Building Digital Skills grant

A new Building Digital Skills grant round is opening to help you deliver digital skills to older Australians during 2024.

Round 50 now open! 4 March 2024 - 5 April 2024.


Building Digital Skills grants help organisations to deliver free Be Connected digital literacy programs to older Australians in their community.

Building Digital Skills grants of up to $10,000 help organisations to support older Australians 50+ through free digital mentoring sessions. A range of resources and support materials are available to help organisations to deliver this program, including the the learning courses available on the Be Connected Learning site.

By providing the Be Connected program for free using this grant, recipients will help people to develop their digital skills and confidence.

Building Digital Skills grants are offered by Good Things Foundation to community organisations in Australia through the Be Connected program. Please read our guidelines and T&C's carefully before applying for this grant funding.


Learn more about this grant

If you work with people with disability, First Nations communities, people from CALD communities or living in very regional or remote areas of Australia, you may be eligible for our specialist grants! Our specialist grant contracts make it easier for you to focus on helping those most in need of digital skills support in your community. Read more below.

There are two types of Building Digital Skills grants - standard and specialist contracts. Not every community is the same, and some have additional challenges for community organisations to reach and support to improve their digital skills.

Our specialist grant contracts have a reduced number of Older Australians to support in recognition of this. These contracts are available to organisations who support people that are:

  • Supported in remote and outer regional areas
  • Older Australians with disabilities
  • Older Indigenous Australians
  • Older Australians from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities.

There are specific eligibility criteria you must meet for the specialist contracts. Read the grant guidelines to find out more.

Building Digital Skills Grant 2023/24 Timetable 

We got special permission to open two additional Building Digital Skills grant rounds this financial year. This funding will support you to run Be Connected digital skills programs for over 50s between 1 April - 30 November 2024.

These rounds (Round 49 and Round 50) are available in $2,500, $5,000 and $10,000 contract sizes

Round 49

Activity

Date

Application period

5 February at 09:00 to 1 March 2024 at 23:45 (AEST)

Notification of results

15 March 2024

Payments released*

18 March 2024

Delivery start & finish date

1 April 2024 - 30 November 2024


Round 50

Activity

Date

Application period

4 March to 5 April 2024 at 23:55 (AEST)

Notification of results

12 April 2024

Payments released*

15 April 2024

Delivery start & finish date

1 May 2024 - 30 November 2024

*Payments will take around 3 working days to reach the nominated bank account.

From May 2023, there are some changes to our Building Digital Skills grant program. Grant length and the number of people you need to support has been reduced - check your contract and grant guidelines for details.

From Round 49 on, the $20,000 grant size is not available. Find out more in our FAQ article.

Organisations with a Building Digital Skills grant will be required to use three important tools when delivering their digital support sessions to over 50's:

  • Be Connected learning website courses
  • CaptureIT to report your progress towards your grant targets
  • Digital Skills Checker to assess your learners skills and progress

These are Be Connected program requirements. Support is available to help you to use these tools. Read the grant guidelines to find out more.


What can I spend the grant on?

Building Digital Skills grants fund community organisations to provide free digital skills support to older Australians aged over 50 years.

These support sessions can be provided either one-on-one or in groups.

Grant funding can be used to pay for the costs of providing this support, including:

  • staff and volunteer expenses
  • program marketing
  • devices and internet
  • room hire
  • catering
  • transport for participants to and from sessions

In your grant application, you will need to submit a budget using our template letting us know how you will spend the funds. Read the grant guidelines and T&Cs to find more details on how this grant can work for you.


Grant application documents

Please read our grant guidelines carefully before you apply. They contain critical information that can help you understand eligibility and what you need to do for the grant. The guidelines also include a list of all the grant application questions to help you prepare.

Tip: Download our project plan and budget templates below and fill them in prior to starting your online application.

Upgrading resources to expand your program


“Without the grant funding we would not be able to afford the supplies to push our students to want to try and learn new things.”

Susan, Digital Mentor at Elermore Glen Retirement Village.

More grants

Grants of $50,000 to train digital mentors in your organisation or networks

Applications open 3 July 2023. $1,000 grants to host an event during Get Online Week (16-22 October 2023).

Grants of $20,000 to support migrant and refugee women.

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