Funding FAQs

VicHealth funding is restricted to certain types of applicants. Check the General eligibility conditions below AND the specific eligibility criteria of the funding opportunity you’re interested in. 

Late applications cannot be accepted. Please check the closing dates carefully. 

You must be able to provide insurance certificates if requested by VicHealth. The type of insurance required differs – check the specific conditions of the funding opportunity you’re interested in. 

Each funding opportunity has a VicHealth email contact point, and some provide additional support. Find this information via each funding opportunity’s web page. 

Don’t make any financial commitments based on the expectation that you will receive funding. Your application must first be assessed to make sure it meets all the criteria, and will also be assessed in competition against other funding applications. 

When you're ready, apply via the VicHealth Stakeholder Portal.

• VicHealth can only provide funding to incorporated bodies. If you are part of an unincorporated body, you can only receive funding if your application is made under the auspices of another eligible organisation.
• VicHealth can only provide funding for programs that will be delivered in Victoria.
• VicHealth cannot fund an organisation that receives any funding, sponsorship or any other kind of endorsement from any person or organisation involved in or affiliated with the production, manufacture or marketing of tobacco, smoking or tobacco related products, or that endorses, promotes, sponsors or otherwise is affiliated with tobacco, smoking or tobacco related products.
• If your organisation has received VicHealth funding before (and the grant project is complete), VicHealth may need to see and approve records of how you spent VicHealth funding before you can apply for more funding (see Important conditions of funding below).
• Your funding application must meet the specific requirements of the funding opportunity, and must be received on time. Your application and supporting documentation must not contain incomplete or fraudulent information.
• Funding can’t be provided for activities that have already taken place. 

• Each program has specific eligibility requirements, so it is important that you carefully read the program information and guidelines before starting your application. You can find these eligibility requirements on each funding opportunity’s web page. 

• If VicHealth decides to give you funding, you will have to sign a contract with VicHealth. The contract will say what you must and must not do with the money we give you.
• You will have to show VicHealth complete records of how you spend any funding we give you. This is called an acquittal report. We will provide you with a template you can use for this report.
• If you receive VicHealth funding of $100,000 or more, your acquittal report must include an independent auditor’s review of your financial records. You will have to pay for the auditor’s review, so please allow for this cost when applying for funding.
• If you don’t provide a satisfactory acquittal report for your funding, you may not be able to apply for any more VicHealth funding in the future. 

When you submit your application you may be asked to declare Harmful Industry Relationships. The declaration form will be embedded in the relevant funding or procurement documentation forms. More details on this Policy can be found here. 

Projects working with children (under 18) funded by VicHealth

Applications that include services delivered to children will require funded organisations to;

• ensure all employees and persons engaged for the project comply with Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 (Vic) and the Worker Screening Act 2020 (Vic),
• obtain copies of valid Working with Children Check (WWCC) for all employees and persons engaged for the project, that work directly with unsupervised children, and
• obtain or maintain for the duration of the project, insurance that provides indemnity for liability for Child Abuse.
• implement or have Child Safe standards and practices for relevant staff within the organisation.

Definition of Services to Children

VicHealth’s definition for ‘Services to children’ means services provided by a non-government entity that is responsible for:

1. the supervision of, or
2. authority over, a child or young person under 18 years old.  
3. This includes the provision of care, education, services or activities for children.  

This definition would include the activities of organisations facilitating regular sports training, band or theatre rehearsals, homework clubs, mentoring etc. where a parent, guardian, caregiver, or teacher is not in attendance.  

It does not include one-off activities, nor incidental or ad hoc contact with children. 

‘Services to children’ does not apply to funded activities where:  

• Children are supervised. A parent, guardian, or caregiver (or other person with an existing duty of care to the child – eg teacher) retains direct supervision or authority over a child throughout the duration of the services.  
• Ad hoc or incidental contact. Where the services may involve the possibility of ad hoc or incidental contact only (eg maintenance services for a sports or cultural facility that could be used by children).
• One-off activities provided on non-recurrent funding. Short-term event-based activities where unsupervised children may or may not be in attendance but are not under the control of the funded organisation (eg one-day come and try events, audiences at a concert).  

For more information on VicHealth’s commitment to the wellbeing and safety of children and young people can be found here. 

• When you submit your application, you guarantee that all information provided in your application is true, complete and not misleading.
• You must make sure that the proposed activity you want VicHealth to fund complies with relevant statutes, regulations, by-laws, mandatory codes and the requirements of any Commonwealth, State, Territory or Local Authority.
• It is your responsibility to be aware of laws and other rules that are relevant to your work. These laws may include, for example, classification and censorship, Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property, privacy issues, employment law, working with children regulations, and laws governing filming in public. 

