young people
Through FRRR’s In a Good Place program, funded by CCI Giving, YACVic was supported to deliver culturally specific Mental Health First Aid Training to 20 First Nations youth in Swan Hill and Robinvale.
Simpson Dairy Farmers in a good place
With plunging milk prices and bushfires in South West Victoria affecting the community, the Simpson & District Community Centre (SDCC) knew it was important to keep the conversation about mental health open.
“Chappy” supports Clarke Creek recovery
In the remote locality of Clarke Creek in Queensland, theClarke Creek State School P&C Association saw a heightened need for additional support for the school’s 17 students following Cyclone Debbie, and applied to IAGP to fund an increase in attendance by their beloved school chaplain.
