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Supporting the Most Vulnerable

We’re here to help your organisation assist people currently in crisis related to COVID-19 and avoid entrenched disadvantage.

This grant program has two streams:

Crisis and Emergency Relief - the objective of this stream is to help organisations providing support to people experiencing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19, to meet their immediate basic needs.

Prevention and Early Intervention - the objective of this stream is to support prevention and early intervention programs that address the longer-term impacts and the social and economic consequences of the pandemic.

Grant applications must seek to achieve one or more of the outcomes outlined below.

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Outcomes focus

Crisis and Emergency Relief

Organisations which provide support to people experiencing financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 crisis have support to help them to meet their immediate basic needs.
Those most vulnerable in the community who are already experiencing hardship, that is exacerbated as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, have support to meet their immediate basic needs to avoid becoming further entrenched in disadvantage.

Prevention and Early Intervention

Secondary and longer-term impacts resulting from the social and economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis are minimised through prevention and early intervention initiatives that are complementary to and reduce demand for government-funded intervention and welfare services.
Knowledge is shared to strengthen the community services sector to better respond to potential second or third waves of COVID-19.

Apply now

Applications for both streams of the Supporting the Most Vulnerable Grant Program are now open and are expected to remain open for 2020-21.

We encourage you to talk to our team to discuss your idea before submitting an application. Applications will be assessed monthly and approvals for this program may take a few months or longer should further work be required.

There has been strong interest in the Lotterywest COVID-19 Relief Fund grant programs and we thank you for your patience and understanding as we review and assess a high volume of applications.

Please check with us if you have a time critical request.

Click here to apply now.

How to apply

Your application will take place in two parts.

Part A – Registering and receiving an application number
Part A occurs within the Lotterywest Portal. Completing Part A will register your organisation and enable you to receive an application number. You will be required to:

Register your organisation with Lotterywest (for new grant customers only);
Provide high level details and a point of contact for your application;
Identify two referees for your organisation;
Confirm your organisation’s details; and
Upload your most recent financial reports and Annual Report/AGM minutes.

Part B – Telling us about your grant idea
Once you have completed Part A, you will be sent an email with a link to access Part B of the application for your chosen grant program. Your application can not be assessed until Part B is submitted.

Part B is an online form where you will be asked to answer questions about your proposed grant, how you plan to spend the funding, the outcomes you hope to achieve and other questions in line with the grant program criteria.

To view the Part B application question in advance, please click here. Please note that this is not the application form. A link to the Part B application form will be sent to you after submitting Part A.

General Information

To find out what documents you will be asked to provide during your application please click here.

Please call us if you'd like to discuss your initiative or for help in how to apply.

Supporting the Most Vulnerable - Who can be supported?

Not-for-profit organisations and local government authorities.

Supporting the Most Vulnerable - What can be supported?

To be eligible for Lotterywest support, a grant request must be:

for charitable or benevolent purposes with outcomes that align with one of our COVID-19 Relief Fund streams.
directly related to your organisation’s purpose. Quick tip: You can check the ‘objects’ or ‘purpose’ in your organisation’s constitution or rules
taking place in WA, or be of direct benefit to the WA community

The following can be supported through this funding program:

Crisis and Emergency Relief

Costs related to increased demand for emergency relief (ER) services as a result of COVID-19 for time-limited interventions such as:

food, blankets, homelessness support, transport, essential pharmaceuticals and essential personal items such as clothing
utility payments where they cannot be covered by existing hardship schemes
coordination and collaboration costs to deliver ER services
costs related to connecting people to other relevant services to avoid entrenched disadvantage and to overcome barriers to accessing new opportunities

Prevention and Early Intervention

Project costs and resources related to:

Time-limited prevention and early intervention initiatives and innovations to minimise the secondary impacts of COVID-19 on socio-economic disadvantage, family and domestic violence (FDV), mental health and homelessness
Time-limited initiatives that work to help protect and prepare vulnerable parts of the WA community from a potential second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
Initiatives that are complementary to other government funded interventions and welfare services.

For more general information about what Lotterywest can and can't support, please visit the What can be supported page.

Supporting the Most Vulnerable - What won't be supported?

Initiatives that are the core responsibilities of other government departments
Initiatives fully funded by others, or where there is partial funding and the remainder is more appropriately met by another funder
Ongoing costs for emergency relief services unrelated to the impacts of COVID‑19
Ongoing initiatives or programs relating to existing entrenched disadvantage, ongoing vulnerability and/or illness that has not been exacerbated as a result of COVID-19
Costs unrelated to prevention and early intervention initiatives such as acute service delivery
Contingency costs
Large infrastructure projects

Supporting the most vulnerable - What are some example projects which may be funded?

This program could involve support for things such as:

An outreach service to people that are newly homeless, or at risk of homelessness to link them with housing options to minimise the potential long-term impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.
An initiative to help a number of emergency relief service providers collaborate and share information to quickly identify people newly experiencing financial hardship or hardship exacerbated by COVID-19.
Collaborative initiatives to provide a range of time limited support for vulnerable people impacted by COVID-19 over and above existing service provision.
An early intervention program to support women and children experiencing an increase in family and domestic violence to access financial planning information and support.
A time-limited program to provide support to people at risk of developing mental health issues as a result of prolonged social isolation or the economic impacts of COVID-19.

Supporting the Most Vulnerable - Who are our priority communities?

People experiencing (or at risk of) homelessness
People experiencing family and domestic violence
People experiencing mental health issues
Newly unemployed (including temporary visa holders)

Supporting the Most Vulnerable - What are the expected outcomes for this grant program?

Crisis and Emergency Relief

Organisations supporting people experiencing financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 crisis have support to help them to meet their immediate basic needs.
Those most vulnerable in the community who are already experiencing hardship, that is exacerbated as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, have support to meet their immediate basic needs to avoid becoming further entrenched in disadvantage.

Prevention and Early Intervention

Secondary and longer-term impacts resulting from the social and economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis are minimised through prevention and early intervention initiatives that are complementary to and reduce demand for government-funded intervention and welfare services.
Knowledge is shared to strengthen the community services sector to better respond to potential second or third waves of COVID-19.

Supporting the Most Vulnerable - How much can I apply for and how can I apply?

We accept applications from $3,000 upwards and you can submit an application through our website at any time. An Expression of Interest form doesn't need to be submitted first for this program.

The limit for unincorporated groups or organisations not GST registered is a combined total of up to $15,000 for each financial year.

Supporting the Most Vulnerable - What are the indicators of change for this grant program?

Crisis and Emergency Relief

Volume of emergency relief provided (for example; food supplies, clothing, shelter)
Nature and type of coordination undertaken to support identified needs
Number of people reporting their immediate basic needs are met and they are connected to other relevant services

Prevention and Early Intervention

The extent of changes to socio-economic disadvantage, mental health, homelessness and family and domestic violence (using program specific measures)
Nature and type of initiatives to support identified needs
Number of people reporting positive outcomes from program

Supporting the Most Vulnerable - Crisis and Emergency Relief assessment criteria

1. Community need: your application should demonstrate what the needs of the community are, and how the support through a Crisis and Emergency Relief grant will help your organisation to address this need.