Overview

There is more to poverty than what the media may have us believe. The Sidney Myer Fund sees that poverty affects the areas of a secure income, culture, housing, health, community relationships, and employment, as well as a lack of financial resources.

We understand that the link between poor health and poverty is very strong. Despite growth in national and world economies, poverty and related socioeconomic inequalities in health remain significant. Health in indigenous communities in Australia is among the worst in the developed world.

Through our Poverty and Disadvantage Program, we aim to address underlying problems that give rise to poverty and disadvantage, and to find ways to strengthen systems, services and communities to prevent impoverishment and to reduce its impact.

The objective of the Poverty and Disadvantage Program is:

• To help create a good society by promoting justice and equity.

Large Grants Program

The Sidney Myer Fund aims to assist in the area of Poverty and Disadvantage with its Large Grants Program focussing on:

• Indigenous poverty
• Child and family poverty.

Please note, we do not accept unsolicited applications to the Large Grants Program.

Small Grants Program

The Sidney Myer Fund’s Poverty and Disadvantage Small Grants Program supports projects that benefit the Australian community, and strategies that address:

Symptoms:

• Alleviating the negative effects of poverty and disadvantage.

Capacity Building:

• Strengthening communities' abilities to deal with poverty and disadvantage.

The current priority areas for the Poverty and Disadvantage Small Grants Program are as follows:

• Communities experiencing social and economic exclusion with particular emphasis on Indigenous Australians, asylum seekers and refugees, and people living in isolated rural and remote areas of Australia.
• Children and young people from impoverished backgrounds whose opportunities for development and advancement are curtailed.
• Small, discrete projects that meet the needs of a community rather than supplementary funding for large projects. A small, discrete project will be considered to have a total budget of up to $50,000.

The Poverty and Disadvantage Small Grants Program accepts applications on an ongoing basis. Please see the Application Process section for more information.

Applications are currently being accepted on an ongoing basis, with no specific closing dates.