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The WIP Doctor Stream makes direct payments to doctors who deliver eligible services in eligible locations.

The WIP Doctor Stream aims to encourage doctors to practise in regional rural and remote communities. It also promotes careers in rural medicine by providing financial incentives. For doctors to receive incentive payments, they must provide eligible services in eligible locations. We determine the locations using the Modified Monash Model (MM 2019) geographical classification system.

You can receive incentive payments of between $3,600 and $60,000 per year, depending on activity levels, location,  how long a doctor has been part of the program and, from 1 January 2024, a doctor’s vocational registration status.

It uses 2 systems to assess and pay these financial incentives:

• Central Payment System (CPS) – for doctors who bill the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) for eligible services.
• Flexible Payment System (FPS) – for doctors who provide eligible services and/or undertake training that is not reflected in the MBS.

Some doctors may provide services under both payment systems.

Payments are based on:

• activity levels within eligible locations
• how long a doctor has been part of the program and, from 1 January 2024
• a doctor’s vocational registration status (starting from 1 January 2024).

The WIP Doctor Stream replaced the General Practice Rural Incentives Program (GPRIP) in early 2020.

Agristarter Loans provide farmers with loans to either assist them in starting their own farming business or to plan for and implement succession arrangements.

There are 2 kinds of Agristarter loans:

• first farmer - loans for indivduals seeking to purchase, establish or develop a farm business in which they will hold the sole or controlling interest
• sucession - loans for farm businesses planning for, or undertaking succesion arrangements

Loans may be used to:

• buy an existing farm business
• establish a new farm business
• buy out relatives during farm business succession
• pay costs associated with the succession planning process
• pay for legal costs or stamp duty

The broad objective of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Flexible Initiatives Trial (the program) is to increase families' economic, educational, and societal participation through improved access to ECEC services, by supporting services to trial new or adapted flexible operating models. The program also aims to ensure that the ECEC workforce is supported to deliver flexible models of ECEC.

The objectives of the ECEC Flexible Initiatives Trial are centred on enhancing the accessibility and adaptability of early childhood education and care services for families across New South Wales. The program seeks to address the challenges families face in accessing ECEC by promoting increased flexibility in how services are provided.

‘Flexibility’ in this program refers to any modification to core ECEC business operations that promotes accessibility for families. This could involve extending service operating hours, offering flexible attendance patterns, implementing casual care day booking systems, providing wraparound care, or other initiatives that increase the availability of early childhood education and care

The key objectives of the program are to:

• increase accessibility of ECEC for families who need more flexible options, including an increase in the number of available places
• increase participation, particularly of women, in work and/or study, which is enabled by increased access to ECEC services
• increase service providers’ knowledge of local flexibility needs and their capacity to meet those needs
• provide appropriate support and working conditions for educators delivering flexible models
• develop an evidence base for successful flexible models to inform future program development.

The Strengthening Rural Communities program gives small rural, regional and remote communities across Australia the opportunity to access funds that can benefit and help secure their future prosperity. Grants are available for a broad range of initiatives that directly and clearly benefit local communities.

Applications from not-for-profit organisations in communities of fewer than 15,000 people are prioritised, particularly those communities whose size, remoteness and relative access to services, funding, and resources present particular ongoing challenges. The Strengthening Rural Communities program accepts applications any time. FRRR considers applications and makes grant distributions on a quarterly basis.

The Drought Infrastructure Fund is a long term, low interest loan product supporting NSW farmers to invest in permanent on-farm infrastructure that will:

• manage adverse seasonal conditions - improve water efficiencies with irrigation systems, cap and piping of bores, new dams, install water tanks and desilting of ground tanks
• ensure long term sustainability - increase the viability of a farm business and improve pasture and soil health, plant trees for shade and wildlife corridors, eradicate weeds, flood proof property and fence river banks.
• improve farm productivity - reduce risks and improve efficiencies by building fodder and grain storage facilities, sheds, fencing, roadworks and solar power conversions.

Eligible producers can borrow up to $1 million per project, with a total of $1 million outstanding at any one time to build on-farm infrastructure, including stock containment areas. A 2.5% fixed interest rate is applied to Drought Infrastructure Fund loans which can be repaid over a period of 20 years.

Skills Development Grants provide funding to volunteer museums, museum networks, and Aboriginal cultural spaces for regional or state focused skill development training and networking events involving more than one organisation.

There are no set categories for funding, and applications for a broad range of projects will be considered.

Skills Development Grants can be applied for at any time throughout the year, until the cut-off date of the 27 October 2024, or all funds are expended.

Skills Development Grant applications must be received by M&G NSW at least 6 weeks before the activity/event (e.g. conference, workshop, seminar) is scheduled to take place. Activities funded by 2024 Skills Development Grants must take place between March 2024 and January 2025. Acquittals are due two months after the activity.

Local football clubs across Australia will have the opportunity to share in an $8 million funding boost over the next four years, as the AFL and Telstra launch Telstra Footy Country Grants. With a pool of $2 million to be distributed in 2024, eligible regional and metro clubs can apply for grants up to $20,000 – helping strengthen, sustain and grow local footy.

As the foundation of our great game and the heartbeat of communities, investment in local clubs is vital to ensuring everyone has access to play Aussie Rules and experience the health, social and wellbeing benefits that come with belonging to a club.

The Telstra Footy Country Grants is designed to financially assist initiatives that can support Community Clubs affiliated to the AFL to strengthen the base and secure the future in three key strategic areas:

• Grow and assist volunteer capacity.
• Grow and diversify participation.
• Improve club environments and experiences.

