Youth Action and Wellbeing Grants
Grants totalling up to $100,000, open to groups led by young people (under 30) across the country working to create positive systemic change.
Expressions of interests (EOI) are open now till 2 October 2023. Please read the grant guidelines to check if your group, organisation or community is eligible.
What are the Youth Action and Wellbeing Grants?
At FYA we back young people to make the change they want to see in the world. These grants aim to support under-resourced youth-led groups and grassroots campaigns with lived experience of injustice, by providing the resources they need to make a positive difference and helping them take care of themselves and their communities.
We are offering two types of grants:
- Youth Action Grants: $5,000 – $15,000 to fund actions that create systemic change. We’ll distribute grants up to $75,000 in total.
- Wellbeing Grants: $2,000 – $5,000 to support the wellbeing and sustainability of youth-led groups. We’ll distribute grants up to $25,000.
Beyond the money, recipients will have access to training and coaching from, media, strategy development, team culture and wellbeing, to community organising.
Grants timeline
| Expressions of interest open | 5 September – 2 October |
| Online info session | Week of 11 September |
| Shortlist announced | 11 October |
| Shortlisted round 2 applications due. | 1 November |
| Recipients notified | 10 November |
| Funds released | Mid-November |
EOIs will be assessed by a Youth Grants Panel of 8 young people.
Is this grant for me?
Expressions of interest are open to groups, organisations, or communities running or planning structural change campaigns based in Australia that are led by young people under the age of 30, with lived experience of the issues that they are focusing on. Youth Action and Wellbeing grants are not open to individuals.
We will prioritise funding for:
- Grassroots campaigns, projects, organisations and movements. By grassroots, we mean campaigns, projects and movements that are based in community and not attached to a large organisation.
- Current funding: Campaigns/organisations who don’t currently have much funding or funding opportunities;
- Lived experience: Organisations, communities or campaigns that are led by people who have lived experience being disabled or LGBTQI+, of poverty, of racism, of gender discrimination, being in the justice system, state care, mental health system, impacts of climate change and/or housing instability.
Applications will close Monday 2 October 2023.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, we ran an info session in September. You can watch the recording here.
If you have questions or want more information about Youth Action and Wellbeing Grants you can email them to youthaction@fya.org.au.
- Shortlist: You’ll be notified if you have made it onto the shortlist around 11 October 2023.
- If you’re on the shortlist, you’ll be invited to complete a more detailed application (including a breakdown of budget and the theory of change) and/or interview. A member of our Youth Action team will get in touch to provide support and we’ll provide you with templates to make adding detail to your application as easy as possible.
- If you didn’t make the shortlist, you’ll be contacted by a member of the Youth Action team who can provide feedback.
- Final decision: The panel will consider your detailed application. You’ll be notified of the outcome of your application by 10 November 2023.
- If you are unsuccessful, there will be an opportunity for you to meet with someone from the Youth Action team to get more feedback.
- If you are successful, the funds will be released to you around mid-November.
The grant shortlist and subsequent recipients will be decided by the Youth Grants Panel. The panel consists of 8 people aged 16-29 who have been appointed by FYA and are volunteering their time. Panel members are required to declare any conflicts of interest and will be unable to make decisions on grants for any organisation, group or community they have a direct association with.
To view the Grant Guidelines click here.
If you application is successful:
- Funds will be distributed mid-November and must be spent by the end of October 2024
- The Youth Action team will work with you to set up a program of support based on your plans and activities.
- Support will consist of regular catch ups with a coach, and a program of workshops and training sessions that will be open to all grant recipients.
- In late 2024, we’ll bring the 2023 Youth Action & Wellbeing Grant recipients together for an in-person gathering to meet each other and share their actions and activities with our Youth Action Fund partners.