Search Grants & Funding

The Ian Potter Foundation seeks to identify and support those organisations which have well thought out projects that seek to help vulnerable members of the community to overcome the challenging circumstances in which they find themselves.

The Community Wellbeing program seeks to fund initiatives delivered by organisations supporting people with disabilities, or otherwise marginalised individuals primarily with the objective to secure employment pathways.

Funding Objective

• To improve circumstances for disadvantaged members of the community, this program area funds initiatives delivered by organisations supporting people with disabilities, or otherwise marginalised individuals primarily with the objective to secure employment pathways.

Application Process (2-stage)

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

If you are a first home buyer in NSW, you may be eligible for a full exemption or a reduced rate of transfer duty under the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme.

To be eligible for the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme:

• the purchase must be for a new or existing home, or vacant land in NSW
• the property value must be within the threshold amounts
• the transfer must be for the whole property
• you must be an individual, (not a company or trust*)
• you must be over 18*
• you and your spouse or partner, must never have owned or co-owned residential property in Australia
• you and your spouse or partner, must never have previously received an exemption or concession under the scheme
• at least one of the first home buyers must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• for new or existing homes, you must meet the requirements for living in the property.

*This requirement may be waived upon application. Contact Revenue NSW for more information.

If your motor vehicle was destroyed in a declared natural disaster, the NSW government may be able to refund any motor vehicle duty you pay on a replacement vehicle.

They may also be able to:

• give you more time to lodge any documents or returns
• defer enforcing any fines against you
• extend your payment deadlines
• agree not to charge you interest
• arrange for you to pay any debts to us in instalments.

You may be eligible for a motor vehicle duty refund if:

• your vehicle was destroyed in a declared NSW Severe Weather and Flooding Event in the specified period, and
• you paid duty on a replacement vehicle, and
• your insurance did not cover the duty for a replacement vehicle (if your destroyed vehicle was comprehensively insured).

The NSW Seniors Energy Rebate is available for eligible self-funded retirees to help cover the cost of their electricity. Gas accounts are not included.

To be eligible you must:

• be a self-funded retiree living in NSW
• hold a current Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) issued by either Services Australia or the Department of Veterans' Affairs
• be the account holder named on the electricity bill
• be applying for the rebate for your main place of residence.

If you are a small business owner in NSW, this $1,000 rebate will help you purchase safety items to improve work health and safety for you and your workers.

Small business owners and sole traders who have an ABN and employ between 0-50 (full-time equivalent) workers. Charities and not-for-profits can also apply if they employ between 1-50 workers (full-time equivalent).

The Leaving Violence Program started on 1 July 2025, and supports eligible victim-survivors leaving violent intimate partner relationships. Please note though that the Leaving Violence Program is not a crisis support service.

The program is delivered in 2 ways:

• a national program delivered by a national provider
• regional trials in 4 regions across Australia, delivered by First Nations-led organisations.

Eligible victim-survivors can get up to $5,000 in financial support, including up to $1,500 in cash and the remaining funds in goods and services. Other supports include safety planning, risk assessment and referrals to other services for up to 12 weeks. 

To be eligible for support through the Leaving Violence Program, a person must:

• be a victim-survivor of intimate partner violence
• have left or have a plan to leave an intimate partner violence relationship
• be aged 18 years or older
• be residing in Australia as an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or temporary visa holder
• be experiencing financial stress
• not have received the payment in the past 12 months through the Escaping Violence Payment (EVP) trial, Temporary Visa Holders Experiencing Violence Pilot (TVP), the national program or the regional trials 

and have either:

• changed living arrangements in the past 12 weeks as a result of the intimate partner violence (including if the person using violence has left the home)

or

• plan to change living arrangements, including when the change will occur.

Support is available to victim-survivors of any gender, sexuality or visa status.

This grant provides tailored advice and assistance to councils and groups of councils to undertake joint procurement of waste management service(s) or waste infrastructure (plan phase).

