The Holiday Break program provides young people in regional NSW opportunities to connect, socialise, learn new skills, and have fun at free activities, including sport and recreation camps, creative activities, and more during the school holidays.
Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: Up to $7,000
- Application opened: 26 February 2024
- Application closed: 22 March 2024, 5:00 pm
Program objective
Young people are essential for a vibrant regional NSW but often lack free opportunities for social connection with their peers. Young people thrive and develop when they can regularly participate in recreational and social activities.
The NSW Government’s Holiday Break program will now be delivered in a new streamlined half-yearly model, with Summer and Autumn and Winter and Spring grouped together. One application per organisation is permitted per funding round.
Applications for Winter and Spring Holiday Break 2024 are now closed.
You can view the successful applicants for Winter and Spring 2024 Holiday Break Program here.
The NSW government is committed to prioritising projects that support inclusivity for culturally and socially diverse young people. Applicants are encouraged to design and deliver activities which engage these people.
To create more opportunities for young people in remote NSW to attend social and recreational events, an additional $3,000 per organisation, per round is available to support travel and accommodation costs of external suppliers delivering activities.
This program is funded and administered by Department of Regional NSW.
Eligibility
To be eligible for grant funding, an applicant must:
- have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
- acknowledge that funding will only be made available to the applicant on successful execution of a funding agreement
- either currently hold public liability insurance of not less than $20 million per occurrence or better self-insurance to the satisfaction of the Department, or confirm willingness to obtain relevant insurance prior to executing a Funding agreement with the Department
- be an eligible applicant.
Who can apply
To be eligible for grant funding, an applicant must meet each of the following requirements:
- have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
- acknowledge that funding will only be made available to the applicant on successful execution of a funding agreement
- either currently hold public liability insurance of not less than $20 million per occurrence
- or better self-insurance to the satisfaction of the Department or confirm willingness to
- obtain relevant insurance prior to executing a Funding agreement with the Department
- be one of the following:
Local Council Groups
- a local council recognised under relevant NSW legislation (excluding Greater Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle local government areas)
- regional joint organisation of councils
- Section 355 Committees of Councils (must apply in the name of the relevant Council and must have permission to apply)
- the Lord Howe Island Board
- an unincorporated Far West group.
Organisations
- not-for-profit and community organisations registered with the Australian Charities and not-for-profits Commission (ACNC)
- an association registered with NSW Fair Trading under the Associations Incorporation Act 2009.
Indigenous and Aboriginal Organisations
- a Local Aboriginal Land Council
- an Indigenous Corporation (registered under Corporations (Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006).
Who can’t apply
Unless specifically listed above all other entities are ineligible to apply for Holiday Break funding, including but not limited to:
- unincorporated entities
- other Organisations (unless entity type is listed within eligible criteria as above)
- sole traders
- partnerships
- individuals
- deregistered or Insolvent businesses
- organisations that do not have an ABN or are unable to obtain an ABN
- trusts or Trustees (unless entity type is listed within eligible applicants as above)
- Holiday Break partners
- State and Commonwealth Government Entities.
Where an application does not demonstrate that the applicant meets the above eligibility requirements, the Department will deem the application to be ineligible and may set it aside from further consideration.
The Department reserves the right to seek clarification or further information from applicants for the purpose of confirming eligibility against the above requirements, within the parameters of probity and fairness.
The Department reserves the right to not award a grant to an applicant where it has outstanding acquittals from a previous program and/or where it represents greater than acceptable reputational risk to the NSW Government.
Types of projects funded under this grant
Eligible projects include social or recreational activities, events, services or programs for young people aged 12-24 years during the relevant NSW school holiday period. Projects must be age appropriate. Examples of activities that may be eligible for such funding include:
- youth concerts and music events
- cooking and life skills activities
- sports and recreational activities
- cultural and creative activities
- dance / disco events
- art and theatre workshops
- outdoor activities
- sporting and sight-seeing activities
- science, technology and gaming activities.
Young people have different needs and challenges when accessing recreational and social activities within their communities. Some experience more barriers to participation than others. Eligible applicants are encouraged to design and deliver activities which engage one (or more) of the priority groups below:
- Aboriginal young people
- young people that are carers
- culturally and linguistically diverse young people
- young people from a refugee background
- LGBTIQA+ young people
- young people living with a disability
- young people experiencing socio-economic disadvantage.
Eligible projects costs include:
- refreshments for attendees
- entry fees and tickets
- transport for attendees
- consumable project supplies
- hire of event spaces, equipment, and facilities
- administration costs (including advertising, marketing, printing, marketing, promotion, insurances, reporting and completion of grant documentation) no greater than 10% of the total requested grant amount
- staff costs (including wages, travel, meals, support workers/activity delivery staff and project coordination staff) for the planning and delivery of the program no greater than 50% of the total requested grant amount
- additional travel loading for suppliers travelling to remote and very remote NSW.
