The NSW Sexual Violence Recovery and Healing Grant Program is a key state-wide initiative to support community-led responses and provide trauma-informed care for victim-survivors of sexual violence. This program invests up to A$3 million over two years in capacity-building projects that support recovery, healing, and community-led responses.
The program is an initiative of the NSW Sexual Violence Plan 2022–2027 and focuses on culturally safe, inclusive, and evidence-based approaches to ensure that every survivor — regardless of their background — receives a response that is sensitive and respectful, as well as ongoing support.
Program Overview
The program aims to build systemic and community capacity, rather than front-line services. It aims to provide organizations with resources, tools, and partnerships for trauma-informed, culturally relevant healing models.
Key Details
- Pool of Funding: AU$3 million (Round 2026–28)
- Type of Funding Grant: Fixed-amount short-term grant (2 years max)
- Application Opens: 27 October 2025
- Closes: 12 December 2025
- Eligibility Location: New South Wales residents
What Do We Fund?
Flexible Funding: All grant amounts will not have pre-determined caps. The grants will be open to both big and small interventions.
This dual approach enables not just community-based grassroots groups but also those more established service providers to apply within their own capacity – creating a sector-wide inclusive approach.
Objectives of the Grant
Enhancing Capacity
Enhance the capacity of local organizations and community groups to deliver trauma-informed care, with a focus on cultural safety and inclusiveness.
Improving Collaboration
Facilitate partnerships between NGOs, healthcare providers, and advocacy groups to provide comprehensive healing services throughout the state.
Embedding Restorative Practices
Support the use of restorative justice models, which provide for victim-survivor voices to be centred, accountability to take place, and, where appropriate, meaningful reconciliation.
Priority Groups and Target Populations
The grant program prioritizes groups that have traditionally been underserved and underrepresented in recovery support, such as:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Multicultural populations
- LGBTIQA+ individuals
- People with disabilities
- Children and young people
- Adult survivors of sexual abuse in childhood
- Older women
- People experiencing homelessness
- People in the criminal justice system
By putting these populations at the center, the initiative seeks to address systemic inequities and develop trauma-informed services that honor cultural identity and lived experience.
Eligible Activities and Funding Uses
The funding can be applied to projects that support capacity development and long-term change. Eligible activities include:
- Trauma-informed and culturally competent workforce training
- Culturally appropriate educative and awareness material development
- Best-practice toolkits and service guidelines for practitioners
- Co-design of recovery and healing initiatives by communities themselves
- Embedding restorative justice and peer-support approaches into current practices
All proposals must present at least one concrete indicator of progress, as well as a plan to sustain impact beyond any funding term.
Eligibility and Application Requirements
Applicants must meet the following requirements to be eligible:
- Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO)
- A non-profit organisation incorporated under the laws of NSW
- Any other entity that has legal capacity to establish a funding agreement
Applicants must also have:
- An ABN or an ACN for a registered Australian business
- A minimum of A$10,000,000 in Public Liability Insurance
- NSW National Redress Scheme and other requirements fulfilled
Selection criteria focus on:
- Alignment with program objectives
- Demonstrated community need
- Project sustainability and scalability
- Cost-effectiveness and value for money
- Cultural and trauma-informed integrity
Successful applicants will enter into an agreement with the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) and commit to collective learning and evaluation approaches.
Interlay: Connecting State and National Strategies
The NSW effort is consistent with Australia’s National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021–2030, aimed at facilitating trauma-informed, victim-centric, and joined-up responses across the country.
At the federal level, the A$12 million contribution by the government in children’s sexual abuse recovery programs also supports this collective aspiration towards safe, inclusive, and community-led healing.
Collectively, these initiatives illustrate a whole-of-government approach encompassing prevention, early intervention, and sustained recovery.
The Importance of Trauma-Informed and Culturally Safe Care
Trauma-informed care acknowledges the long-term physical, psychological, and social effects of sexual violence. It aims to stress safety, empowerment, and trust so that survivors can be met with empathy without re-traumatization.
Culturally safe practice builds on this by acknowledging the specific experiences, history, and values of people and communities – in particular Indigenous people and those experiencing oppression due to colonialism, racism, or discrimination.
By working together, they allow services to reach survivors in the here and now – but also work towards real healing.
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Community-Led Healing and Restorative Justice
The program includes an important element of community empowerment to drive their own path towards recovery.
- Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations are acknowledged as key partners to incorporate traditional knowledge systems with contemporary trauma-informed care.
- Multicultural and LGBTIQA+ organisations also have the power to define culturally specific models of healing that reflect their members’ lived experiences.
By supporting these community-led efforts, the program strengthens durable resilience and contributes to shaping a future in which healing remains local.
How to Apply
Applications open 27 October 2025 and close on 12 December 2025.
High-Level Grant Guidelines (Instructions)
Applicants should review the Grant Guidelines and prepare a proposal outlining goals, activities, budget, and results as an attachment.
For complete eligibility and submission information, visit the official NSW government website:
🔗 NSW Department of Communities and Justice – Sexual Violence Recovery and Healing Grants
Conclusion
The NSW Sexual Violence Recovery and Healing Grant Program is more than funding—it’s a promise to make New South Wales a safer, fairer, and better place.
Through the development of trauma-informed, culturally safe, and community-led healing models, the program builds resilient supports for survivors along with reciprocal branches of social recovery within communities throughout the state.
