Rebuilding Futures

The Rebuilding Futures program seeks to support communities to strengthen their resilience through long-term recovery from a significant disaster by undertaking community-identified and community-led recovery, prevention and preparedness activities for public benefit.

This grant round reflects a strengthened focus on supporting communities to be prepared and resilient as extreme weather disaster events increase in frequency. The round is open to remote, rural and regional communities across Australia who want to deliver projects that will support efforts to mitigate the risks via adaptation of both physical infrastructure and social connectedness and capacity.

Applications are open to all remote, rural and regional communities who have been impacted by disasters or extreme weather events with a government disaster declaration between January 2019 through to December 2024.

In Round 5, a total of $400,000 of funding is available across two grant streams with specific criteria:

Stream 1 – $250,000 is available for Recovery and Resilience Grants up to $20,000.

Funding will support applications that are clearly focused on the medium to long-term recovery and resilience building of the local community. A broad range of community led initiatives will be supported to achieve at least one of the following:

AND evidence outcomes of 1 or more of the 7 critical dimensions for building community resilience: Inclusion; Networks; Communication; Information; Self-Organising Systems, Local decision making; and/or Resources.

Stream 2 – $150,000 is available for Building Back Better Infrastructure Preparedness Grants of up to $50,000. Applications for this Stream closed on 25 February 2025.

A small number of grants will support application for local community infrastructure preparedness projects i.e. Community Halls or Meeting Places.
The Expression of Interest (EOI) requires community organisations to outline their projects with an evidence-based concept and estimated costs. Successful EOIs will be required to complete a full application.

EOI’s must address ALL three of the following criteria to be considered:

1. The project aims to build back better local community infrastructure following a disaster event, accounting for historical and future climate risks;
2. Infrastructure projects will design, rebuild or install equipment / materials using resilient materials and / or harnessing clever use of design that aims to prepare for and reduce future impacts of disasters; and
3. Outline of estimated costs including material, labour and expertise informing project plan and delivery of services.

Objective outcomes of Stream 2 projects may include but are not limited to:

Where relevant, all projects should demonstrate:

Types of projects supported:

Stream 1 and 2

Stream 1 only

Applicants are welcome to discuss their application with FRRR staff by free calling 1800 170 020, or emailing info@frrr.org.au.

There are several areas that we can’t fund through this program. If in doubt, please contact us.

• Projects that are subject to an insurance claim;
• Projects that support core areas of responsibility of Federal, State, or Local Governments;
• Ongoing costs such as rent and utilities (unless it directly relates to the project);
• Projects that should be covered by your current insurance policy;
• The encouragement or advancement of sport, recreation, and social activities are not considered charitable under Australian law. Applications from sporting organisations need to clearly demonstrate charitable outcomes and benefit to the wider community that are above and beyond the sporting activities of the club;
• Overseas travel and overseas projects;
• Prizes, gifts, trophies, or awards;
• Political lobbying;
• Projects that primarily benefit private business, a sole trader, or private interests;
• Applications submitted by or for evangelist groups;
• Projects solely focused on animal welfare.

To apply, you must meet the following criteria:

• Applicant organisations must be a not-for-profit organisation with either an Incorporation Certificate and/or an ABN. If you are unsure if your organisation is a registered not-for-profit (for example, if you are a Co-operative, Other Unincorporated Entity, Public Company, or Trust), please contact FRRR.
• Projects must be for charitable purposes and offer clear public benefit;
• Not-for-profit organisations with or without DGR-1 endorsement are eligible;
• Organisations can submit one application per grant round;
• Projects must benefit remote, rural, or regional Australia; and
• Projects must take place in an eligible remote, rural or regional community with a disaster declaration from January 2019 – December 2024. FRRR will refer to the Federal Government website, but it will not be the only basis on which an application is assessed and prioritised. If you believe that you are in a remote, rural or regional community disaster-affected between 2019 – 2024 and your region is not listed, please call us on 1800 170 020 to discuss the situation.

