2023 Youth Opportunities grant applications

Before you start your application, read Program Guidelines in full to make sure you understand all the relevant requirements for the Youth Opportunities grants program.

• Check Eligibility Criteria (must be an incorporated not-for-profit community organisation operating in NSW or a NSW Local Council) on page 12 of the Program Guidelines.
• Make sure you have spoken with young people and involved them in developing the project proposal prior to submitting a grant application. Remember a key element of the Youth Opportunities program is that marginalised young people take an active role in identifying, designing and implementing these projects.
• Read over the Project Objectives and Core Components on pages 6-7 of the Program Guidelines to make sure your project adheres to these guidelines.
• Read over the Project Budget and Exclusions lists on page 13 of the Program Guidelines to make sure your project fits within these guidelines.
• Read over the Assessment Criteria on page 18 of the Guidelines to understand what the assessors are looking for.

Under this Program, eligible organisations are:

• incorporated not-for-profit community organisations operating in NSW or
• NSW Local Councils.

For the purposes of this grant program, organisations deemed to be ‘incorporated not-for-profit community organisations’ operating in NSW include:

• incorporated organisations that are registered and approved as not-for-profit bodies by NSW Fair Trading
• not-for-profit companies limited by guarantee, registered in NSW (it is preferred but not essential that the applicant organisation in this case holds a valid ACNC registration and/or DGR status)
• not-for-profit companies limited by shares, registered in NSW (must be non-dividend distributing)
• associations (registered under the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 with NSW Fair Trading)
• cooperatives (registered under a relevant Act of Parliament)
• religious organisations (registered as one of the above or established under an Act of Parliament).

Projects are required to meet the following objectives and core components:

Funded organisations will be required to report on the progress made against each of these objectives and their associated outcomes.

Target Group

Marginalised young people 12 – 24 years of age who are transitioning from childhood to adulthood and from dependence to independence.

Young people who face marginalisation may include but are not limited to young people transitioning from Out of Home Care, young people experiencing homelessness, young people from low socio-economic backgrounds, young people with a disability, young carers, or young people in contact with the justice system.

Diversity

The program seeks to fund a diverse range of projects from across NSW, particularly in rural and regional areas, and encourages applications from Aboriginal and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse organisations.

Themes

The following themes highlight key issues identified by young people:

• Community inclusion and participation
• COVID-19 recovery
• Cultural identity and connection
• Cyber safety and awareness
• Domestic and family violence
• Healthy relationships
• Financial literacy (budgeting, rent, phone, contracts, fines)
• Health and wellbeing
• Homelessness/housing
• Natural disasters (preparedness, resilience and recovery).

Youth Opportunities projects may seek to address one or more of these issues, or they may address other issues raised by marginalised young people, which are important to them and their local communities.

Identified needs

Applicant organisations are to engage young people and involve them in developing the project proposal prior to submitting a grant application, to ensure the project is responsive to their needs.

Skill building

Applicant organisations will be asked to demonstrate how the project intends on supporting marginalised young people to build their skills and experience to support their participation in the project and more broadly in the community.  This could include hands-on learning to build skills or the completion of short courses related to the project’s implementation.

Each application will be considered on its merits, based on how well it meets the assessment criteria and how it is ranked against other applications. Assessments are conducted by independent assessment panels.

Each application is assessed against the following criteria:

1. The project demonstrates that marginalised young people have had and will have meaningful input at every stage of the project (identifying the need, planning and design, delivery, final review and recognition) - the project is youth-led and youth-driven.
2. The project improves marginalised young people's access to and inclusion in community activities such as sport and recreation, cultural and other activities.
3. The project provides marginalised young people with knowledge and skills to strengthen their ability to participate in their local community and support future social and economic participation.
4. The project recognises the contributions marginalised young people make to their local community.
5. The project clearly demonstrates substantial benefits to young people compared with the total cost of the project - the project represents good value for money.