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Funding for projects to strengthen Australian Jewish communities
Australian Jewish Community Priority Projects Grant
Closing date: Tuesday 5 January 2027 5:00pm AEDT Tue 5 Jan 2027 5:00pm AEDT
What do you get?
Grants of up to $300,000, to cover up to 100% of eligible expenditure.
Who is this for?
Jewish organisations and other organisations located in Australia that can demonstrate a connection to the Australian Jewish community or communities the project will serve.
About the program
The Australian Jewish Community Priority Projects Grant opportunity will fund initiatives that combat prejudice and promote understanding, tolerance and respect between Australian Jewish communities and other cultural, ethnic and religious groups, and that support Australian Jewish communities to participate in cultural, religious and civic life free from discrimination and hatred.
The objectives of the grant opportunity are to:
- support opportunities that promote understanding, tolerance and respectful engagement between Australian Jewish communities and other racial, ethnic and religious groups
- combat prejudice that leads to racial discrimination and promote understanding, tolerance and friendship between Australian Jewish communities and other racial, ethnic and religious groups, through activities in the fields of teaching, education, culture and information
- enable members of Australian Jewish communities to practise their religion and enjoy their culture in community with other members of their group safely
- support community members to participate in cultural and religious traditions through activities that strengthen connection and inclusion
- support activities that promote community connection, social cohesion and recovery following the antisemitic Bondi terrorist attack, including through opportunities for cultural, religious and civic participation
- improve access to appropriate mental health support for community members affected by the antisemitic Bondi terrorist attack. This includes activities that assist community members to recognise when professional mental health treatment or support may be required and engagement of appropriately qualified mental health professionals to improve awareness of available mental health services and pathways to care
- improve access to appropriate support for community members affected by the antisemitic Bondi terrorist attack.
This grant opportunity will run over two years from 2026-27 to 2027-28. Projects must be no longer than 12 months and be completed by 31 March 2028.
Information session
We are planning an online information session about the Australian Jewish Community Priority Projects Grant on Tuesday, 17 November 2026 at 3 pm AEDT.
The session will explain the grant and how to apply.
If you would like to attend, please email AJCRSVP@industry.gov.au to register your interest.
Important information:
- The contact details you provide when registering will be used for future communications related to the session.
- Following the session, we will provide a recording of the session on this page to all potential applicants. You will have access to the information even if you can't attend the live session.
- There will be a live Q&A function during the session. If you’d like to submit questions in advance, please email AJCRSVP@industry.gov.au.
- To get the most out of the session, we strongly encourage all participants to read the grant opportunity guidelines and any supporting documentation beforehand. This will help you better understand the program and come prepared with informed questions.
Check if you can apply
You can apply if you meet the eligibility criteria. The eligibility criteria are a set of rules that describe who we can consider for this grant. You can apply if you:
- are an eligible entity
- have an eligible project
- have eligible expenditure.
The rules are in the grant opportunity guidelines.
You can apply if you:
- have an Australian business number (ABN) established for at least 12 months before the application close date
- are located in Australia
- are a not-for-profit organisation or registered charity
and are one of the following entities:
- an entity incorporated in Australia
- an Aboriginal and Torres Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth)
- a company limited by guarantee
- an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust
- an incorporated association
- a co-operative
- a statutory entity.
You must be registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission or provide a signed declaration confirming your not-for-profit status. See section 7.1 of the guidelines for more information.
To be eligible your organisation must also:
- have a connection to the Australian Jewish community or communities that your project will serve
- provide evidence of the need for your proposed project.
You can’t apply if you are:
- any organisation not included in section 4.1 of the grant opportunity guidelines
- an organisation, or your project partner is an organisation, included on the National Redress Scheme’s list of Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme
- an employer of 100 or more employees that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012)
- an individual
- a partnership
- a Regional Development Australia Committee
- a trust (however, an incorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a trust)
- a Commonwealth, state, territory or local government body (including government business enterprises)
- a corporate or non-corporate state, territory or Commonwealth entity
- a corporate or non-corporate state, territory or Commonwealth statutory authority
- a sole trader
- an international entity
- an unincorporated association
- a for-profit organisation
- an unaffiliated association without an eligible organisation submitting on its behalf.