What can’t you apply for
Projects are not eligible for funding if they are:
- located outside an eligible LGA (see Appendix A for eligible LGAs)
- not submitted by an eligible applicant
- projects that incur costs for attendees (e.g. entry fees and club memberships)
- projects that are targeted towards club members / a pre-formed group without additional invite and engagement from the wider community aged 12 -24 years
- projects that are considered ‘business as usual’ for the organisation
- projects that are not directly funding the delivery of programs for young people
- for the delivery of essential or core government services that should be funded from another source such as local government, the NSW Government or the Commonwealth Government
- seeking grant funding for operational costs such as utilities, cleaning equipment, telephone, and electricity costs
- for a general works package without specific scope, costs, and location (e.g., ‘upgrading lighting at community youth centre without identifying the work required, number of sites or the locations)
- predominantly for marketing, branding, advertising or product promotion including tourism marketing
- providing direct commercial and/or exclusive private benefit to an individual or business
- not clearly providing benefits that will significantly contribute to the objectives of the program
- the recipient of any grant funding from another NSW Government grant program for the same project.
- projects that seek to solely subsidise memberships for existing services
- promote the consumption of alcohol or drugs
- pose a reputational risk to the Department. The Department has sole discretion in determining if activities pose a reputational risk.
- include activities that are potentially high risk or dangerous, such as bull riding, skydiving, scuba diving and carnival rides. The Department has sole discretion in determining if activities are potentially high risk or dangerous.
Ineligible project costs include:
- costs related to buying or upgrading equipment or supplies not essential to the activity
- donations or commissions to third parties
- financing, including debt financing or rental costs
- rental costs for venue or facilities owned by ‘parent’ organisations or subsidiaries
- non-project related staff training and development costs
- funding for ongoing staff or operational costs beyond the scope and timeframe of the funded activity
- costs that are considered ‘business as usual’ for the organisation including superannuation and organisational insurances.
- administration costs totalling more than 10% of the requested grant amount
- staff costs totalling more than 50% of the requested grant amount
- the Department has discretion to part fund a project where some itemised project costs have been assessed as ineligible.
Please note the below inclusions for administration and staff costs
Administration costs (maximum 10% of requested grant amount) include:
- advertising
- marketing
- promotion
- project insurance
- reporting and completion of grant documentation.
Staff costs (maximum 50% of the requested grant amount)
- wages
- travel
- meals
- support workers/ activity delivery staff
- project coordination staff.
Most recent recipients
What your application needs to include
Prepare your application with this checklist
- a project description
- a project budget
- landowner consent if the land is not owned by the applicant
- confirmation of $20 million Public Liability Insurance in the name of the applicant prior to contracting.
Start the application
Applications are submitted in accordance with the published Guidelines via the SmartyGrants online portal.
The Department will only accept late applications received after the round closing date where it would not compromise the competitiveness and integrity of the process.
The program is a single stage application process. Applicants will be able to view the application form once the round opens. Applications cannot be reopened or amended once submitted, unless specifically requested or approved by the Department.
Applicants can apply to deliver activities in Winter and/or Spring via an application after the relevant opening date. Successful applicants will receive one funding agreement that covers both school holiday periods.
One application per organisation is permitted.
Joint applications by two or more organisations are not permitted.
There will be no single round for 2024 between the half yearly rounds.
The Department reserves the right to consider or not consider applications which have not been lodged or completed in full through the SmartyGrants system at the time of lodgement.
After the application is submitted
Applicants will be considered against the eligibility criteria in the order in which they are submitted based on the time and date stamp of the application’s lodgement.
The decision maker for the Grant is the Department of Regional NSW, Deputy Secretary, Regional Development and Programs. The decision maker will review the availability of grant funds and the recommendations by the assessment team before deciding which grant applications to approve for funding.
The Department will advise applicants, via email, of the outcome of their application. The NSW Grant Administration Guidelines (2022) mandates the publication of information about all grants awarded no later than 45 calendar days after the grant agreement takes effect. The publication of program evaluations is also required. This information is published on the NSW Government Grants and Funding Finder.
Successful applicants will be required to enter into a funding agreement with the NSW Government.
Successful applicants will receive one funding agreement that covers both school holiday periods.
Support and contact
For help preparing applications, information and resources please contact us at regionalyouth@regional.nsw.gov.au
Read the Holiday Break Frequently Asked Questions.