The objectives of the Joint Procurement Funded Support are to:

• support councils to access the best advice and to be confident in their procurement decisions
• facilitate collaboration, knowledge sharing and partnerships to help councils strategically plan and deliver waste infrastructure and services
• support groups of councils to procure cost effective waste management services and/or waste management infrastructure
• promote alignment or harmonisation of services between councils
• Support councils to meet waste and resource recovery targets in their transition to a circular economy

Who can apply

• All NSW councils - (as defined in the NSW Local Government Act).​
• Regional Organisations of Councils (ROCs)
• Regional Waste Groups
• Joint Organisations (JO’s)​

NSW councils remain eligible if they partner with councils outside of NSW (however, the lead council must be a NSW council). 

The Para sport Equipment Enhancement Program (PEEP) provides targeted support to address the specific gap of equipment within the Para sport pathway, enabling more athletes to enter and progress within the Para sport pathway, including those competing within high-performance.

Application Streams

Stream 1: Athlete Participation Stream
Individual athletes who participate or want to compete in Para sport, requiring Para specific or customised equipment to do so. These athletes are not Categorised by their respective National Sport Organisation (NSO) or National Sport Organisation for people with a Disability (NSOD).

Stream 2: Athlete Performance Pathway Stream 
Individual NSO/NSOD Categorised Athletes within the performance pathway requiring Para specific or customised equipment to compete in within the high-performance pathway. 

Stream 3: Program Participation Stream 
Community programs, Sporting Clubs or State Sporting Organisations (SSO’s) requiring Para specific or customised sport equipment to deliver for groups of Para athletes.

Stream 4: NSO, NSOD & SIS/SAS Para-sport units & RAS Stream 
NSO/NSOD & State Institutes & State Academies of Sport (SIS/SAS) Para sport unit & Regional Academies of Sport (RAS) immediate gaps and needs to enable a rapid upscale of Para specific equipment requirements to support the ambition of increasing the number of Categorised athletes and Para athletes competing within the Para performance pathway.

The P&C Transition Grant Program is designed to support approved OOSH services that have transitioned to P&C ownership as a result of the recent Provider Category Review.

The objectives of the P&C Transition Grant are to:

1. Support approved parent-run OOSH services that are transitioning to P&C ownership.
2. Support P&Cs who are taking on responsibility for transitioning OOSH services.
3. Ensure continuing access for NSW Government primary school students to approved OOSH services impacted by the recent Provider Category Review.

 Who can apply:

• Applicants must be an approved OOSH provider.
• The application must benefit an approved OOSH service operating in NSW. One application is allowable per service location.
• The approved OOSH service must have transitioned to P&C ownership as a result of the recent Provider Category Review.
• The approved OOSH provider must have transitioned to P&C as a result of the recent Provider Category Review.
• Applications must be submitted by an authorised officer; a person legally able to enter into agreements on behalf of the approved service provider.

This program seeks to provide practitioners with the opportunity to create appropriate written and/or visual materials to ensure that projects are as strong as possible when competing for production finance. Emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander producers are encouraged to apply.

What funding is available?

• Up to $30,000 for one-off feature and series documentaries intended for a Commissioning Platform
• Up to $20,000 for one-hour television documentaries 
• Up to $20,000 for online series productions

Funding is available for the further development of a treatment and/or draft scripts, series bible, project development as well as fees for writer, producer, director, story consultant, research, and/or securing production financing.

Turnaround time for decisions is approximately six weeks from deadline.
Deadline: 5pm AEST Thursday10 July 2025
Deadline: 5pm AEST Thursday 4 September 2025
Deadline: 5pm AEDT Thursday 6 November 2025

The purpose of the Disaster Relief Grants Program (DRG Program) is to support those most in need and those least able to return their homes to a safe and habitable condition after a natural disaster such as low-income earners and where the damage is not covered by insurance, subject to eligibility requirements. In doing so, it seeks to alleviate personal hardship and distress arising as a result of natural disasters in NSW.   