Partner with other organisations
You can partner with one or more other organisations that also meet the eligibility criteria. But you must decide who the lead organisation is.
The lead organisation must fill out the application form.
If we give your group the grant, the lead organisation:
- signs the grant agreement
- receives grant payments
- is responsible for making sure your group follows the rules in the grant agreement.
You must complete your project by 31 March 2028. The maximum project period is 12 months from execution of the grant agreement. Where a grant agreement is executed after 31 March 2027, the project period will be shorter than 12 months to ensure activities are completed by 31 March 2028.
Your project must:
- be located in Australia
- meet the overall project outcomes listed in section 2.1 of the grant opportunity guidelines, and
- align with one or more program objectives and matching eligible activities in the table listed in section 5.1 of the grant opportunity guidelines.
These fall into three areas.
Intercultural and interfaith engagement, for example:
- interfaith dialogue and partnership programs
- cross-cultural community projects delivered with other cultural, ethnic or religious groups
- public awareness and civic participation activities that build understanding of Jewish culture, history and experience
- anti-racism and anti-hate education initiatives.
Cultural and religious participation, for example:
- community events, cultural programs and festivals that share Jewish culture with the broader community
- intergenerational activities that pass on cultural knowledge, language, religious practice and history
- volunteer-led community engagement programs directed at cultural and religious participation
- activities that support community members who have withdrawn from cultural, religious or community participation since the attack to re-engage.
Connecting community members to existing support, for example:
- mental health literacy activities, developed or delivered by mental health professionals, that help people affected by the attack recognise when professional support may be needed and how to access it
- referral pathways connecting community members to existing clinical and professional mental health services.
You can apply for a grant up to $300,000.
You can use this grant funding for:
- labour expenditure and on-costs
- contract expenditure
- administration costs up to 25% of your total eligible expenditure
- catering (excluding alcohol)
- domestic travel
- purchase or hire of equipment and materials
- marketing and promotion
- job advertising and recruiting
- staff training
- venue hire
- planning, environmental and other regulatory approval costs (excluding fees paid to Commonwealth, state, territory and local governments).
All costs must be directly related to the project and its approved activities.
For full details on eligible and ineligible expenditure, refer to the grant opportunity guidelines.
How to apply
Check if you’re ready to apply for a grant
Finding a suitable grant opportunity is just the start of the process to get funding. The application process can take time and effort. Understanding the entire process will help you be grant ready and may improve your chances of getting funding.
Use our checklist to find out what it takes to apply for a grant.
When you're ready to apply
When the online form is available, you'll need to apply using our online portal:
- Create or log into your portal account.
- Follow the instructions to complete your application.
- Submit your application before the close date.
Make sure you include enough detail and supporting evidence in your application to help us decide whether to award you the grant.
Don’t submit your application until it’s complete. If you find an error in your application after submitting it, contact us to retrieve your application. You must resubmit it before the application close date.
First we check that you meet the eligibility criteria. Then we assess your application against the assessment criteria.
The assessment criteria are a set of rules that describe how we must assess each application.
We give each criterion a certain number of points.
We will only award funding to applications that score at least 50% against each assessment criterion.
- Assessment criterion 1: Community identification, need and supporting evidence (25 points):
- who in the Australian Jewish community your project is for and what they need
- the evidence of that need
- how the community has been involved in identifying the need and shaping the project.
- Assessment criterion 2: Project impact and building community understanding (35 points):
- the outcomes you expect, who will benefit and how many people you expect to reach
- how your project builds understanding between communities or supports people to take part in cultural and religious life (whichever applies), and
- how you will know whether it worked.
