Grants

The Scanlon Foundation provides support to organisations working to improve Australia’s social cohesion in areas where there is the greatest need.

Introduction

Since 2001, the Scanlon Foundation has been distributing grants to build Australia’s social cohesion and to support the transition of those who come to make Australia home.

Grant Types

Annual Community Grants

Overview

Annual Community Grants are the core of the Foundation’s investments. These grants are provided to projects that demonstrate their contribution to social cohesion by addressing one of these two key focus areas raised by the community:

Building Pathways to Employment; or
Increasing applied English Literacy.

The Foundation welcomes innovative approaches under both funding categories.

How much funding is available? Organisations can apply for a maximum amount of $30,000 for their project.

Please note: For the 2025-26 Annual Community Grants round, the Scanlon Foundation will prioritise applications and proposals from regional and rural communities or organisations supporting migrant and/or multicultural communities in regional areas.

Building Pathways to Employment

This grant looks to actively support people into employment, working directly with first and second generation Australians who are unemployed or underemployed, and struggle to access jobs and training support. We aim to foster connections and strengthen communities by engaging local businesses with potential employees living in their area.

Please note: This year the Building Pathways to Employment category includes social enterprises and business entrepreneurship models but excludes projects that only target high school/secondary school students.

Applicants must address the five key criteria outlined below in their application:

Employment pathways
Local business engagement
Mentors
Diverse groups
Needs analysis

Increasing applied English Literacy

Grants in this category target English literacy initiatives. Speciﬁcally, programs that teach applied and conversational English that can be used in both day-to-day and work environments. This funding supports people who are not linked to other supports and experience difficulties in articulating their needs or communicating in English with others (e.g. adults and parents with carer duties and older generation migrants.)

Please note: This category of funding excludes programs that are focussed solely on high school/secondary school students.

Applicants should address the five key criteria outlined below in their application:

Literacy
Targeted design
Everyday Teachings and Application
Practice with Fluent English speakers
Childcare (how will applicants consider childcare needs of participants)

Important information for Applicants

Opening Date: Monday 21 July 2025
Closing Date: Friday 29 August 2025
Online Information Session: Monday 4 August 2025 at 1pm (AEST)

Click on the link below to register for the online information session:
https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/2ef5943b-acde-4e7f-917e-c95e715416e1@edd1167c-2abe-47e0-ab27-9519ffda69ee

If you are unable to attend, we will upload a link to the recorded webinar after the session.

When the grant opens, click on the link below to login to the SmartyGrants website and proceed with your application:
https://scanlonfoundation.smartygrants.com.au/ACG2025

Who Can Apply

Any organisation with DGR1 status, Australia-wide.

African Australian Creative Media Grants

Overview

The African Australian Creative Media Grants is an open grant round that supports African Australian platforms, individuals and organisations that operate in screen media, visual arts, podcasting, radio and written media. Through this grant we seek to amplify the voices and stories of African Australia creatives.

Over the last 2 years the Scanlon Foundation partnered with the Ubuntu Project to administer this grant program.

Ubuntu Project is a Victoria based community led organisation committed to improving outcomes for Australia’s diverse African communities.

For more information about the grant, please visit https://ubp.org.au/2025-african-australian-creative-media-grant/

General Grant Enquiries

Overview

The Scanlon Foundation also funds projects and initiatives that contribute to social cohesion across Australia. We support initiatives that enhance our vision and mission.

Our Mission

Our mission is to work with communities, systems and institutions to support those who come to make Australia home. We celebrate our collective strengths and address those barriers that stand in the way of allowing everyone to contribute and participate fully in Australian life.

Our Vision

To support Australia to continue to build upon its strong foundation of diversity.

We welcome grant proposals that align with our core purpose to work with systems and institutions to support people who migrate to Australia and make it their home.

Our priority is to provide direct-to-community support by funding capacity building initiatives and community created innovations or models.

We also welcome proposals that support migrants and multicultural communities to participate in and contribute to life in regional/rural areas across Australia.

Key Dates

There are no set dates for this grant category.

Who Can Apply

This is an Australia-wide open grant round and is available to any community organisations, associations or groups that are actively working in this space.

Process

Organisations may apply via SmartyGrants by following the link below:

https://scanlonfoundation.smartygrants.com.au/GEFY26

Frequently Asked Questions

We do not have Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status, can we still apply or get another organisation to auspice the grant for us?

We can only provide grants to organisations with Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) 1 status. Your organisation is welcome to partner with an organisation who has DGR 1 status (auspice).

Does the Scanlon Foundation prefer to provide funding strictly for a 12-month period?

Annual Community Grants are intended for a single year grant. There is no restriction on an organisation applying more than once.

Are local government bodies eligible to apply for your Community Grants Program?

Yes, local government bodies are welcome to apply for specific projects through our Annual Community Grants program. The local government body will need to have DGR1 status.