Whether it’s upgrading to an electronic scoreboard, upskilling volunteers or introducing new initiatives to attract more participants, Telstra Footy Country Grants aims to provide tangible support for clubs and alleviate the challenges they may face. 

he FRRR ABC Heywire Youth Innovation Grant program helps communities take action on ideas generated by young Australians on issues that matter to remote, rural and regional youth. The Heywire Project Ideas are developed annually at the Heywire Youth Summit in Canberra.

Grants of up to $10,000 are available for communities to act on these issues by either adopting or adapting the project ideas for 2024. That might include implementing the idea as developed by the Heywire Youth or by adapting it to respond to the issue the project idea seeks to address with an initiative that meets the needs of young people in your community.

The 2024 Heywire issues impacting young Australians are:

• Bussin’: How might we create more accessible transport options for young people in regional and rural communitie
• MEE (Mentoring Educating Empowering): How might we close the gap in accessing quality education for young people in regional, rural and remote communities?
• A Place for You: How might we improve accessibility to mental health services in remote and regional areas of Australia?
• The Bigger Picture: How can we empower young people in regional towns to celebrate their differences and foster connection among themselves?
• Safe Sphere: How might we ensure that young people in regional and remote communities receive relevant and comprehensive sexual education?
• Youth 2 Grassroots: How might we promote a stronger connection between individuals and their land by fostering a culture of environmental protection and stewardship?

The Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) Prepare & Recover program supports communities in remote, rural and regional communities across Australia to implement initiatives that prevent and prepare for future climate related impacts, or recover from existing disasters in the medium to long-term timeframe, generally one to ten years after the disaster.

Grants up to $25,000 are available for a broad range of initiatives to strengthen the capacity and capability of local people, organisations, networks, and systems that help communities to be informed, skilled, connected and resourced for the future.

Specifically, SRC Prepare & Recover will support communities impacted by the following disasters:

• 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires;
• 2021 QLD floods;
• 2021 NSW floods;
• 2021 WA Tropical Cyclone Seroja; and
• 2022 flood events across NSW, QLD, SA, TAS and VIC.

Since 2019, our sponsorships and donations program has benefitted more than 300 community projects in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria with grants worth more than $1 million.

In 2023, as per the updated Ministerial Interim Statement of Expectations, Inland Rail is now focused on building the Beveridge to Parkes section of the alignment while planning and approvals work will continue north of Parkes to Kagaru.

Whilst ARTC will continue to offer funding between $1000–$4000 for individuals and organisations in regional areas along the Inland Rail route, applications from areas where construction is underway will constitute a greater focus for the Community Sponsorships and Donations Program.

Funding will be available to short-term projects and activities that contribute to local and regional prosperity, wellbeing and sustainability, such as upgrading community facilities and equipment, implementing unique STEM projects in schools, mentoring and developing local business communities, and hosting community events.

Ski for Life Inc is a group of people committed to raising awareness and promoting mental health, wellbeing and suicide prevention. Members share compassion and empathy for those impacted by suicide and passion and commitment to reducing the frightening statistics we find before them.

To help acheive this, they support projects for rural and remote communities throughout Australia that would benefit from awareness, promotion of mental health, wellbeing, and suicide prevention.

The NSW Government established the Community War Memorials Fund to help conserve, repair and protect war memorials across NSW. Since the establishment of the program in 2008, grants have been provided for a wide range of projects including conservation assessments, honour roll repair, war memorial cleaning and conservation work, arborist advice for war memorial trees, security measures for memorials, repairs to war memorial halls and improvements to the accessibility of memorials.

Two application rounds are run each year. The rounds open on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day.

The Westpac Youth Impact Challenge is a nationwide initiative open to all young people around Australia aged 7 to 21 years. The Challenge aims to help young Australians solve problems in their local communities.

To take part in the Challenge, participants must identify a local problem and brainstorm an innovative business or social change idea to solve it. Participants can choose to work individually, or in a group of up to 3.

The NSW Government is offering a 10 per cent rebate for eligible digital games. Games must have a Qualifying NSW Expenditure of at least $500,000 to be eligible.

An eligible project must commit at the time of application to qualifying expenditure of at least AU$500,000 on the project in NSW. The spend may occur over several years. Multiple projects cannot be bundled to achieve the AU$500,000 threshold. A major update of an existing game is eligible if it meets the $500,000 threshold.

Qualifying NSW games expenditure must be on activities carried out in NSW related to production of the launch version of the game. The pre-development stage, being activities that are usually undertaken with the aim of determining whether a digital game is commercially feasible, is excluded.

Eligible games for the Rebate include:

• Games for entertainment and serious games
• Games for any platform including console, desktop, tablet, mobile, VR/AR
• Multi-player and single-player games.

Games must generally be intended for public release.

An applicant must submit an application with Screen NSW prior to the commencement of any eligible work for which the Rebate is sought. If production has already commenced on the project, only work carried out on or after the date of application will be eligible for the Rebate.

Apprenticeships are a proven pathway to well-paid jobs in a diverse range of careers. In NSW, apprenticeships are also fee free – meaning no more upfront training costs for students or employers.

There’s never been a better time to start an apprenticeship in NSW. The NSW Government is paying the course cost for 100,000 new apprenticeships – meaning apprentices undertaking a government funded apprenticeship no longer face a student fee of up to $2000.

Apprenticeships are a great career pathway. They combine on-the-job training with classroom study to give you the skills and experience employers are looking for. Apprenticeships generally take around 3-4 years to complete, and apprentices earn a salary while they learn.

There are more than 120 different apprenticeship courses available in NSW, in a range of industries including construction, cooking, aviation and automotive. Search all NSW apprenticeships funded under Smart and Skilled.