- Assessment criterion 3: Your organisation's capacity to deliver the project (40 points):
- your connection to the community
- your experience
- your governance, staff, volunteers and partnerships
- your project plan and timeline
- how your budget relates to your outcomes and how you have kept costs efficient, and
- the key risks and how you will manage them.
The amount of detail and supporting evidence you provide should be relative to the project size, complexity and grant amount requested.
The Minister makes the final decision.
Apply now
Apply for the Australian Jewish Community Priority Projects Grant now.
Before you apply, make sure you:
- read and understand the grant opportunity guidelines
- read the sample grant agreements.
Sample applications
The best way to understand what information you need to provide is to start an application. We have also provided a version to download at the bottom of this page.
Technical help
See our customer portal's frequently asked questions to help with your queries. If you can't find your answer, contact us for assistance.
If you find an error in your application after submitting it, you can request to retrieve it to make changes by contacting us. You must submit your application again before the closing date.
We may accept a late application where an applicant has experienced exceptional circumstances that prevent the submission of the application. Broadly, exceptional circumstances are events characterised by one or more of the following:
- reasonably unforeseeable
- beyond the applicant’s control
- unable to be managed or resolved within the application period.
Contact
Need help?
Let us answer your question over the phone, email or live chat.
- Phone:
-
Open Hours:
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm across Australia
- Website:
Further guidance
The following questions and answers summarise the requirements set out in the grant opportunity guidelines in plain English while also addressing queries submitted by potential applicants.
Please note that the grant opportunity guidelines are the primary authority to understand eligibility, assessment criteria and grant process. Where anything here differs from the grant opportunity guidelines or the application form, those documents apply.
To be eligible your organisation must be an eligible entity and have a connection to the Australian Jewish community or communities your project will serve.
You declare this connection in your application, and you show it in your answer to assessment criterion 3(a), with attached evidence. See section 7.1 of the guidelines.
What evidence of our connection to the community do we need?
It depends on your organisation.
If your organisation is from and made up of the Australian Jewish community, evidence may include:
- governing documents showing your organisation’s purpose relates to the Australian Jewish community
- information about your membership, board or governance, showing the community is represented in how your organisation is run
- your founding history, showing the organisation was established by or for the community
- a statement describing your organisation’s role in the community and how long it has operated.
If your organisation is not from and made up of the Australian Jewish community but has an established, ongoing relationship with it, evidence may include:
- reports, acquittals or other records of projects or services you have delivered with or for Australian Jewish communities
- a letter from a Jewish community organisation describing your relationship, what you have delivered together, and over what period
- formal partnership agreements or memoranda of understanding with Jewish community organisations
- participation or attendance data from activities you have delivered with the community
- a description of sustained engagement over time – for example ongoing programs, regular joint activities or shared governance arrangements.
We are not registered with the ACNC. Can we still apply?
Yes. If you are not registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, you must attach a signed declaration confirming your not-for-profit status.
Can we apply as a group of organisations?
Yes. You must appoint a lead organisation, which must itself be eligible. Only the lead organisation submits the application and, if successful, enters into the grant agreement. Each project partner provides a letter of support. See section 7.2 of the guidelines for what the letter must include.
Can we submit more than one application?
Yes, but each application must be for a different location. A separate application is needed for each location. If more than one application is submitted for the same location, the latest accepted application for that location will progress.
Location is identified by the Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3) where the majority of your project activities take place. You provide this in the application form. To find your SA3, use the suburb to SA3 list.
Can we apply for other grants for the same project?
You can apply for a grant for your project under more than one Commonwealth program, but if you are successful in both, you must choose one. We cannot fund your project if it receives funding from another Commonwealth, state, territory or local government source for the same purpose.
Your project must align with one or more of the grant objectives in section 2.1 of the guidelines and the matching eligible activities in section 5.1 of the guidelines.
Find examples of activities under eligible projects.
