Community Grant Program

As part of the assessment process auDA needs to better understand your organisation’s work, governance and financial reporting, and its capacity to manage grant funding.

Your organisation must be registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

We will refer to your information on the Charity Register during assessment of your application. Please ensure your contact details, financial reporting and responsible person listing is up to date. Financial Reports should be signed by your auditors. If the ACNC does not require you to provide audited financials please ensure these are included in your published Annual Report.

You will also need to provide a weblink to your most recent Annual Report.

The grant cannot be used to fund basic digital skills training or development.

There are many free and accessible digital skills resources available from not-for-profit organisations such as Australian Communications Consumer Action Network’s Accessible Telecoms website (ACCAN) and Good Things Foundation Australia.

Applicants must be confident they have adequate skills and resources to deliver their proposed project. auDA seeks to support proposals that can be delivered by digitally capable organisations in particular with established policies and procedures to manage cyber security and protect stakeholder data.

Infoxchange is an Australian not-for-profit social enterprise that has been delivering technology for social justice for over 30 years. Infoxchange offers a range of guides and training for not-for-profits that need to assess or build their digital capability. Further information can be found at their Digital Transformation Hub.

The auDA grant cannot be used for the purchase of IT equipment including devices, data or basic software.

The National Device Bank is dedicated to bridging the digital divide by providing refurbished laptops, mobile phones, and tablets to community organisations, charities and schools, who distribute to those most in need. ACCAN’s Accessible Telecoms website also maintains a list of organisations that may be able to help you source affordable devices.

You can also visit Infoxchange’s Digital Transformation Hub website for information on how Australian not-for-profits can source discounted or donated software and technology for their organisation or their stakeholders.

auDA will fund the development of a website or app only if it delivers high impact functionality for your stakeholders. We may consider projects that include website or app development that:

• Incorporate high levels of accessibility as needed by your stakeholders
• Deliver information in an under-served language or to an under-served community

You should ensure that all your proposed activities and outcomes are accessible for relevant stakeholders. This may include ensuring:

• Project materials are developed with web-accessibility in mind or provide directions to stakeholders to resources on developing their digital skills.
• Project activities or outputs are also shared via community institutions such as local councils, libraries and neighbourhood houses. This may better enable participation by those who do not have digital access at home.

Learn more about how to ensure your online content is accessible or explore the Australian Digital Inclusion Index website.

auDA supports the responsible use of AI.

The use of AI tools, such as Drafter, to write your application will not impact assessment but we ask applicants to disclose its use. You should review any AI output and ensure the content reflects your organisation, your stakeholders and proposed impact.

Good Things Australia, the National AI Centre and Infoxchange provide free resources and case studies for not-for-profits and community members to learn more about the use of AI.

The Community Grant Program seeks proposals where the need, potential solution and impact are well-evidenced.

Your evidence may be quantitative or qualitative data, including from:

• Government sources such as Australian Bureau of Statistics, Department of Social Services or your local council
• Research or inquiries such as a Royal Commission, a Roadmap or Blueprint
• Quantitative and qualitative feedback from stakeholders
• Tools such as the Australian Digital Inclusion Index, the Australian Youth Digital Index or Social Cohesion Compass.

auDA seeks proposals that are community-led or strongly desired by the priority focus area. We ask you to provide letters of support from project partners, priority focus area representatives or stakeholders. The letter should indicate that your project partners, priority focus area representatives and stakeholders think your proposal has merit and that your organisation is best-placed to deliver the activity. Letters should clearly demonstrate financial and/or in-kind support from project partners.

You will also need to provide a budget and workplan.

The grant program is open to all applicants who meet the eligibility criteria.

auDA’s approach is informed by current and emerging sector priorities. In 2026 auDA encourages proposals that address one or more of the following:

• Build on government or sector investment or recommendations such as the NFP Digital Futures initiative, National Approach to Digital Inclusion, First Nations Digital Roadmap and NBN Co’s Community WiFi rollout
• Better enable Australians to participate in employment and volunteering.
• Optimise use of community assets such as libraries, and ensure solutions are mobile phone-accessible.
• Also seek to have a positive impact on the environment.

auDA also encourages applications that are from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led organisations (while noting that in some instances a community may prefer an external organisation to conduct a project).

The Program will fund proposals where the activities can be delivered in 12 months or less. The grant activity period is from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027. Please ensure you have identified the resources the project will need – staff, expertise, equipment, approvals and stakeholder relationships – that are essential for your timely delivery.

You should consider whether any ethics approval is required and the impact that may have on your ability to deliver the project in the 12 months grant period. This may be most relevant for applicants from universities and research institutions.

You will need to provide a simple workplan that will map out the key actions to be undertaken for the project in the 12 months.

The total project budget should be more than $50,000.

Your total project budget should be such that an auDA grant is a meaningful

contribution. Applicants are required to make an in-kind or financial contribution of at least 10 per cent of the grant amount. Any other funding sources will need to be confirmed before a grant can be awarded.

Applicants are responsible for determining whether or not the grant, when provided in the context of their Project and on the terms of the auDA Grant Agreement, constitutes a taxable supply of goods or services subject to GST.

Change takes time. In your application you should include information about your inputs, outputs, outcomes and potential impact as well as how you will measure and evaluate that you have delivered digital inclusion or digital innovation. This will let us know the potential impact your project may have in the short, medium and long term for your organisation, your stakeholders and your sector.

In 2024 auDA funded Seedkit to develop digital inclusion evaluation resources which were co-designed with the sector.

The following organisations are well-regarded by the Australian evaluation community. They provide free resources about evaluation and measuring impact:

• Better Evaluation
• Social Outcomes
• Centre for Social Impact.

auDA encourages proposals that will deliver Sustainability and aim to:

• Develop new resources, processes or activities that become incorporated into your business as usual and help you better serve your stakeholders or;
• Develop a service or tool that can generate revenue for your operations or to invest in new initiatives or;
• Develop stronger ongoing partnerships with your project stakeholders or;
• Communicate your findings via the internet with a broad and/or influential audience, including sector colleagues, so that more Australians benefit from your project and;
• Also seek to positively impact the environment through addressing issues such as climate, water, circularity or nature/biodiversity. This may include where your proposed activities and outcomes also lead to you or your stakeholders developing more efficient use of resources such as fossil fuels, electricity and paper.