When you apply for funding, VicHealth collects information about you and your organisation. This information is kept safe and private.  

We use the information we collect from your funding application in the following ways:

•  looking after your application and assessing it 
• contacting you about your application 
•  reporting on the funding program.

We may sometimes use your contact details to send you information about other VicHealth activities. If you don’t want us to do this, you can let us know at any time.  

The following laws say how your information must be looked after by VicHealth:

• Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 
• Public Records Act 1973 
• Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 
• Health Records Act 2001.

Further information is available in VicHealth’s Privacy Policy. 

• The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) (“the Act”) provides an individual the right to request access to documents held by a Victorian Government agency.  
• The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) is a prescribed authority (or "agency") under the Act. The Act extends to the community the right to request information from prescribed authorities. The "information" sought by an applicant under the Act must be in document form and must be in the possession of the agency.
• By applying for funding to VicHealth your information may be subject to Freedom of Information. Please see our Freedom of Information Policy for more information.  

• When you create a funding application, you are the copyright holder of anything you write or create for it. You must write the application yourself, without copying anything from another source.  
• If you use anyone else’s writing, pictures, images or names in your application, you must have their permission to use them. You must be able to show us this permission in writing. If the person is a child or has died, you must have the permission of their legal guardian or heir.  
• You must not repeat or reuse an application that you have made before, to VicHealth or to any other body.  
• Your application must not contain anything that could damage VicHealth’s name.  
• If the use of any part of your application infringes anyone else’s rights to copyright or privacy, you will be liable to VicHealth for any action taken against us as a result.
• When you submit a funding application to VicHealth, you grant VicHealth a worldwide, exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable license (including a right to sub-license) to use, reproduce, distribute, adapt, derive, transmit, publish, communicate, display and perform (publicly or otherwise), the application and any application materials for the purpose of evaluating the application. This means that we can use your application in any way that we need to, in order to assess it.  
• If you would like additional information about copyright and intellectual property rights, please visit the Australian Copyright Council website. 

Here’s some handy hints to help:  

• Log into our Stakeholder Portal  
• Click on the Current Opportunities tab from the Home Page.  
• Go to funding opportunities  
• On the right you will see the opportunities that are open – select the grant round or tender,  
• Then click on the down arrow, and then select Apply Now.  

You’ll need to use one of the following Internet browsers to access the Portal: Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Internet Explorer is not recommended.  

Once you register a new account, we will send you an email with a link to complete your registration. This is called your confirmation email.  

Help tips:

• Be sure to check junk/spam email folders in case the email is caught there.  
• Check with your IT Department to confirm your email server accepts emails from a VicHealth domain address (@vichealth.vic.gov.au).
• If you encounter an error message such as ‘Your request cannot be processed at this time. the site administrator has been alerted’, try clicking on Forgot your password?  and enter your email address. This will send you an email with a link to reset your password. Be sure to check junk/spam email folders in case the email is caught there.
• Check your browser. Make sure you are using Google Chrome as this is recommended for the Portal. 

Click on Forgot your password? on the Stakeholder Portal login page, and enter your username. Your username is the email address you registered with.  

Help tips:

• If you have a Portal account, we'll send password reset instructions to the email address associated with your account.
• If you don’t receive an email, be sure to check junk/spam email folders in case the email is caught there.
• If you don’t have a Portal account, an error message will appear. Click Not a member? Register here to create an account.  

Our portal only allows the original user who submitted the application to view it and make changes.  

Help tips:

• The original submitter needs to log in using their registered account (linked to the application) and make any changes on the other’s behalf.  
• If this contact needs to be changed, please get in touch with VicHealth via email ([email protected]) and to advise the full details of the new grant contact (salutation, name, email, telephone, position title).

You can view your organisation’s existing successful grant application by clicking on ‘My Applications’ button, after you’ve logged into the portal. Submitted or draft applications can be found in the ‘My Applications’ tab of the portal.

The ‘My Applications’ tab defaults to the ‘Draft Applications’ view automatically.

To view a submitted application, click on the drop-down arrow, next to ‘Draft Applications’, select ‘Submitted Applications’. Your Submitted applications will be listed.  

We recommend that you check which internet browser you are using.  

Help tips:

• Our Portal works best with Google Chrome, so try using Google Chrome or Firefox if possible.  
• We do not recommend using Internet Explorer, Edge or Safari.
• Check if your browser view is zoomed in. It may be that your browser view is cutting off the screen. E.g. you may need to scroll across or zoom out to see all buttons on the Portal. 

