Grants for Collaboration — Now open
Grants for Collaboration is the second stage of our two-year pilot grants program — a direct result of what the community told us matters most in our 2025 Grants for Conversation.
We're offering grants of $5,000–$10,000 to support initiatives that reflect the priorities in our Roadmap:
Supporting stronger collaborations within and across sectors
Fostering creative ideas, advocacy and storytelling to better showcase practice
Growing community connection, shared local identity and greater social inclusion
As the name implies, we're especially keen to support organisations that team up to tackle shared goals together.
Grants for Collaboration is designed to support community-driven initiatives that enhance collaboration, organisational sustainability, creative ideas and social connection across the Port Phillip community. The grants aim to contribute towards building a strong, inclusive, and resilient community.
Applications cose Friday 10 July at 5pm.
Before you apply
We encourage you to read our Vital Signs Report and Roadmap — they'll give you a strong sense of what we're hoping to resource and why.
Ready to apply?
Find full eligibility details and the application forms to download here 👉
Applications close Friday 10 July, 5pm
Know an organisation or individual who'd be a great fit? Please pass this along — the more voices in the room, the better.
Previous Grants
In 2025, we offered ‘Grants for Conversation’ aimed at bringing together agencies and stakeholders in key areas identified in our 2024 Vital Signs report.
Our objective was for these conversations to lead to a stronger understanding of our community’s current and future needs. Our grant partners and Southside brought together up to 60 organisations to talk honestly about what our community needs to feel connected, to belong, and to flourish together. Those conversations shaped five detailed reports and our Roadmap that point the way forward. The outcomes inform our current grant-making ‘Grants for Collaboration’.
Our Grants for Conversation partners are listed below.
Grants for Conversation Partners
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Grant Partner: City of Port Phillip Arts Collective (COPPAC)
Focus: As part of our Grants for Conversation, a $5,000 grant has enabled a collective of Arts organisations from across the City of Port Phillip to come together and participate in collaborative dialogue to explore how to deliver the best possible outcomes for artists and audiences in our community.
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Grant Partner: Port Phillip EcoCentre Inc.
Focus: As part of our Grants for Conversation, a $5,000 grant has enabled 15 environmental organisations from across Southside to come together and participate in collaborative dialogue. Through a series of workshops and facilitated conversations, the group began mapping regional strengths and identifying shared challenges — including biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution and nature disconnection.
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Grant Partners: Port Phillip Community Group and Christ Church Mission Community Centre
Focus: A $5,000 grant from our Grants for Conversations program to further understand the scale of food insecurity in Port Phillip and ways the community can be engaged to ensure no one faces hunger or food insecurity in our community. Facilitated by Sustain, the Australian Food Network, 14 organisations came together to understand challenges, what is working well and opportunities to create change.
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Grant Partners: South Port Community Housing Group and St Kilda Community Housing
Focus: A $5,000 grant to support the important work being done to address housing and homelessness. More than 40 leaders from the housing, health, community, and justice sectors came together at the St Kilda Town Hall to explore collaborative and actionable solutions to the growing housing crisis. A powerful reminder of what’s possible when passionate local voices unite for long-term change.
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Grant Partners: First Step, SouthPort Community Group and Voices of Southside
Focus: A $5,000 grant from our Grants for Conversations program to focus on Mental Health and Well Being led by SouthPort Community Group in partnership with First Step. It includes conducting a number of focus groups and conversations with Voices of the South Side (participants with lived experience of mental health), First Step participants with lived experiences, clinicians and others. Desired outcomes include gaining an understanding of current wellbeing and mental health service provision concerns in our community and capturing a range of local voices including those with lived experience to explore local solutions and actions.