The Australian Government is inviting entities to apply for grant funding under the Women’s Leadership and Development Program (WLDP) Project Grants.

The objective of the WLDP is to improve outcomes for Australian women in 5 key focus areas:

• Women’s Job Creation: Jobs and employment pathways are created for women, and women are equipped for jobs of the future, particularly in non-traditional and/or male-dominated industries. The types of projects that may be funded include but are not limited to:
  • Projects that address women’s unemployment and set up women for the future, especially in non-traditional and/or male-dominated industries.
  • Projects that complement existing initiatives under the government’s JobMaker Plan, such as the JobTrainer Fund, supporting job seekers and young people, including school leavers, to maintain labour market connections, to train and upskill and to move into employment as the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Women’s Economic Security: Women’s economic security improves across their lifetime. The type of projects that may be funded include but are not limited to:
  • Mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on women, such as providing online support during the crisis to improve financial literacy skills and supporting women through the recovery phase of the crisis.
  • Initiatives that reduce women’s homelessness such as helping women accumulate retirement savings in the future, including pay equity, financial capability and superannuation.
• Women’s Workforce Participation: Women’s workforce participation increases and barriers are reduced, especially in sectors where women are under-represented. The types of projects that may be funded include but are not limited to:
  • Maximising women’s participation in the paid workforce by increasing women’s work choices and addressing barriers to women working in the paid workplace; including access to flexible work arrangements, preventing and responding to sexual harassment and access to women leaders.
  • Job-focused skills training, including skill refreshers for women returning to the workforce after career breaks and upskilling for women looking to increase their participation, particularly in traditionally male-dominated fields and sectors.
  • Programs to support and encourage women into entrepreneurship, particularly in high growth fields such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
• Women’s Leadership: Women’s representation on boards and in other leadership positions increases, especially in sectors where women are under-represented. The types of projects that may be funded include but are not limited to:
  • Scholarships, programs or events, which promote women’s leadership, particularly in high growth fields such as STEM; and initiatives that improve women’s leadership capability, including participation and leadership in sport.
• Women’s Safety: Women are safer in their homes and communities. The types of projects that may be funded include but are not limited to:
  • Initiatives which seek to support women who have experienced domestic, family and sexual violence to participate at work, particularly those seeking to enter, return to or retain work.
  • Initiatives which seek to address forms of violence against women and provide services to women affected by violence.
  • Support for initiatives that reduce the incidence of female genital mutilation.
  • Preventing the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.

Funding Information

• Up to $40 million GST exclusive is available for this grant opportunity over 2020–21 to 2023–24.
• It is anticipated that most grants will be between $200,000 to $800,000 GST exclusive, depending on the scope of the grant activity and its complexity.
• Multi-year grants are available, however your project must not extend past 30 June 2024.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible you must be one of the following entity types:

• Indigenous Corporation
• Company
• Cooperative
• Incorporated Association
• Sole Trader
• Statutory Entity
• Partnership

For more information, visit Australian Government.