Strengthening Rural Communities
The Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) program aims to give the thousands of small rural, regional and remote communities across Australia an opportunity to access funding to support broad community needs.
Given the events of summer 2019/20, it has also been expanded to offer funding to support recovery in bushfire-affected communities.
Grants are available for a broad range of grassroots, community-led initiatives that directly and clearly benefit local communities. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis and assessed quarterly.
This round, grants up to $10,000 are available through the Small & Vital Stream, and grants up to $25,000 are available through the Bushfire Recovery Stream.
Future rounds
Round 10
Opens: 26 May 2021
Closes: 24 August 2021
Funding announced by early December 2021.
Round 9 now open
Closes 5pm AEST 25 May 2021
Announced by
Early September 2021
Previous rounds
- Currently assessing Round 8 – announced by June 2021
- SRC Round 7 (S&V and BR)
- SRC Round 6 (S&V and BR)
- SRC Round 5 (S&V, LL and BR)
- SRC Round 4 (S&V)
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?
Our state-based Grants Officers are your go-to people for any program related queries for the SRC program.
Ph: 1800 170 020 or Email: 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 below carefully. Click on each headline to reveal the detail.
What are the program objectives?
Projects funded must align with one or more of the following charitable outcomes:
- Bringing people and community organisations together to foster stronger, more resilient communities;
- Fostering and celebrating a sense of identity, diversity and cultural connection within the community;
- Improving community health and social wellbeing;
- Enabling people to develop skills, knowledge and confidence to lead and contribute to the prosperity and renewal of their community;
- Building a sustainable volunteer base and/or supporting the wellbeing of volunteers;
- Celebrating and resourcing volunteer-led efforts;
- Increasing access and inclusion for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, including remote communities;
- Enhancing places where communities gather;
- Promoting connection to place and enabling initiatives that champion a community’s social, cultural or economic aspirations;
- Increasing capacity and capability of local community organisations to support preparedness and recovery from natural disasters;
- Enabling locally-led responses within rural, regional and remote communities endeavouring to reduce the impacts of the changing climate within their community.
Is this grant available in my area?
Yes, SRC is a national program with funding available in regional, rural and remote regions in all States and Territories.
For the Bushfire Recovery Stream, projects must take place in a declared fire-affected area.
How much funding is available? Are there priority areas?
Small & Vital Stream
Requests up to $10,000
▪ Communities with fewer than 15,000 people;
▪ Communities outside major cities are eligible;
▪ Projects initiated and delivered by local community groups and not-for-profits;
▪ Organisations that do not have DGR status.
Bushfire Recovery Stream
Requests up to $25,000
▪ Projects that support the recovery of rural, regional or remote communities affected by the Sept 2019-Feb 2020 bushfires;
▪ Projects initiated and delivered by local community groups;
▪ Organisations that do not have DGR status.
While all requests will be considered, our priorities for funding are outlined below. Thanks to the generous support of the donors listed below, SRC Round 9 has the following funding available in the Small & Vital Stream.
Note: All funding in the Bushfire Recovery stream is targeted to the declared LGAs listed in this document.
What can be funded?
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; and
- Community resource development.
NOTE: We understand COVID-19 has significantly impacted many organisations and communities, and support for core operating costs may be the most pressing need for small organisations.
Grant applications to meet these costs either in full, or as part of the costs to implement a project, will be considered. Applicants should explain clearly why core operating funds are needed in the short term, and the longer-term impact this is intended to have.
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;
- 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, your organisation must meet the following criteria:
- Applicant organisations must be a not-for-profit organisation with an ABN or Incorporation Certificate;
- Project must be for charitable purposes and offer clear public benefit;
- Organisations with or without DGR endorsement are eligible;
- Organisations can submit one application per grant round;
- For Bushfire Recovery Stream, applicants must be in a declared fire-affected area;
- Projects must benefit communities in remote, rural or regional Australia.
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. Each drop-down section 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.
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.
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.
To help us do this, we have grouped the kinds of projects communities commonly us 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.
