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Funding to address barriers to women's participation in key industries
The Building Women's Careers Program close date has been extended by one week to 5:00pm AEDT Monday, 9 December 2024.
The Building Women’s Careers Program grant opportunity guidelines were updated on 14 November 2024 to clarify partnership requirements for the program (Section 4.2.3) and on 29 November 2024 to extend the application closing date.
Building Women's Careers Program
Closing date: Monday 9 December 2024 5:00pm AEDT Mon 9 Dec 2024 5:00pm AEDT
What do you get?
The program consists of two streams:
- Stream One - a grant of between $3 million and $5 million.
- Stream Two - a grant of between $500,000 and $1 million.
The grant amount will cover up to 100% of eligible expenditure.
Who is this for?
Industry-based employers, registered unions, community organisations, registered charities and not-for-profits and partners with direct links to the construction, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and/or digital and technology industries.
Partnerships with other organisations are a mandatory requirement for all projects.
About the program
The BWC Program will establish partnerships to drive structural and cultural change in the construction, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and digital and technology industries and sectors.
The BWC Program seeks to sustainably address structural and cultural barriers to women’s participation in Vocational Education and Training (VET) and employment.
The intended outcomes are:
- strong, diverse and enduring partnerships to develop and deliver innovative, scalable partnership projects to drive structural and cultural change in women’s participation in VET and the workplace
- increased access for women to higher-paying and skilled VET-based careers in male dominated occupations as measured by:
- the availability and use of policies and strategies to implement and embed gender equality in VET and the workplace
- improved availability and use of employment conditions and arrangements that support people to balance work and caring responsibilities
- reduced and removed structural and cultural barriers, (for example poor access to ‘good flexibility’ or employee-oriented flexibility, an excess of ‘bad’ flexibility or employer-oriented flexibility, gendered occupational and industry segregation, and disrespect and discrimination) that prevent women from accessing and participating in VET and the workplace
- an increase in the recruitment, promotion and retention of women in male-dominated occupations
- an evidence base of practical changes that can be implemented across the broader economy to reduce occupational gender segregation and increase women’s participation in VET and male-dominated industries, sectors and occupations.
The BWC Program is informed by the Employment White Paper, Working for Women, A Strategy for Gender Equality, the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce Report and extensive stakeholder consultation undertaken by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR).
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 (different criteria apply for Stream One and Stream Two applicants)
- have an eligible project
- have eligible expenditure.
The rules are in the grant opportunity guidelines.
The BWC Program is only open to applicants jointly delivering project partnerships. This means that organisations cannot apply on their own without other project partners.
Finding project partners
DEWR has established the Building Women’s Careers Program Marketplace for the purpose of facilitating introductions between organisations seeking other potential project partners in order to apply for the Building Women's Careers Program.
Lead applicant eligibility
Stream One lead applicants must:
- have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
- be located in Australia
- have an account with an Australian financial institution
- be registered for the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
And be one of the following:
- a co-operative
- an incorporated association
- a partnership
- a registered charity or not-for-profit organisation
- an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006
- a Group Training Organisation (GTO)
- a social enterprise
- a registered union
- an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO)
- a company incorporated in Australia
- a company incorporated by guarantee
- a company limited by guarantee
- an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust.
Lead applicant requirements
An eligible Stream One lead applicant must be appointed as the lead organisation for the project partnership. They will apply on behalf of the project partnership.
Lead applicants must also be one of the following:
- an industry-based employer
- registered union within the construction, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and/or digital and technology industries/sectors, or
- a community organisation or Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisation (ACCO) with a proven track record of large partnership programs with these industries/sectors will also be considered.
If awarded the grant, the lead organisation:
- signs the grant agreement
- is responsible for making sure your group follows the rules in the grant agreement.
Partnership requirements
The Stream One project partnership must include a minimum of 4 project partner organisations (including the Stream One lead applicant), consisting of at least one of each of the following:
- an industry employer
- a registered union
- a TAFE or not-for-profit Registered Training Organisation (RTO) (not eligible to be the lead applicant)
- a community organisation, registered charity or not-for-profit organisation.
Stream One project partners (excluding the lead applicant) may be one of the following:
- an industry-based employer/s within the construction, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and/or digital and technology industries/sectors
- an industry body within the construction, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, digital or technologies industries
- a registered union
- a TAFE or not-for-profit Registered Training Organisation (RTO)
- a not-for-profit organisation
- a Group Training Organisation (GTO)
- a local government body
- a community organisation
- a registered charity
- an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006
- an Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisation (ACCO)
- a social enterprise.
The project partnership members (including the lead applicant) must collectively employ more than 1000 employees within the construction, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and/or digital and technology industries/sectors.
Once the partnership requirements are met, applicants may also partner with other entities.
Entities that are not eligible
You can’t apply if you:
- do not meet the individual and group eligibility requirements in Section 4 of the grant opportunity guidelines
- are a Commonwealth Government body
- are 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
- are an organisation, or any one of your project partners is an organisation, that is included on the non-compliant that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012)
- are an organisation, or any one of your project partners is an organisation, that has adverse findings and/or rulings from the Fair Work Commission and/or the Fair Work Ombudsman
- are a union unregistered under the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009.
