The Victorian Government is delivering a grants program for community-led organisations from diverse communities to support the mental health and wellbeing of culturally and linguistically diverse communities, LGBTIQA+ people and people with disability.
The final report of the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System recognised the strength and knowledge of diverse community leaders and community-led organisations in understanding the mental health and wellbeing needs of their communities and supporting the delivery of safe, responsive and inclusive mental health services.
Diverse communities, as defined by the Royal Commission, are:
- culturally and linguistically diverse communities
- LGBTIQA+ people
- people with disability.
In 2023-25 the Victorian Government has allocated a total of $4.2 million for projects that will deliver an extensive range of programs, direct services, advocacy, research and workforce development to help create a more diverse and inclusive mental health and wellbeing system.
This builds on the 2021–22 and 2022-23 grants funding rounds, which aimed to establish the foundations and support diverse communities to engage in the mental health reforms.
2021-2023 Phase 1
Phase 1 of the program ran from 2021–2023. During this time, the funded projects aimed to establish the foundations of effective practice and service delivery for diverse communities.
Themes
Streams of activity
Organisations developed innovative and grassroots approaches to support mental health and wellbeing. Some built on pre-existing projects, while others achieved something totally new.
This is a summary of their achievements during 2021–2023. It sets out 5 streams of activity – however, most projects worked across more than 1 stream.
Phase 2
The Department of Health is undertaking phase 2 of the program during 2024–2025. It will also conduct an evaluation of the program. This will capture and share insight.
2023-2025 grant recipients
Organisations receiving grants in the 2023-2025 round are:
- Afri-Aus Care Inc: for African Australian communities
- African Australian Welfare Bureau Inc: for young African Australians in regional Victoria
- Albury-Wodonga Ethnic Communities Council: for multicultural communities in regional Victoria
- Amaze: for Autistic people
- Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect): for Autistic women and children
- Deaf Victoria: for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing
- Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria: for multicultural communities
- Flat Out: for trans and gender diverse people in custodial settings
- Guide Dogs Victoria: for Victorians living with low vision or blindness
- Muslim Mental Health Professionals: for the Muslim community
- Pathways Melbourne: for Jewish youth
- Richmond Football Club with Bachar Houli Foundation and Korin Gamadji Institute: for Muslim and Aboriginal youth
- Shapes and Sounds: for international students
- Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health: for older LGBTIQA+ people
- Three for All Foundation: for LGBTIQA+ refugees
- Victorian Refugee Health Network: for refugees and asylum seekers
- Youth Disability Advocacy Service (under Youth Affairs Council of Victoria): for disabled young regional and rural Victorians
- Young People’s Health Service: for diverse young people experiencing homelessness)
- Youth Projects Limited: for LGBTIQA+ youth with disabilities
Updated