Strong and Resilient Communities Activity - Cashless Debit Card (CDC) Support Services – Upcoming Grant Opportunity

A new open competitive grant opportunity for the Strong and Resilient Communities Activity - Cashless Debit Card Support Services (SARC CDC) will be open for application from 27 September until 25 October 2021. Delivery of the SARC CDC activities are expected to commence from February 2022.

The SARC CDC grant opportunity aims to support vulnerable and disadvantaged people on pathways to self-reliance and empowerment through local community-driven solutions that strengthen economic participation. It will focus on supporting CDC participants in CDC sites of Ceduna in South Australia; East Kimberley and the Goldfields in Western Australia; Bundaberg and Hervey Bay in Queensland; and in the Northern Territory (NT). 

Activities considered for funding include: 

For Ceduna in South Australia; East Kimberley and the Goldfields in Western Australia; Bundaberg and Hervey Bay in Queensland only:

  • Supports that uplift and upskill CDC participants to become employment ready
  • Service system navigation 
  • Assisting participants to stabilise their lives, including through basic financial literacy and other supports 
  • Support both employers and CDC participants to improve recruitment and retention of CDC participants in employment
  • Engaging with employers to identify and increase employment opportunities in the CDC region 

For the Northern Territory only:

  • Capacity building for CDC participants 
  • Basic financial literacy 
  • Digital literacy and safety 
  • Community CDC Champions
  • Capability investments to strengthen service delivery

The department would like to thank all participants for their time and ideas shared through the open consultation process led by Senator Matt O’Sullivan, Senator for Western Australia. Senator O’Sullivan sought community views about supports that would complement existing programmes and deliver job ready outcomes for CDC participants. 

This grant opportunity will be administered by the Community Grants Hub on behalf of the Department of Social Services.

To receive the latest information on the upcoming SARC CDC Grant Opportunity, please subscribe to the Community Grants Hub mailing list.

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