To be eligible to apply for the Capability Building Grant Program, an organisation must:

• be categorised as C, D, E, F or NSOD in the Australian Sports Commission National Sporting Organisation Participation Investment Categorisation Framework in 2020-21
• not be an organisation named by the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse on its list of Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme.

Sport Australia has developed the Capability Building Grant Program to provide funding for small to medium sized sports to accelerate projects and initiatives within four key business areas. The Australian Sport Commission National Sporting Organisation Categorisation Framework has been used to identify eligible National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) and National Sporting Organisations for people with Disability (NSODs) based on their club membership size.

Applications must be submitted online during the funding application period. No late application submissions will be eligible after the application closing time.

To apply, you must:

• submit an online application form via the SmartyGrants link Sport Australia provided to eligible organisations
• provide all the information we need to assess your application
• provide a letter of support if there are multiple partners involved in your project (e.g. a whole of sport initiative)
• consider all eligibility and selection criteria, ensuring you have addressed relevant criteria.

To be eligible for funding, your project must align to one of the following key initiatives/actions:

• Education Resource Development
• Governance Maturity Improvement
• Volunteering Recruitment and Support
• Participation Planning and Research Initiatives.

Examples of projects and initiatives that are not eligible for funding include, but are not limited to:

• projects and initiatives already receiving funding through alternate Sport Australia programs, such as Organisational Enhancement Funding and Sport Australia Core Participation Funding
• established projects that are already operating
• paid workforce support
• infrastructure related projects
• stand-alone, one off events that are not linked to a longer project
• stand-alone digital projects with no connection to a physical delivery product
• requests for retrospective funding, such as expenses incurred prior to a variation to Sport Investment Agreement has been executed
• catering
• uniforms
• ongoing operational costs beyond the life of the project
• high performance sport, including elite and representative sport
• purchase of capital assets not deemed necessary to deliver the project (e.g. buildings, motor vehicles, furniture) with a threshold of $2,000
• international travel.

If you need further guidance in the application process, are unable to submit an online application or wish to withdraw a submitted application, contact Sport Australia at participation@ausport.gov.au

Eligible organisations are permitted to apply for a grant of up to $30,000 (ex GST) to support an eligible project.

A minimum of $300,000 (GST excl) has been allocated to support eligible projects and initiatives. If additional funding is made available, Sport Australia will allocate the available funds based on merit.

No, only one application will be accepted per organisation. Any subsequent application submitted will be ineligible for assessment.

Once your application has been submitted you cannot make changes. If you find an error in your application after submitting it, you should notify Sport Australia immediately by emailing participation@ausport.gov.au

Successful applicants will be required to execute a variation to their current Sport Investment Agreement (SIA) by 30 June 2021. If the successful applicant is unable to execute a variation to the SIA by this date, the funding may not be provided in the 2021-22 financial year.

Project and initiatives must be completed by 30 June 2022, or within the agreed timeframe outlined in the Sport Investment Agreement.

No. Applications submitted after 2:00PM AEST on 2 June 2021 will not be considered.