In the Public Health program area, the Foundation seeks to identify and support community-led implementation of public health measures that aim to improve the long-term health and well-being outcomes of communities. The Foundation is seeking applications from organisations that are community-led and using scientific evidence-based approaches.

Community - may be defined as a group of people living in a particular area (geographic) or as a group of people with similar characteristics or shared interests (cohort). 

Universities and research institutes may apply as implementation partners when there is no community organisation that is willing to take on that role, and the community has invited them to take a leading role.

Funding Objectives

To improve the health and well-being of communities that have a high incidence of ill health by supporting them to implement preventative public health initiatives that work best in their specific context.

This can encompass:

• Early-stage projects exploring the most pressing public health challenges identified by a community and developing solutions with the community to improve health and well-being for that community
• Advanced projects that seek to implement solutions conceptualised and developed with the community as an equal partner
• Collecting and synthesising the evidence of established community-led initiatives to inform policy or develop and test funding models for long-term sustainability
• Scaling of pilot projects that have demonstrated success in improving health and well-being in a community
• Community-led innovative public health initiatives that disrupt or shift existing systems, driving determinants of health (social, economic and environmental), which perpetuate health outcome inequities.

Community-based organisations with the appropriate DGR status of any size are encouraged to apply. The Foundation only considers grant applications for multi-year grants for a minimum of $100,000.

• In Public Health, the Foundation will consider ONLY ONE Expression of Interest per round per organisation. This includes Universities and Research Institutes.
• Please note that existing projects may not be eligible. Occasionally, the Foundation may support an innovation or development for an existing project; however, please contact the relevant Program Manager before proceeding.
• The Foundation prioritises applications that provide evidence of collaboration. 
• University/research institute applicants should contact their Advancement/Research Office prior to applying. Please see the specific instructions if you are from a university or research institute.
• Please ensure that your project includes additional proposed funding sources and that your application clearly considers any potential grant from the Foundation in this context. We are unlikely to fund 100% of the project cost.
• Please also refer to the Funding Principles section for further information.

We are not currently focused on:

• Projects led by academic research institutions where communities are the intended beneficiaries but have not been involved in the project's development
• Research projects from academic institutions that do not have a translational focus
• Service providers simply continuing or adding new programs, locations or staffing to their existing service offering
• Ongoing or recurrent programs
• Capital grants for vehicles, construction or refurbishment of buildings.

Projects that fall into any of the following categories will not be considered for funding:

• Retrospective funding – projects which are already underway, or which will commence prior to the date indicated in our online application information are not eligible for consideration.
• Recurrent expenditure for which there is no future provision.
• Capital or endowment funds established to fund a chair or to provide a corpus for institutions.
• Research for undergraduate, masters or doctoral students
• Auspicing* is not permitted – the organisation applying must be the one that will run the program or project.
• Applications for public charitable purposes outside the Commonwealth of Australia**
• Applications for projects that have previously been declined by the Foundation cannot be resubmitted.
• Applications will not be accepted from organisations that have not successfully acquitted previous grants from the Foundation.
• We do not directly support schools.

Auspicing refers to the practice of an ineligible organisation (one that does not have DGR and TCC status) applying to the Foundation via an eligible organisation. Auspicing arrangements are excluded under the Foundation's guidelines. The organisation applying to the Foundation must be the organisation that will run the project or program for which a grant is being sought.

The Foundation is limited to providing money, property or benefits for public charitable purposes in the Commonwealth of Australia. However, the Foundation is able to provide a grant for activities outside the Commonwealth if the grant is made for a public charitable purpose in the Commonwealth. For example, a grant might be made to an Australian university to enable it to fund an overseas study tour by an Australian researcher engaged by the university.

Grant requests for this program area are considered via a two-stage Expression of Interest process.  

Please note if you are from a research institution there is a specific process you need to follow.

For all other not-for-profit organisations:

1. Check your organisation’s Eligibility 
2. Read ALL the information on this program area page to ensure your project meets the program area objectives and to see when applications are open.
3. Attend the Information Session held prior to the funding round.
4. Submit an Expression of Interest via this page when the program area next opens for submissions. A link will appear at the bottom of the page, allowing you to log in to our grant management system by either entering your username and password (if you have previously applied for a grant) or creating a new account. 
5. If your proposal meets the Foundation's criteria, the program manager may contact you to seek further information.  
6. After this conversation, you may be asked to submit some further information. You can re-access your Expression of Interest via the Login link (see header or footer) using your username and password. 
7. If your Expression of Interest is approved, you will be invited to submit a full application. Complete your full application (Stage 2) online. We require all supporting documents to be submitted as part of the online application by 5:00 pm AEST on the closing date. 

What happens next?

All grant applications are considered by the Board of Governors at the Foundation's board meetings, which are held three times a year in line with the Funding Rounds.

You will be advised of the outcome of your application by phone or email.

To assist your organisation with the application process, we have provided Word templates of the EOI and full application online forms below. 

Expression of Interest (Stage 1)

• EOI form template 
• Project budget template

Full application (Stage 2)

• Public Health application form template

Please note these are NOT the live forms. All EOIs and full applications MUST be completed online via the GivingData grant management portal.

A link to complete an Expression of Interest form will appear below when the program area is open for EOIs.