Children and Families Project Grants

Enhancing Community Development Initiatives

Children and Families’ project grants support initiatives to increase the health, well-being and development of children (up to 12 years of age) and maximise the participation of children, their families and carers in the community.

Lotterywest recognises that early childhood development is a growing concern and priority for action in the Western Australian community. There is strong evidence that the quality of start in life impacts significantly on outcomes in later years. Also, that early disadvantage has lifelong impacts, and good childhood projects are beneficial for vulnerable families, in particular infants and young children from disadvantaged families and especially Indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse families. 

Children and Families projects should create links between people, places, community groups and resources to improve access to the community by people who might not otherwise participate.  For example, people living in a rural town, young parents, Indigenous and culturally diverse families, increasing the involvement of fathers and supporting the development of children their parents and carers. 

Projects may seek to address (but are not limited to) the following types of issues and priorities:

• Establishing environments for children to engage in play based activities and active participation;
• Projects that support parents and carers in child development;
• Improving parenting skills and knowledge;
• Increasing family participation, particularly for those who face barriers to participating in the community;
• Improving the health and wellbeing in particular for Indigenous and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse families; and/or
• Supporting the social development and wellbeing of children and families.

Projects should:

• Help make a difference to a WA community and issue;
• Seek to bring about lasting change;
• Be community ‘owned’ and have strong community support;
• Help build a more inclusive community;
• Help build community capacity, self reliance and sustainability;
• Actively involve people from the target group(s) in the project and decision making;
• Ensure any activities are accessible and affordable to people with low incomes.

Projects must be time limited - that is have a beginning and end date. Lotterywest support may be provided for up to three years, depending on the nature of the project. Short term projects can also be supported e.g., up to six months.

Projects costs may include:

• Operating costs such as wages, administrative costs, professional fees, travel and other expenses.
• Capital and equipment costs (on a one-off basis), depending on the length of the project.

Project grants will generally not be made for:

• Ongoing projects or programs.
• Replacement funding for a service, program or project for which funding from another source has ended.
• Addressing an area of need that is the responsibility of particular government department/s.
• Projects where there are no administrative or other infrastructure in place to support the management of the project including good governance.

The Document Downloads section (at the top right hand column of this page) contains specific information about this grant area and access to an Application Form.

To read more about the experiences of grant recipients go to the Grant Stories page.

Other Grants Available

Go to Grant Opportunities for information about other Lotterywest grants.