Does our project have to involve cultural, ethnic or religious groups outside the Jewish community?
No. Projects can be funded in three areas, and only one of them – intercultural and interfaith engagement – involves working with cultural, ethnic or religious groups outside the Jewish community, for example through interfaith dialogue or cross-cultural community projects. Projects in the other two areas, cultural and religious participation and connecting community members to existing support, can be directed within the Jewish community.
Under assessment criterion 2, you answer the parts that apply to your project. Question (b) applies if your project includes intercultural or interfaith engagement. Question (c) applies where your project is directed within the community. If your project does both, answer both.
Can our project include mental health activities?
Only mental health literacy activities and referral pathways, as described above. The grant cannot fund clinical treatment or counselling services.
Mental health literacy activities must be developed and delivered by mental health professionals registered with an Australian professional body. For this grant, mental health professionals include psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health nurses, counsellors, occupational therapists, social workers and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander mental health workers.
If your project includes these activities, your answer to assessment criterion 1(b) must show they do not provide clinical treatment or counselling, and do not duplicate or overlap with existing mental health support.
Can the grant pay for security?
No. Security infrastructure, equipment, guarding and related protective measures are not eligible. These are funded through separate Commonwealth security grant programs available to Jewish community organisations.
Can we run social or recreational activities?
Only where they are directed at cultural or religious participation, intercultural understanding, or mental health literacy. General wellbeing, social or recreational activities without that focus are not eligible.
Where can our project take place?
Anywhere in Australia. Your project can include activities at more than one location. Activities delivered outside Australia are not eligible.
How much can we apply for?
Up to $300,000. The grant can cover up to 100% of your eligible project expenditure, so you are not required to contribute funding yourself. You are responsible for any costs above your grant amount and any ineligible costs.
The amount you request should reflect the scale and complexity of your project. Only ask for the funding you need to achieve your project’s outcomes.
When can we start our project?
We expect successful projects to be able to start around March 2027. You can choose to start from the date you are notified that your application is successful, but the Commonwealth is not responsible for any expenditure incurred before your grant agreement is executed.
How long do we have to complete our project?
Your project can run for up to 12 months and must be completed by 31 March 2028. Where a grant agreement is executed after 31 March 2027, the project period will be shorter than 12 months.
How will we be paid?
Payments are made according to the schedule in your grant agreement and are subject to satisfactory progress on your project. We only make payments when we receive satisfactory progress reports.
See examples of what you can spent the grant on under eligible expenditure, or in section 5.3 of the guidelines.
What is the limit on administration costs?
Administration costs are capped at 25% of your total eligible project expenditure. They include project administration, coordination, monitoring, reporting, insurance, office rent and computing equipment directly required to deliver the project.
For example, if your total eligible project expenditure is $200,000, you can claim up to $50,000 in administration costs.
The budget template calculates this for you and will flag it if you go over.
Can we count volunteer time or donated goods?
No. In-kind contributions cannot be claimed as eligible expenditure. You can still describe them in your project management plan – they help show how you have kept costs efficient under assessment criterion 3.
Can we include a contingency amount?
No. Contingency costs are not eligible.
What else can’t we spend the grant on?
Ineligible costs include alcohol, gift cards, purchase or lease of vehicles, land, major construction and capital works, general maintenance, routine operating expenses, retrospective costs, costs of preparing your application, and anything already paid for by another source. See section 5.4 of the guidelines for the full list.
To write a strong application, make sure to address the assessment criteria found in how we assess applications.
You must score at least 50% against each one to be considered for funding.
What evidence of need do you want to address assessment criterion 1?
Examples include:
- community consultation findings
- participation or demand data
- waiting lists
- published data or research (including data on the effects of the Bondi terrorist attack on the community you will serve)
- letters from Jewish community organisations describing needs not currently met, or
- other evidence that existing programs are insufficient, inaccessible or oversubscribed.
You must attach this evidence to your application.
How much detail should we provide?