Mistakes happen, so get in touch with team if you’ve already submitted an application and noticed a mistake – having your application reference number handy would be super useful.  

We always recommend getting in touch instead of submitting a new application, as this can create duplicate records.  

If you have any last-minute requests or change, make sure you get in touch before the closing date. We will not be able to make any changes after application submissions close.

If your application is still in draft, you can edit it via the My Applications tab in the Portal before submitting.  

Yes, our online application form will allow you to save and resume your application later, when you need to.  

Tip!  

We’re unable to accept applications that are incomplete - so don't forget to go back and submit.  

Yes, in fact we highly recommend submitting your application early!  

You must hit ‘submit’ before this time to ensure your application is sent to VicHealth for assessment. Late applications will not be accepted. 

Yes, provided there are no outstanding contractual requirements attached to existing or previous VicHealth funding. If you are unsure, please email [email protected] with your organisation name.  

If you need specific advice on your application, you can email our team.

For help with a specific grant round, email: [email protected]

For Research Grants/Fellowships information, email: [email protected]

If you prefer to speak with someone, you can request for someone to call you.  

This will depend on your internet speed and specifications. 

There is a limit of 2GB per file upload in the Stakeholder Portal. We recommend you leave enough time to upload a large tender submission or do it outside of business hours which may slow your internet speed. 

Your contract will be sent by email to the Authorised Representative mentioned in your notification email. The email will have a subject line similar to: Signature requested on {The document name} and this email will contain a secure link to sign your contract.

Open your contract by clicking the Review and sign button.

Help videos for how to sign are available on the Adobe Sign website here.  

In your Adobe Sign email, there is a link to delegate the signature to someone else.

In your Adobe Sign email, click the delegate link and enter the details of the person who should sign on the Delegate this document page. Don’t forget to double check the email address before entering it into the delegate field.

You also have the option of entering a message directly to your delegate.  

Help videos for how to delegate your signature are available on the Adobe Sign website here.  

Adobe Sign will automatically send you a PDF version of your contract once it is signed.

Contact VicHealth if you need a copy by emailing [email protected] with your grant code. We will send you a grant code for your successful grant application, when we get in touch with the outcome of your application. If unsure, you can refer to your Project Title and organisation name when contacting VicHealth.

The format of the code is OPP-xxxx. 

The steps for submitting a progress report are as follows:  

1. Progress Reports are submitted via the Portal.
2. In the Portal, click the More dropdown button on the top right and select ‘My Reports’
3. In the My Reports section, click the dropdown in the middle of the page to select ‘Draft Reports’ and view all draft reports.
4. Once you can see the progress report click on the dropdown on the right and click ‘Edit’
5. You can now complete the progress report. Once you have finished and get to the end click ‘Submit’. This will send the progress report to VicHealth and send you an email to confirm your submission.
6. You can view your submission by clicking the dropdown in the middle of the page and selecting ‘Submitted Reports’. Then click on the dropdown of the right of the submitted report and select ‘View’ to view your submission.  

The steps for submitting a final report are as follows:  

• Final Reports are submitted via the Portal (VicHealth Stakeholder Portal).
• In the Portal, click the More dropdown button on the top right and select ‘My Reports’.
• In the My Reports section, click the dropdown in the middle of the page to select ‘Draft Reports’ and view all draft reports.
• Once you can see the Final Report click on the dropdown on the right and click ‘Edit’.
• You can now complete the Final Report. Once you have finished and get to the end click ‘Submit’. This will send the report to VicHealth and send you an email to confirm your submission.
• You can view your submission by clicking the dropdown in the middle of the page and selecting ‘Submitted Reports’. Then click on the dropdown of the right of the submitted report and select ‘View’ to view your submission.
• For grants over $10k, VicHealth will process your associated payment within 7 days 

If you would like to access the specific report template for your final report please contact [email protected]  

For grants below $10,000 – VicHealth will contact you and advise if you are required to participate in an Acquittal. In the meantime, keep records of how you are spending your grant funds which you can produce, if requested.  

For grants above $10,001, refer to the Acquittal template for what you are required to include. Instructions will be provided by VicHealth closer to the due date of your Financial Acquittal. 

• Grants $35,000 or above are required to sign a Long Form Grant Agreement
• Grants up to $35,000 are required to sign a Short Form Grant Agreement.
• This is the document which outlines your grant requirements. VicHealth also outlined these requirements in the grant guidelines.