Communities Innovation Fund: Responses to social isolation and loneliness

The Communities Innovation Fund provides a competitive grants program to support flexible person-centred and place-based responses to social isolation and loneliness in Queensland communities.

The grant program provides up to $200,000 per year to community organisations for innovative projects that create meaningful connections for Queenslanders experiencing social isolation and loneliness.

Background

The first 2 rounds were run in 2023 and 2024.

Purpose of the grant program

The 2026 round of the grant program invites eligible organisations to submit proposals specifically targeting the unique challenges of social isolation and loneliness faced by:

• young Queenslanders aged 12 to 25
• young people 12 to 25 using or experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV), and
• victim-survivors of DFSV of all ages.

Initiatives may also contribute to the grant program’s secondary objectives, which include to:

• increase community understanding of social isolation and loneliness including the causes, impacts, barriers and enablers to overcoming social isolation and loneliness
• establish and maintain social and community connections and promote inclusion
• support capacity building within organisations to respond to those experiencing social isolation and loneliness from within the relevant cohorts.

Funding

Both small and medium grants are available.

The grant program guidelines below describe the requirements for proposals for small initiatives to the value of $50,000 and larger initiatives to the value of $200,000.

The total value of funding available for this grant round across target cohorts is $1,000,000.

The breakdown between smaller and larger grants is at the discretion of the panel following assessment of meritorious applications.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for the grant program, your organisation—or auspicing organisation—must be incorporated and can be:

• a not-for-profit organisation
• a company limited by guarantee
• a cooperative
• an incorporated association
• a university or research organisation
• a Local Government
• an unincorporated community or user-led group or organisation that is auspiced by an eligible entity
• a profit-for-purpose company.

If you are applying as a consortium, alliance or partnership, a lead entity must be identified and the contract will be entered into with that organisation. You will be required to provide evidence of your partnership through a letter of support from participating partners.

If you are applying through an auspicing entity, a letter of support must be supplied from the entity.

Your organisation must also maintain public liability insurance for a sum of not less than $10 million.

You are not eligible to apply if you are:

• a state, territory or federal government agency or body
• an unincorporated group or organisation that is not auspiced by an eligible entity
• an individual that is not auspiced by an eligible entity
• an organisation that is not based in Queensland
• a fixed trust
• a political party.

To be eligible your initiative must:

• be available to people experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, social isolation and loneliness within an identified cohort listed under ‘Purpose of the grant program’ above
• be delivered in Queensland
• not duplicate any currently funded services or initiatives in your proposed location, including services or initiatives funded through Queensland Government agencies.

If your application does not meet the eligibility criteria, it will not be assessed.

How to apply

Applications are now open for the 2026 round of the grant program.

Please ensure you read the 2025-26 grant program guidelines (PDF, 395 KB) 2025-26 grant program guidelines (DOCX, 283 KB) before submitting your application.

To apply you must:

1. Complete the online application form via SmartyGrants.
2. Provide all the information requested.
3. Address all eligibility criteria and assessment criteria.
4. Include all necessary attachments.
5. Submit your application by the closing date and time.

Applications will close at 5pm on Friday 30 January 2026.

After this closing date, the evaluation panel will assess all applications and advise the successful recipients.

Late applications will not be accepted.

If you have any technical difficulties with logging in, progressing or submitting your application, please contact SmartyGrants on (03) 9320 6888 or by email service@smartygrants.com.au.

Past recipients

• Round 1 successful recipients (PDF, 86 KB) Round 1 successful recipients (DOCX, 134 KB)
• Round 2 successful recipients (PDF, 80 KB) Round 2 successful recipients (DOCX, 135 KB)

More information and resources

• Writing a grant application.
• Ending loneliness together—a guide to evaluating loneliness for community organisations.
• QCOSS resources:
  • Grant writing toolkit (PDF)
  • Project on a page resource (PDF)
  • Evaluation planning (PDF)
  • Program logic worksheet (PDF).

Contact

If you have questions about the grant program, please email grantqueries@families.qld.gov.au.