Australian Government: Attorney-General's Department
Australian Government: Attorney-General's DepartmentAchieving a Just and Secure Society

Grants

Grants Register for the Attorney-General's Department

The Department's Grants Register contains information on grants approved since 1 January 2009, the date of commencement of the Government's new grant reporting arrangements.

The Department's grant information is grouped by grant program and is accessible by downloading the following:

Grant information comprises for each grant the:

  • grant program title
  • grant recipient
  • purpose of the grant
  • amount of the grant
  • approval date
  • term of the grant, and
  • grant funding location.

Summary of Grants

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Building Community Resilience Grants Program

The Building Community Resilience Grants Program aims to support community projects across Australia that build resilience to violent extremism.

Under the program, grants from $5,000 to $100,000 will be awarded to a range of local initiatives that:

  • give communities the skills and resources to understand and actively address intolerant or extremist messages and discourage violent extremism
  • support people who may be vulnerable to extremist views due to personal experiences of disengagement and marginalisation, and
  • educate groups and individuals about the avenues available to participate positively in political debate.

Youth Mentoring Grants Program

The Youth Mentoring Grants Program is a pilot project to be launched in Victoria and New South Wales initially and will provide grants from $5,000 to $200,000 to help local communities take action to counter violent extremism within our society and to promote an inclusive and safe environment for Australia.

Youth mentoring plays an important role in addressing and countering violent extremist ideologies. The aim of the Attorney-General’s Department Youth Mentoring Grants Program is to support projects that equip youth with the skills and resources to actively build their resilience to violent extremist influences.

Further information about the grant program and application processes is available on the Youth Mentoring Grants Program page.

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Family Relationships Services Program (FRSP)

The FRSP aims to:

  • enable children, young people and adults in all their diversity to develop and sustain safe, supportive and nurturing family relationships
  • minimise the emotional, social and economic costs associated with disruption.

The FRSP is managed in partnership and jointly funded by the Attorney General's Department (AGD) and FaHCSIA.

FaHCSIA funds community organisations to deliver early intervention services to couples and families to help them to build stronger family relationships. AGD funds community organisations to deliver post separation services to couples and families contemplating separation and/or experiencing separation and divorce to family relationships.

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Family Violence Prevention Legal Services

The Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department provides funding for the Family Violence Prevention Legal Services (FVPLS) program to assist Indigenous adults and children who are victims of family violence, including sexual abuse, or who are at immediate risk of such violence.

The Family Violence Prevention Legal Services program is complemented by other Indigenous law and justice programs.

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Financial Assistance towards Legal Costs and Related Expenses

The Australian Government provides direct financial assistance under a number of schemes to people requiring help to address matters involving Commonwealth law, or in circumstances that give rise to a special Commonwealth interest and legal aid is not available.

The Financial Assistance Section is responsible for administering a range of statutory and non-statutory financial assistance schemes.

The Attorney-General has delegated power to officers in the Legal Assistance Branch to authorise financial assistance to eligible applicants. Applications can be made throughout the year and will be assessed upon receipt by the Attorney-General's Department. The majority of schemes have guidelines which include hardship and reasonableness tests for eligibility.

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Grants to Australian Organisations Program (GAOP)

The Grants to Australian Organisations Program has two functions:

  1. it funds the Commonwealth's contributions to Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) programs, and
  2. with the funds remaining, it enables the Attorney-General to provide grants to a limited number of organisations with projects or activities that contribute to the pursuit of an equitable and accessible system of federal civil justice.

The SCAG contributions are standing payments approved by the Attorney-General through the SCAG process. Approval of other grants is a matter for the Attorney-General's discretion, having regard to funds available and competing proposals.

Further information on the program and the grant application process is available at the Department's GAOP webpage.

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Law and Justice Advocacy Development program

The Law and Justice Advocacy Development Program (LJAD) supports the advancement of the legal rights of Indigenous Australians by funding groups to pursue advocacy, research and community-level education.

It provides funding for a range of activities that promote improved law and justice outcomes for Indigenous Australians. Funding is allocated in accordance with LJAD's program guidelines to activities including Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committees, Deaths in Custody Monitoring Units and research.

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Legal aid for Indigenous Australians program

The Australian Government's Legal Aid for Indigenous Australians (LEGA) program supports the provision of culturally sensitive legal aid services to Indigenous Australians. It provides funding for organisations to deliver legal aid services to Indigenous Australians. This network delivers services at numerous permanent sites, court circuits and outreach locations in urban, rural and remote areas throughout all States and Territories.

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National Emergency Volunteer Support Fund

Australia’s pool of emergency management response and recovery volunteers numbering some 350,000 plays a vital role in assisting communities to manage the full range of emergencies and disasters.

The National Emergency Volunteer Support Fund (NEVSF) provides funding to emergency management response and recovery agencies with a large volunteer component to support projects developed to boost the recruitment, retention and training of volunteers at the frontline of emergency management. Grants are available to any agency that has a defined role in State or Territory Response or Recovery Plans and member agencies of the Australian Emergency Management Volunteer Forum.

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Native Title Anthropologist Grants Program 

The Attorney-General’s Department announced the commencement of the Native Title Anthropologist Grants Program on 28 May 2010. The Program seeks to attract a new generation of junior anthropologists to native title work and encourage senior anthropologists to remain within the system.

The funding available over the first three years of this Program is $1.4 million, including approximately $342,000 in 2010–11, $526,000 in 2011–12 and $539,000 in 2012–13.

Further information on the Program and the grant application process is available at the Department's Native Title Anthropologist Grants Program webpage.

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Prevention, Diversion, Rehabilitation and Restorative Justice Program

The Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department provides funding through the Prevention, Diversion, Rehabilitation and Restorative Justice Program (PDRR) to develop and undertake activities that will divert Indigenous Australians away from adverse contact with the legal system. The program is also intended to facilitate activities that will rehabilitate and support Indigenous Australians who have been incarcerated or are in custody.

The program compliments the other Indigenous law and justice programs and seeks to fund activities that will lessen the need for legal aid. Early resolution of disputes, including through restorative justice practices, with greater involvement of agencies, the victims, offenders, and Indigenous communities is encouraged.

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Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 - section 298 payment

Overview of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (the Act) was passed on 11 October 2002 and came into operation on 1 January 2003.

The Act provides a scheme to trace, restrain and confiscate the proceeds of crime against Commonwealth Law. In some circumstances it can also be used to confiscate the proceeds of crime against foreign law or the proceeds of crime against State law (if those proceeds have been used in a way that contravenes Commonwealth law).

The new Act also provides a scheme that allows confiscated funds to be given back to the Australian community in an endeavour to prevent and reduce the harmful effects of crime in Australia.

What Can Be Funded under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002?

Subsection 298(1) of the Act provides that the Australian Government may approve a program for the expenditure, in a particular financial year, of money standing to the credit of the Confiscated Assets Account (CAA). These funds may be approved for one of the four following purposes:

  • crime prevention measures
  • law enforcement measures
  • measures relating to treatment of drug addiction, or
  • diversionary measures relating to the illegal use of drugs.

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Safer Suburbs Plan

The $15 million Safer Suburbs Plan was announced during the 2007 election campaign and aims to address crime and anti social behaviour by funding important community safety measures such as closed circuit television systems and street lighting.

A number of State/Territory and local governments along with community organisations have been asked to develop 25 projects around the country. These range from relatively straight forward installation of security related infrastructure through to complex multi million dollar projects.