The Victorian Government is pleased to announce the outcomes of the Empowerment Fund and congratulate the 22 successful organisations that received funding.
A list of the successful applicants and the approved grant amounts are contained below.
There were a large number of applications for the Fund, showing its importance in supporting the social service sector to build data and evaluation capability.
In light of this demand, the Victorian Government increased the Empowerment Fund funding cap to $5 million. The increase in the cap is recognition of the high-quality nature of projects that were received.
It is recognised that a significant amount of time and effort went into lodging an application and DTF would like to thank all organisations that submitted a response.
A description of each funded initiative is included below.
Context for the Empowerment Fund
The Empowerment Fund sought to address barriers the social service sector face relating to data and evaluation capability, and enable greater sharing of useful evaluation findings and improved data collection and management processes.
Government provided seed funding of $2 million in the 2023-24 Budget through the Maximising outcomes from social investment initiative to trial the Empowerment Fund. Further funding was identified to support more projects, which lifted the funding cap to $5 million.
The Empowerment Fund complements early intervention and social investment reforms that DTF is already delivering for Government.
A Fact Sheet on the Empowerment Fund is provided below.
Activities to date
Advice on outcomes
DTF publicly advised of the outcomes of the Empowerment Fund on Thursday 19 December 2024.
Application stage
The Empowerment Fund was open for applications on 28 November 2023 and closed at 5.00pm on 29 March 2024.
Market sounding stage
DTF undertook a market sounding on the Empowerment Fund during October 2023 (previously referred to as the 'Enabler Fund'). Responding to the market sounding was optional. Interested parties’ engagement with the market sounding did not impact the assessment or potential success of any application.
Updated