The detail and evidence you provide should match the size, complexity and grant amount of your project. Applications for larger amounts are expected to provide more detail about project governance, risk management and organisational capacity.
Can we use AI to help write our application?
Yes. You can use artificial intelligence or other automation to help develop your application, but you are responsible for making sure everything you submit is accurate, complete and secure. Giving false or misleading information is a serious offence under the Criminal Code Act 1995.
Every applicant attaches:
- a project management plan and itemised budget, using the template
- a risk management plan, using the template
- evidence of the need for your project (assessment criterion 1(b))
- evidence of your connection to the Australian Jewish community or communities your project will serve (assessment criterion 3(a)).
Depending on your circumstances, you may also need a signed declaration of not-for-profit status, a trust deed, or letters of support from project partners.
Further information on application attachments can be found in section 7.1 of the guidelines.
Are there file size limits?
Yes. Each file must be smaller than 25MB, and all your attachments together must not exceed 50MB.
Can we attach extra material to strengthen our case?
Only attach documents we ask for. We will not consider information in attachments we did not request.
Who assesses our application?
The Department of Industry, Science and Resources administers the grant on behalf of the Department of Home Affairs. It checks your application against the eligibility criteria, then assesses eligible applications against the assessment criteria, against other applications, and for value with relevant money.
Home Affairs then reviews the assessment outcomes, taking into account program knowledge and advice from its regional network, and makes recommendations to the decision maker. In doing so, it considers alignment with the program objectives and proportionate distribution across states and territories relative to population. Home Affairs may recommend applications that are not in strict order of assessment score where doing so better achieves the objectives and outcomes of the grant opportunity.
The decision maker is a Home Affairs portfolio Minister.
What are due diligence checks?
Due diligence checks are reviews of publicly available and other relevant information about an applicant to identify any financial, governance, legal, reputational or other risks that may affect a funding decision.
These checks may include reviewing:
- websites and internet searches
- media reports
- social media content
- annual reports and financial statements
- other information available to the Commonwealth.
Any material risks identified may be taken into account when assessing an application and making funding decisions. Further information on the due diligence checks can be found in section 8.1.1 of the guidelines.
Will we get feedback if we are unsuccessful?
Yes. If you are unsuccessful, you will have the opportunity to discuss the outcome with us.
What is the grant agreement, and how long do we have to sign?
You will enter into a legally binding grant agreement with the Commonwealth – a simple or standard agreement, depending on the size and complexity of your project. You will have 30 days from the written offer to sign it. No payment can be made until the agreement is executed.
What checks do our staff and volunteers need?
Everyone working on the project must have a Working with Children check and Working with Vulnerable People registration relevant to your state or territory, before they start delivering activities. You must also implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations and meet the other child safety requirements in section 4.5.1 of the guidelines.
What is the social cohesion requirement in the grant agreement?
Your grant agreement will require you, your organisation and its officers, employees, contractors and agents to take all reasonable steps to strengthen social cohesion when delivering the project and report any of your or their behaviour or actions that impact negatively on social cohesion. See section 4.5.2 of the guidelines.
What reporting will we need to do?
You will submit progress reports and an end of project report, covering progress against your milestones and outcomes, and your project expenditure. We may also ask for ad-hoc reports, a financial statement or an audit report.
Do we need to acknowledge the funding?
Yes. You must acknowledge Australian Government funding on all materials related to the grant, including your website and social media. Where appropriate, you also need to invite the Minister to significant public events associated with your project.
Can we change our project after we are funded?
Talk to us as early as possible if something changes. You can request a variation – for example to milestones, timing or activities – but your project cannot be extended beyond 31 March 2028 and the grant amount cannot be increased. You should not assume a variation request will be approved.
Key documents
Download the project management plan and budget template
xlsx · 0.03 MBDownload the risk management plan template
docx · 0.59 MBDownload the suburb to SA3 list
xlsx · 0.40 MB