The purpose of the DRG Program is:

• to provide a safety net for the most vulnerable in the community
• to provide a contribution toward the applicant’s recovery
• assist the applicant to return to a basic standard of living.

Grants provided under the DRG Program will be assessed on the basis of eligibility not ‘entitlement’ and may be partnered with other forms of assistance, including referrals to other agencies.

The DRG Program and grants provided are not intended to:

• provide compensation for losses
• replace, or serve as a disincentive to obtain insurance
• meet all of an applicant’s needs in the aftermath of a Natural Disaster.

The objective of the program is to provide a concessional interest rate loan to eligible sporting and recreation clubs and associations to assist with the costs associated with clean up, removal of debris and/or the restoration of essential facilities, equipment or other assets that have been damaged or destroyed as a result of the declared natural disaster. 

Natural Disaster Relief Loans are only provided to eligible small business operators following the declaration of a natural disaster by the NSW Government.

What you can apply for:

• Eligible sporting and recreation clubs and associations impacted by the declared natural disaster can apply to borrow a maximum amount of $10,000.
• All loans have a term of up to 5 years, depending on the amount borrowed and your repayment capacity.
• Principal and interest loan repayments are made monthly.
• The interest rate is a concessional rate of interest. The rate applicable at the time of loan commencement is shown on the Rural Assistance Authority’s website.
• The interest rate applied to the loan is fixed for the term of the loan. 

A range of allowances and scholarships are available for students in rural and remote locations who live away from the family home to attend school.

Living away from home allowance

The Living Away from Home Allowance (LAFHA) assists eligible NSW families whose children must board away from home to access secondary education. Pre-conditions for eligibility relate to income and distance from the nearest public secondary school or school of preferred religion. Applicants must also meet further criteria such as a medical condition or impassable roads.

Boarding scholarships for isolated students

Boarding Scholarships for Isolated Students (BSIS) assist eligible students from rural areas who are required to board to attend NSW public specialist high schools – including agricultural boarding schools – or those required to board at a school term hostel to access a NSW public secondary school. Scholarships are available for students in Years 7 to 12 who are disadvantaged by a low family income and geographical isolation.

Australian Government assistance

The Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme (AIC) is an Australian Government program that targets students who cannot attend a public school because the family home is geographically isolated or the students have a disability or special needs.

These grants provide financial assistance for landholders managing conservation agreement areas to improve the biodiversity value of their properties.

The grants are available on an on-going basis for landholders who are not seeking or are ineligible for conservation management payments under the Biodiversity Conservation Trust’s Conservation Management Program.

There are four levels of funding available:

1. Up to $15,000 per year for up to three years for landholders with in-perpetuity conservation agreements, Trust Agreements, Registered Property Agreements.
2. Up to $8,000 per year for up to three years for landholders with a term Registered Property Agreement.
3. Up to $2,000 per year for up to three years for landholders with a wildlife refuge or wildlife refuge agreement or who are members of Wildlife Land Trust.
4. Landholders with Land For Wildlife agreements can apply to the Community Environment Network (CEN) for conservation partners grants of up to $2,000 per year.

In-perpetuity agreements greater than 1,000 Ha in size may be eligible for up to $30,000/year for up to three years. Investment at this level is at the discretion of the BCT and subject to case-by-case assessment.

Non-profit organisations directly affected by a declared natural disaster may be eligible for a low interest loan of up to $25,000 to support recovery.

The objective of the program is to provide a concessional interest rate loan to eligible non-profit organisations to assist with the costs associated with restoring essential facilities, equipment or other assets damaged or destroyed and/or temporary storage or leasing of alternate premises required as a result of the declared natural disaster. 

Natural Disaster Relief Loans are only provided to eligible non-profit organisations following the declaration of a natural disaster by the NSW Government.