Before you submit your application via the online Grants Gateway, please ensure you have:
Helpful resources:
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
“Being selected for an FRRR grant was validation of the work of volunteers, and with this came support from our community. The teamwork that resulted in achieving our goal was a reason to be proud, as well as updating our physical assets to improve storage and display capability for the Wycheproof museum. Wycheproof Historical Society appreciates the help received from FRRR and the donor’s generosity to deliver the program – it was a big boost to our volunteers’ morale to receive this grant. Visitors are commenting favourably on their viewing experience at the Museum, and the due care given to exhibits encourages goodwill.”
Maureen McKersie, Record Keeper – Wycheproof & District Historical Society, SRC R1
Inspiration – Past projects
Explore some of the projects we’ve previously funded to see how other organisations have helped their community thrive.
Small & Vital Stream
Barista training for youth and disabled peoples in Pemberton
Pemberton is a small community in the South-west region of Western Australia. With an employment shortage in the hospitality industry and limited access to local training for disadvantaged adults, the Pemberton Community Resource Centre (CRC) saw an opportunity to make a real impact.
Looking forward, looking back
at QRRRWN
Queensland Rural, Regional and Remote Women’s Network (QRRRWN) is a member and volunteer based, multi-generational, not-for-profit organisation for women from, or supportive of remote, rural and regional areas, across all sectors and industries.
Small Grant allows National Remote Indigenous Media Festival to get mobile
The National Remote Indigenous Media Festival is First Nations Media Australia’s major industry event celebrating achievements and supporting the training of the remote Indigenous media sector.
Bushfire Recovery Stream
Helping little kids with their big feelings
The team at Arthurs Creek Strathewen CFA realised that students at the local primary school were suffering post-traumatic stress after Black Saturday, as parents were reporting their children experiencing high levels of anxiety and panic attacks.
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.
Managing bushfire risk at Dolphin Sands
The Dolphin Sands Ratepayers Association represents the residents and ratepayers of the fragile sand spit bordered by Moulting Lagoon to the north and Nine Mile Beach to the south. They used a grant to clear overgrown areas to reduce fire danger.
Proudly supported by
This program is collaboratively and generously supported by the following donors:
adidas Amanda Toone 
Arcare Family Foundation Arthur Laundy Aussie Farmers Foundation Australia Post Australian Community Media – South Coast is Calling Initiative Barker Trailers Baxter Charitable Foundation Bertalli Family Foundation Bowness Family Foundation Brasher Family Foundation Center for Disaster Philanthropy Charter Hall Chefs on the Run Chrysanthemum Foundation Clarity Workplace Solutions David Mactaggart Foundation Doc Ross Family Foundation EnergyAustralia Entertainment Industry Foundation Estate Late Harold Gordon Jones Fire Fight Australia Fund Friends of FRRR GlobalGiving Good Thnx Foundation Herbert Smith Freehills Ian Rollo Currie Estate Foundation IKEA Australia Jeunesse Kids Foundation John T Reid Charitable Trusts Kapikarnpi Community Fund Kellogg Australia Charitable Foundation Kofi Foundation LeMessurier Charitable Trust Maple-Brown Family Foundation McKinsey and Company Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust Metamorphic Foundation Morgans Foundation Limited Morris Family Foundation Muscle Nation Nelson Alexander Charitable Foundation Olver-Carlyle Charitable Foundation Paul Ramsay Foundation Pepper Australia Percy Baxter Charitable Trust Perpetual Foundation: Julian Flett Endowment Portland House Foundation R.M.Williams Recochem Inc Redbubble REIV Charitable Foundation Scenic World Shared Sidney Myer Fund Stage 5 Australasia P/L Stockland CARE Foundation Suncorp Group Tabcorp Holdings Ltd The Argo Foundation The Baker Foundation The Community Foundation for Central Victoria The Jack Brockhoff Foundation The Laneway Festival The Ross Trust The Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation The Sylvia & Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation The Waislitz Family Foundation, in partnership with Australian Community Media The William Buckland Foundation The Yulgilbar Foundation Third Link Investment Managers Thoms Family Endowment – a sub-fund of the AET Foundation Tim Fairfax Family Foundation Vertel Vicinity Centres Westpac Group FRRR and Private Donors.
