Connect IRL Grants

Connect IRL Grants provides funding for eligible non-for-profits to support young people, through offline connection, mentoring, safe spaces, and prosocial activities. Eligible organisations can apply for funding amounts between $10,000 and $250,000.

There are four program objectives:

1. Strengthened offline connections by delivering inclusive, pro-social activities and safe discussion spaces that support mental health, foster mutual understanding, reduce isolation, and build peer networks — particularly for those from marginalised, diverse, or geographically isolated communities.
2. Improved young people’s interpersonal, civic, and leadership skills through structured mentoring programs that promote healthy relationships, empathy, mutual respect, and active civic participation.
3. Enhanced mentor capabilities by increasing skills, including trauma-informed and lived experience approaches, to enable mentors to more effectively support vulnerable young people in building resilience and confidence within a safe and impactful environment.
4. Strengthened long-term support systems for young people achieved by the inclusion of families/trusted adults leading to a sustainable and holistic support network available to participants beyond the span of the program.