Please note, you will be considered ineligible if the:

• Application is submitted by individuals, sole traders, private, or commercial businesses (as per the submitted ABN);
• Application is submitted by an organisation that is a non-legal entity and the nominated legal governing / partnering organisation has not provided written confirmation of their willingness to assume responsibility for management of the funds and acquittal of the project;
• Application is submitted without required organisational financial information and quotes or rationale for budget items over $1,000;
• Overdue Final Report/s from any FRRR grants awarded in the previous seven years have not been acquitted (delivery organisations should check with the legal organisation to see if there are any outstanding final reports);
• Application is for a project or activity that has already occurred / is occurring prior to the announcement of funding;
• Application is incomplete. NOTE: Due to the volume of applications received, applications are assessed based on the documentation received at the time of submission. FRRR is unlikely to follow up on missing documentation after applications have been submitted.

Every application needs to include an organisation that holds either an ABN or Incorporation Certificate. If your organisation doesn’t have that, FRRR may still fund the project but you need another organisation’s support, which we refer to as the ‘legal organisation’ (with your organisation being the delivery organisation). This situation often occurs when the organisation delivering the activity or project is a branch of an overarching organisation – such as a local CWA or YMCA branch. In this case, the CWA or YMCA would be the legal organisation.

Even though your organisation may complete the application (and will be doing the work), it’s the ‘legal organisation’s’ legal and financial information that needs to be provided. They also need to provide a letter of support, confirming they are willing to play this role, with a template available here for your convenience.

FRRR conducts a broad range of due diligence queries when reviewing applications, such as: reviewing current and past incorporation, DGR and ACNC status. If your organisation has happened to have their incorporation status, DGR status or ACNC status changed or ACNC registration revoked or voluntarily withdrawn, please let us know the reasons for this.

Applications from ACNC and/or unincorporated associations are required to submit their organisation’s Constitution.

Applications received without the requested financial information are ineligible. Providing incorrect financial information is currently the most common reason why applications are not able to be considered. You must include the organisation’s:

• Annual income (total income in your financial year);
• Annual expenditure (total expenses in your financial year);
• Current assets (from your audited financials, or bank balance minus any debts).

Please note:

• Provide a brief explanation of any large financial surplus or current assets and reasons why FRRR funds are still required;
• If financial information is more than 18 months old, please provide an explanation as to why the organisation does not have more recent documents;
• Please explain any deficits and steps to sustain the organisation financially.

Please contact us if you cannot provide required financials or you are unsure about what to provide.

You must include a project budget that clearly shows the items that FRRR grant funds would be used for and that also shows all income and expenses related to your project.

Budgets should be realistic and must add up – i.e. total expenditure must match total income.

Applicant contributions in cash or in-kind are highly regarded. Quotes or detailed rationale for items over $1,000 are required, where possible. Note: FRRR suggests costing unskilled volunteer labour at $45 per hour.

For more info on costing volunteer labour, visit:
https://explore.fundingcentre.com.au/help-sheets/valuing-volunteer-labour.

Helpful resources:

• How do I cost labour in my project?
• Preparing your budget

FRRR strongly recommends that you provide supporting materials such as letters of support, evidence of permission from the property owner, community plans, survey results, photographs, media clips and research reports that can show broad community support and partnerships involved in the project. For more information on supporting documentation, watch this recording.

Large documents should be referenced and explained in the application.

Helpful resources:

• Grantseeker Resources

A clear description of exactly what the grant funds will be used for, when and where the project will happen, who will benefit and who will be involved in delivering the project, why the project and grant funds are needed, how funds will be spent and how the activities and success of the project will be recorded, evaluated and shared.

Where possible, we encourage you to make it really clear that your organisation is ready and able to deliver the project and, if required, provide ongoing support for the initiative.

Helpful resources:

• Tips for great applications
• Project Planning Tool

We have grouped the kinds of projects communities commonly ask us to help fund into seven areas, which we call the Activity Tree:

1. Building community resilience
2. Developing organisational resilience and capacity
3. Enhancing environmental sustainability
4. Fostering cultural vibrancy
5. Lifelong learning and education
6. Economic strength
7. Improving community health and social wellbeing

We ask you to nominate one of those seven areas when you apply. So, before you lodge your application, download the Activity Tree to help you identify your focus area.