Funding for organisations to help build a sustainable future Defence Industry workforce
Schools Pathways Program Open Competitive
The Schools Pathways Program Open Competitive grant opportunity provides organisations with up to $2 million in funding to inform young Australians about the varied pathways and career opportunities within the defence industry and encourage engagement in STEM.
What do you get?
Grants up to $2 million, to cover up to 100% of eligible expenditure.
Who is this for?
Companies, not-for-profit organisations and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Corporations.
Overview
The Schools Pathways Program Open Competitive grant opportunity (the program) will run over two years from 2024-25 to 2025-26. The program is a key initiative of the Defence Industry Development Strategy launched in February 2024.
The aim of the grant opportunity is to inform young Australians about the varied pathways and careers relevant to defence industry, encouraging engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The grant opportunity facilitates an understanding of the defence industry, provides access to defence industry career experiences, mentoring and networking opportunities, and encourages student participation in STEM activities and/or subjects. Projects under the grant opportunity can have national reach or specifically target the workforce needs of one or more critical defence industry hubs, such as the Hunter and Cairns regions.
The objectives of the program are to:
- provide linkages and enhance work and career pathways for students into the Australian defence industry, and address specific skills gaps in defence industry capability
- expand the pool of skilled workers from which the Australian defence industry can recruit (including by supporting studies, experiences, and education endeavours in science, technology, engineering and mathematics for students).
All projects must be completed by 31 March 2026.
The intended outcomes of the grant opportunity are:
- secondary school students, teachers and parents/caregivers have a knowledge of:
- the defence industry
- the skills required and the secondary and post-secondary pathways relevant to defence industry careers.
- secondary school students:
- are connected with the defence industry and defence industry mentors
- are interested in studying STEM subjects relevant to defence industry careers
- have an aspiration to work in the defence industry.
- that the Schools Pathways Program has participation of students from traditionally underrepresented groups.
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) or an Australian Company Number (ACN)
- are registered for the Goods and Services Tax (GST)
- have an account with an Australian financial institution.
And are one of the following entities:
- an entity incorporated in Australia
- an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth)
- an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust
- an incorporated not for profit organisation or registered charity
- an Australian Commonwealth Corporate Entity.
You can’t apply if you 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
- an employer of 100 or more employees that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012)
- an individual
- a partnership
- an unincorporated association
- an overseas organisation
- an Australian local government agency or body as defined at Section 14 of the grant opportunity guidelines
- an Australian state/territory Government agency or body.
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
- is responsible for making sure your group follows the rules in the grant agreement.
You must complete your project by 31 March 2026.
Your project must:
- be located in Australia
- include eligible activities
- support Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities.
You can apply for a grant between $150,000 and $2,000,000.
Refer to section 5.1 of the grant opportunity guidelines for information on what you can use this grant funding for.
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 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.
Applications must score at least 65% against each assessment criteria to be considered meritorious.
Meritorious applications will then be ranked competitively according to the total number of points we give your application.
- Assessment criterion 1: Project alignment with the objectives and outcomes of the grant opportunity (40 points)
- Assessment criterion 2: Project support for critical defence industry hubs (20 points)
- Assessment criterion 3: Your capability, capacity and resources to deliver the project (20 points)
- Assessment criterion 4: Project impact and impact of grant funding (20 points)
The amount of detail and supporting evidence you provide should be relative to the project size, complexity and grant amount requested.
The program delegate makes the final decision.
Apply now
Apply for the Schools Pathways Program Open Competitive grant opportunity now.
Before you apply, make sure you:
- read and understand the grant opportunity guidelines
- read and understand the sample application form
- read and understand the sample grant agreement
- read and understand the reporting and key performance indicator data information.
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 submit your application before the close date you can retrieve it any time to make changes. But you must submit it again before the close date.
We can’t consider applications submitted after the close date under any circumstances.
Contact
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Key documents
Project budget template
xlsx · 0.06 MBSample participation data report template
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