The Thriving Cohesive Communities (TCC) grant round provides funding for projects that strengthen family and community connection and support young people to take up meaningful roles in their community. Funded projects will form part of the Queensland Government’s social cohesion program to build cohesive and resilient Queensland communities and foster a strong sense of belonging.
The grants support the Queensland Government’s Our Future State: Advancing Queensland Priorities and the Minister for Communities, Disability Services and Seniors Thriving Communities Thriving Queensland Commitment Statement. These grants specifically support implementation of Thriving Cohesive Communities: An Action Plan for Queensland 2019-2021 (Stage 2) to promote communities where Queenslanders of all ages, backgrounds and abilities are respected, treated fairly and have the opportunity to meaningfully participate.
The Queensland Government's 2019 - 21 Thriving Cohesive Communities grants provide funding of $930,000 over a two year period to eligible projects that respond to one of the two grant streams:
Stream One: Youth Connect - Contribute - Lead
Families play an important role in identifying the early signs that an individual is vulnerable and may be in need of support. This can be critical to engaging young people and fostering a sense of belonging within their communities. Ensuring families know where to turn and how to engage with local community supports and activities is a key component to ensuring cohesive communities.
Funding up to $120,000 (exc. GST) per project is available for applications under Youth Connect – Contribute - Lead
Stream Two: Locals speaking to locals
Having positive connections with others who will back us and acknowledge our contribution are important to feeling like we belong in the places and spaces where we live and work. Queenslanders of all ages, backgrounds and abilities have the right to respect, fair treatment and opportunities to meaningfully contribute. Bringing together communities and supporting dialogue between people across and within these communities can help promote understanding and increase community bonds and trust.
Funding up to $45,000 (exc. GST) per project is available for applications under Locals Speaking to Locals
It is strongly recommended that you read the Funding Information Paper (PDF MS Word) and Fact Sheet (PDF MS Word) prior to starting your application.
Also available is a Frequently Asked Questions Document (PDF MS Word), as well as responses to applicant questions in a table at the bottom of this page.
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The following queries and responses have been received by DCDSS in the lead up to the grant round closing and are provided below for your advice. These are updated regularly. Please review as your question may have already been answered.
Q: The process of rehabilitation and reconstruction of a site has been a significant method of engaging our leaders and elders with our youth. One ongoing project is construction of an amenities building the process of which is the key to the strength building in our community it gives us a mutual purpose where we can all engaged and contribute and build relationships. As such, if we apply for this grant we may seek to use some (not all maybe 50%) of the grant for the ongoing construction of this build. Would this project expenditure be eligible?
A: To address your eligibility responses, it is best to focus on the outcomes the project will achieve. You would need to make a strong case for the link between the construction activity (and expenditure on materials) and the intentional connection of young people to family, culture and broader community.
If the focus of the project is to build an amenities block to support the community’s use of the site, then it would be out of scope.
If the engagement of young people around a ‘hands-on’ project is part of the project, then I think that would be in scope. The theory of change behind the approach would be useful for your organisation to share in the application; i.e. “If we do XX things in YY ways then we expect ZZ benefits.”
Q: We are interested in two of the focus areas, does this mean that we have to do two applications or include the two focus points in the single application?
A:Thank you for your question on the Thriving Cohesive Communities grant program.
You are not able to submit one application to cover both streams. If you have a project idea that aligns with both of the funding streams, I suggest you submit the application under the stream where the funding objectives best fit with your project’s objectives.
Q: I’ve been previewing the Thriving Cohesive Communities application form and the supporting materials list includes a needs assessment report. I can’t see this mentioned elsewhere in the application – is it a mandatory inclusion?
A: A needs assessment is not a mandatory item for your application. If you have access to any reports, needs assessments or similar documents that add value to your application, then they can be included in the ‘Anything Else’ section of the application form and referred to in your submission.
In providing this type of support material, relevance and currency are important points to consider.
Q: Please clarify what you mean in the budget by ‘income and expenditure amounts should match?’
A: Matching income and expenditure is easy if you remember to list all items or services donated to your project at the cash value as if you had to pay for the items or services. For example: if the local council office prints your event posters for free, you would list the actual cost in your budget as if you had to pay for printing.
The balancing act is that the value of in kind support should be shown on both the income and expenditure budget sheets. It would show an amount on the expenditure budget as something you needed to buy, and on the income budget for the same amount as a service donated to the project. In this way your budgets will balance.
Q: We have a number of actual and confirmed project partners helping us out. How do we provide evidence of these partnership arrangements? Will a letter of support suffice?
The application form seeks two types of support materials: Letters of support, and confirmation of partnership arrangements.
Support letters are generic eg: ‘We think this project is a good idea and should be funded’ and can come from MP’s, Councils, community organisations and individuals.
Confirmation of partnerships are more specific and should relate directly to your response to the question asking you to identify your project partners and the resources they may provide. Uploaded partnership letters should follow this broad structure ‘If this project is funded, we will provide XYZ in services/staff/ venues, etc’. Partnership letters or agreements may be either confirmed or potential depending on the application being funded.
Applications that demonstrate evidence that all identified partnerships have been discussed and confirmed are well regarded during assessment.