Lead applicant eligibility
Stream Two lead applicants must:
- have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
- be located in Australia
- have an account with an Australian financial institution
- be registered for the Goods and Services Tax (GST)
- be a legal entity with the capacity to enter into a legally binding agreement or contract.
Lead applicant requirements
An eligible Stream Two applicant must be appointed as the lead organisation for the project partnership. They will apply on behalf of the project partnership.
Lead applicants must be one of the following:
- a place-based community organisation, or
- registered charity, or
- not-for-profit organisation.
If awarded the grant, the lead organisation:
- signs the grant agreement
- is responsible for making sure your group follows the rules in the grant agreement.
Partnership requirements
The Stream Two project partnership must include a minimum of 3 project partner organisations (including the Stream Two lead applicant), consisting of at least one of each of the following:
- a place-based community organisation, registered charity, or not-for-profit organisation (must be the lead applicant)
- an industry-based employer within the construction, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and/or digital and technology industries/sectors
- and one of the following organisations:
- an industry-based employer/s within the construction, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and/or digital and technology industries/sectors
- an industry body within the construction, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, digital or technologies industries
- a registered union
- a TAFE or not-for-profit RTO
- a not-for-profit organisation
- a GTO
- a local government body
- a community organisation
- a registered charity
- an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006
- an ACCO.
Once the partnership requirements are met, applicants may also partner with other entities.
Entities that are not eligible
You can’t apply if you:
- do not meet the individual and group eligibility requirements in Section 4 of the grant opportunity guidelines
- are a Commonwealth Government body
- are 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
- are an organisation, or any one of your project partners is an organisation, that is included on the non-compliant that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012)
- are an organisation, or any one of your project partners is an organisation, that has adverse findings and/or rulings from the Fair Work Commission and/or the Fair Work Ombudsman
- are a union unregistered under the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009.
You must complete your project by March 2028.
Your project must:
- be located in Australia
- address the Building Women’s Careers Program objectives and outcomes outlined in Section 2 of the grant opportunity guidelines
- drive structural and/or cultural change in one or more of the following industries/sectors:
- construction
- clean energy
- advanced manufacturing
- digital and technology.
Eligible activities must directly relate to the project and may include:
- development of non-partisan tools and resources designed to address the cultural and/or structural barriers impacting women, including sexist stereotyping and biased expectations
- implementation of educational tools for employers to drive a strong culture of inclusion for women and address workplace safety and culture
- activities that undertake industry/sector practices to attract and retain more female staff, for example by incorporating part time or flexible roles into business practices to attract new talent, reviewing rostering arrangements
- an employer working in partnership with women’s community organisations and employment providers to increase the recruitment and retention of female staff
- activities that lead to increase in workplace flexibility, for example flexible working hours and training hours to accommodate parental or carer responsibilities for men and women
- VET training and workforce changes to provide access to skilled and higher paying careers
- innovative solutions to removing barriers that prevent women from accessing training and employment opportunities
- significantly scaling up a successful activity that increases women’s participation in VET and the workforce.
We may also approve other activities. Any additional activities must be in line with the objectives and outcomes in section 2 of the grant opportunity guidelines.
You can apply for a grant in Stream One ($3 million - $5 million) or Stream Two ($500,000 - $1 million).
You can use this grant funding for:
- labour expenditure
- labour on-costs and administrative overhead
- contract expenditure
- travel expenditure
- staff training that directly supports the achievement of project outcomes
- financial auditing of project expenditure (up to 1% of total project expenditure)
- costs you incur to obtain planning, or other regulatory approvals during the project period (however, associated fees paid to the Commonwealth, state, territory and local governments are not eligible)
- costs of developing and delivering in workshops, conferences, networking events and other forums (including domestic travel costs for key participants)
- costs of developing and delivering education and professional development activities including courses and training
- costs of developing and distributing educational materials, curriculum content, toolkits or similar
- costs associated with industry transformation activities for a particular industry/sector
- research costs to help support the project outcomes
- communication and promotional costs directly related to the project
- costs incurred in conducting the evaluation of your project.
Other specific expenditures may be eligible as determined by the BWC Program Delegate.
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
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 the application until it’s complete. You can’t correct a mistake.
First the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) will check that you meet the eligibility criteria. If eligible, 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 then refer all applications as meritorious and not meritorious to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) selection panel, who will consider meritorious applications and make recommendations to the decision maker.
The decision maker will decide whether to award you the grant based on:
- the weighted assessment criteria assessment provided by DISR
- how it compares to other applications
- geographic and industry/sector spread of applications
- any risks identified and whether it provides value with relevant money.
Assessment Criterion
- Assessment criterion 1: Alignment with project objectives and outcomes (30 points)
- Assessment criterion 2: Which specific barriers to women’s participation will your project focus on? (10 points)
- Assessment criterion 3: Capacity and capability to successfully deliver the project (30 points)
- Assessment criterion 4: Compliance (15 points)
- Assessment criterion 5: Project performance and evaluation (15 points)
The amount of detail and supporting evidence you provide should be relative to the project size, complexity and grant amount requested.
The Deputy Secretary of DEWR makes the final decision.
Apply now
Apply for the Building Women's Careers Program now.
Before you apply, make sure you:
- read and understand the grant opportunity guidelines
- have the necessary support documents.
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.
We can’t consider the application you submit after the close date under any circumstances.
Further guidance
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Read frequently asked questions for the Building Women's Careers Program.
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
Contact
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