South Eastern NSW PHN – Bushfire Recovery Grants: Supporting Communities in Recovery

This program seeks to support grassroots community activities that aim to strengthen social connectedness, emotional wellbeing and assist communities to recover and heal.

Funding is available to local organisations in bushfire affected communities for COVID-safe activities that promote:
- Social cohesion, connectedness and supportive friendship and relationships.
- Community wellbeing, resilience, mental health healing and post-trauma recovery.
- Skills to identify and support struggling or distressed friends, peers and/or family members.
- Information about services and where to seek assistance when needed.

Grants of up to $10,000 (GST exclusive) are now available, with priority to be given to community-led activities that focus on building social connections in COVID-safe ways, and particularly with vulnerable high needs groups and hard-to-reach people.

The 2020 funding round dates are:
- Round 1: Opened 5 February and closed 31 March
- Round 2: Opened 31 August and closed 5 October

Eligible applicants include not-for-profit community-based organisations and community-led groups that are based within bushfire affected regions in the following local government areas:
- Bega Valley
- Eurobodalla
- Goulburn-Mulwaree
- Shoalhaven
- Snowy-Monaro
- Queanbeyan-Palerang
- Upper Lachlan

Community groups may represent geographic areas, towns, cultural groups, age groups, church or school affiliations, special interest groups, and others whose frontline staff and volunteers were impacted by bushfires (e.g. rural fire services, veterinary workers, wildlife carers, etc.)

All applicants must have a valid Australian Business Number (ABN) in the organisation’s name.

Eligible activities include:
- Bringing the community together in COVID-safe ways to actively support social connections and build networks and friendships.
- Projects that are recovery focused and aim to build on the community’s and members’ resilience, healing, capacity building and skills and knowledge development.
- Sharing information about available community resources and services and how to access them, including bushfire recovery, mental health support, alcohol and other drugs, family violence services, homelessness and housing services, etc.
- Assisting community members to identify friends, co-workers or family members who may need support or referral to professional and other services to address trauma or distress.
- Engaging proactively with bushfire affected people in remote or isolated areas.
- Activities for community members that involve guest speakers, professional expertise and mental health recovery resources.
- Communications and marketing to engage with communities and promote funded activities.
- Practical advice and skills development (e.g. for parents to help provide support for their children, addressing particular needs of isolated older people, or future bushfire planning and preparedness).

Please refer to the Guidelines for the complete list of eligible activities.

The main assessment criteria include:
- The activity targets Round 2 priorities.
- The activity’s expected benefits to the local community.
- The activity’s consistency with the grant program’s objectives.
- The budget clearly breaks down the major elements of the planned expenditure.
- The project represents value for money, and can be delivered on time and within budget (including able to start promptly if successful).

The following are ineligible for funding:
- Events and activities that are not new, have been held previously or are existing regular scheduled events.
- Initiatives that duplicate existing activities and services.
- Activities that are more appropriately funded and/or have attracted funding under another grant program or funding source.
- Communities that were not impacted by the 2019-20 bushfires.
- Communities outside the COORDINARE – SENSW PHN region.
- Activities that are difficult to link to bushfire recovery.
- Initiatives that are likely to depend on ongoing funding.
- Alcohol purchases for community or other events.
- Projects that seek to subsidise commercial activities, including usual clinical or service provision costs, usual staff costs and business operational costs (To be eligible, activities must extend beyond “usual business” to support communities in bushfire recovery).
- Capital works or construction, including refurbishment, repair or maintenance of existing community infrastructure, memorials.
- Purchasing of assets (i.e. buildings or vehicles).