Search Grants & Funding

The Connect IRL Phase 2 grant aims to support children and young people aged 8-24 from identified priority youth cohorts. This has been influenced through the recent Space to Speak consultation.

• Access safe, welcoming and inclusive spaces to connect with others and participate in community life and build meaningful relationships and social connections that foster a stronger sense of belonging and inclusion.
• Receive enhanced and targeted mentoring including trauma-informed and lived experience approaches, and to enable mentors to more effectively support them to form meaningful connections in real life environments.
• Respond to emerging and locally identified needs through initiatives that strengthen community engagement and create opportunities for input in decisions that affect them.
• Develop skills, confidence and capabilities needed to navigate transitions, pursue education and employment opportunities and actively contribute to their communities through civic, leadership or through structured mentoring programs that promote healthy relationships, empathy, mutual respect, and active civic participation.
• Strengthen offline connections by delivering inclusive, pro-social activities and safe discussion spaces that support mental health, physical health, practical skill development and healthy relationships that foster mutual understanding, reduce isolation, and build peer networks — with a focus on those from marginalised, diverse, or geographically isolated communities.

Eligibility

All applicants are required to meet the following eligibility criteria to be eligible to apply for the grant program you must be:

• Not for profit companies limited by guarantee, registered with the ACNC and/or with DGR status.
• NSW associations or non-distributing co-operatives registered with NSW Fair Trading.
• Local Aboriginal Land Councils.
• Not-for-profit Indigenous corporations registered with the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations.
• NSW local councils operating under the Local Government Act 1993.
• Not-for-profit entities incorporated under an Act of Parliament.
• Incorporated Association registered outside of NSW but with an Australian Registered Body Number (ARBN).

The Holiday Break Grants Program is an NSW Government initiative supporting free, structured activities for young people aged 12–24 during school holidays, improving access to inclusive, high-quality recreational and social opportunities.

Successful applications funded under this grant round will address all the Program objectives:

1. Increase access to activities Increase the availability of free, structured recreational and social activities for young people aged 12–24 years during school holiday periods.
2. Reduce barriers to participation Address financial, geographic and accessibility barriers that may limit young people’s ability to participate in activities within their local communities.
3. Support inclusive and targeted delivery Encourage activities that are inclusive and responsive to the needs of diverse groups of young people, particularly those who may experience disadvantage or exclusion.
4. Promote positive youth development Support activities that build young people’s skills, confidence, creativity and social connection in a safe and supportive environment.
5. Encourage community engagement and connection Strengthen connections between young people, their peers and their local communities through meaningful participation in shared activities.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for the grant program you must be:

Local government organisations, boards or groups:

• NSW local councils operating under the Local Government Act 1993 (LG Act)
• Joint Organisations (s400O of the LG Act)
• Regional Organisations of Councils (which are voluntary groupings of councils).
• the Lord Howe Island Board
• the Unincorporated Far West group
• Section 355 Committees of Councils (must apply in the name of the relevant Council and must have permission to apply)

Indigenous and Aboriginal Organisations

• a Local Aboriginal Land Council
• Not-for-profit Indigenous Corporation (registered under Corporations (Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006)

Other

• Not-for-profit organisations and community organisations registered with the Australian Charities and not-for-profits Commission (ACNC)
• Incorporated organisations registered with NSW Fair Trading under the Associations Incorporations Act 2009.

Other Mandatory Criteria

The following are mandatory program requirements:

• maintain adequate and current insurance cover including, but not limited to Workers Compensation Insurance, Professional Indemnity Insurance, Personal Accident Insurance. 
• have public liability insurance of at least $10 million per claim or be willing to purchase it. Please note that the Office for Youth will not enter into a Funding Agreement with an eligible entity until the evidence of such an insurance is provided. 
• address the NSW National Redress Scheme sanctions. 
• not have outstanding acquittals with the Department of Communities and Justice or the Office for Youth.
• The organisation must be operating in NSW, and all proposed activities or events must be delivered in NSW for young people living in NSW. LGAs or Unincorporated Areas on border locations within NSW may be eligible to conduct projects and activities in their neighbouring state if declared during the application process.
• Activities or events must be held during relevant school holidays period.
• Each organisation may submit one application only under this program and cannot be included as a downstream recipient in another application.