Assistant Minister for Vocational
Education and Skills and Federal Member for McPherson, the Hon Karen Andrews MP
is asking local community groups to apply for Australian Government grants to
support projects that honour Australia’s military history and personnel.
Minister Andrews said the
Government awarded more than $15,000 of grants to community groups in the
McPherson electorate last year.
“As a community we continue to honour the service and
sacrifice of the men and women who serve in defence of our country and that is
why the Australian Government has grant money available to support local
projects,” Minister Andrews said.
“The grants on offer are another example of the
Government’s efforts to support our past and present servicemen and
women.
“Any group can apply for grant funding towards activities
that assist the health and quality of life of our veterans or commemorative
projects that honour our military history.
“Further funding is available for ex-service organisations to improve their capacity and to assist in supporting compensation and welfare assistance to
veterans and their dependents.
“During the 2016 election, the Coalition committed to providing $4 million over four
years to support younger veterans. As a result of this commitment, a new grants
program – Supporting Younger Veterans – will be established to assist projects
that seek to engage and actively involve our younger veterans, particularly
with their transition to civilian life.
“I encourage groups On the Gold Coast to explore the grants on offer and apply if they could benefit our community or organisation.”
In 2017, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (DVA) will run funding rounds in the grant programs described below:
The Saluting Their Service (STS) commemorations program provides
funding to eligible organisations for projects that contribute to Australia’s
understanding of its wartime heritage and honour the service and sacrifice of
its servicemen and women. Two categories of grants are available under the STS
Program:
Community Commemorative Grants (CCG) –
up to $4,000 in funding is available for projects that assist people at a
community level and enable small communities to build memorials and preserve
wartime memorabilia that are locally significant. This is a rolling grants
program. Applications are accepted at any time and are processed 3–4 times a
year. Successful grant applicants receive funding shortly after approval.
Major Commemorative Grants (MCG) –
funding in excess of $4,000 is available for significant projects at a national or
state/territory level. This program has two funding rounds. The first round
opens on 1 July and the second round opens on 4 January. Successful
grant applicants receive funding shortly after approval.
The Veteran and Community Grants (V&CG)
Program aims to improve the independence and quality of life for members of the
veteran community. This program provides funding for projects that support
activities and services to sustain or enhance health and wellbeing. The
V&CG is a rolling grants program. Applications are accepted at any time and are processed 3–4
times a year. Successful grant applicants receive funding shortly after
approval.
The Building Excellence in Support and Training (BEST) Program
supports ESOs to provide compensation and welfare assistance to the veteran and Defence communities. It also links closely to the Advocacy Training and Development Program, which provides practitioners with the essential skills for claims, advocacy and welfare work. BEST is an
annual grants program, which opens on 1 February and closes on 31 March
each year. Successful grant applicants receive funding between July and September in the same year.
The Grants-In-Aid Program (available to only national ESOs)
provides administrative support in recognition of the work national ESOs do to support the veteran community. The program helps to fund representational
activities aimed at improving connectedness between the head office of a
national organisation and its state and local branches. These activities
contribute toward an organisation’s governance and responsiveness to national
issues. They play an important role in ensuring the issues faced by local
veterans, regardless of when or where they served, are shared and understood by
ESOs and the Australian Government. GIA is an annual funding program
that is open from 1 February to 31 March each year. Successful grant
applicants receive funding between July and September in the same year.
The Supporting Younger Veterans program will commence in the first quarter of the
2017–18 financial year. More details will be available in the second quarter of
2017.
For further information on this program or any of the others, please see DVA’s website (http://www.dva.gov.au/consultation-and-grants/grants), which contains information on each of
DVA’s grant programs and how to apply.
