Holiday Break Program: Summer / Autumn 2024/25

To be eligible for grant funding, an applicant must:

1. have an Australian Business Number (ABN)

1. acknowledge that funding will only be made available to the applicant on successful execution of a funding agreement
2. either currently hold public liability insurance of not less than $20 million per occurrence or better self-insurance to the satisfaction of the Department, or confirm willingness to obtain relevant insurance prior to executing a Funding agreement with the Department
3. be an eligible applicant.

For further details about eligibility refer to the program guidelines.

Who can apply

 To be eligible for grant funding, an applicant must meet each of the following requirements:

• have an Australian Business Number (ABN)  
• acknowledge that funding will only be made available to the applicant on successful execution of a funding agreement 
• either currently hold public liability insurance of not less than $20 million per occurrence
• or better self-insurance to the satisfaction of the Department or confirm willingness to
• obtain relevant insurance prior to executing a Funding agreement with the Department
• be one of the following:  

Local Council Groups

• a local council recognised under relevant NSW legislation (excluding Greater Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle local government areas)
• regional joint organisation of councils
• Section 355 Committees of Councils (must apply in the name of the relevant Council and must have permission to apply)
• the Lord Howe Island Board
• an unincorporated Far West group

Organisations

• not-for-profit and community organisations registered with the Australian Charities and not-for-profits Commission (ACNC)
• an association registered with NSW Fair Trading under the Associations Incorporation Act 2009

Indigenous and Aboriginal Organisations

• a Local Aboriginal Land Council
• an Indigenous Corporation (registered under Corporations (Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006)

Young people have different needs and challenges when accessing recreational and social activities within their communities. Some experience more barriers to participation than others.

Eligible applicants are encouraged to design and deliver activities which engage one (or more) of the priority groups below:

• Aboriginal young people 
• young people that are carers  
• culturally and linguistically diverse young people  
• young people from a refugee background  
• LGBTIQA+ young people  
• young people living with a disability  
• young people experiencing socio-economic disadvantage.

Eligible projects include social or recreational activities, events, services or programs for young people aged 12-24 years during the relevant NSW school holiday period. Projects must be age appropriate.

Eligible project costs may include but are not limited to:

• Refreshments for attendees
• Entry fees and tickets
• Transport for attendees
• Consumable project supplies
• Hire of event spaces, equipment, and facilities
• Administration costs (including advertising, marketing, promotion, project insurances, reporting and completion of grant documentation) no greater than 10% of the total requested grant amount
• Staff costs (including wages, travel, meals, support workers/ activity delivery staff, project coordination staff) for the planning and delivery of the program no greater than 40% of the total requested grant amount
• Additional travel loading for suppliers travelling to remote and very remote NSW.

Unless specifically listed above all other entities are ineligible to apply for Holiday Break funding, including but not limited to: 

• unincorporated entities
• other Organisations (unless entity type is listed within eligible criteria as above)
• sole traders
• partnerships
• individuals
• deregistered or Insolvent businesses
• organisations that do not have an ABN or are unable to obtain an ABN
• trusts or Trustees (unless entity type is listed within eligible applicants as above)
• Holiday Break partners
• State and Commonwealth Government Entities.

Where an application does not demonstrate that the applicant meets the above eligibility requirements, the Department will deem the application to be ineligible and may set it aside from further consideration.

The Department reserves the right to seek clarification or further information from applicants for the purpose of confirming eligibility against the above requirements, within the parameters of probity and fairness. 

The Department reserves the right to not award a grant to an applicant where it has outstanding acquittals from a previous program and/or where it represents greater than acceptable reputational risk to the NSW Government.

Ineligible project costs may include but are not limited to:

• costs related to buying or upgrading equipment or supplies not essential to the activity
• donations or commissions to third parties
• financing, including debt financing or rental costs
• rental/hire costs for equipment, venues or facilities owned by the applicant or ‘parent’ organisations or subsidiaries
• non-project related staff training and development costs
• funding for ongoing staff or operational costs beyond the scope and timeframe of the funded activity
• costs that are considered ‘business as usual’ for the organisation including superannuation and organisational insurances
• purchase of minor assets e.g. gaming consoles, laptops, mobile phones and other capital items exceeding $500
• administration costs totalling more than 10% of the requested grant amount
• staff costs totalling more than 40% of the requested grant amount

The Department has discretion to part-fund a project where some itemised project costs have been assessed as ineligible.

Please note the below inclusions for administration and staff costs administration costs (maximum 10% of requested grant amount) include:

• advertising, marketing, promotion
• project insurance
• reporting and completion of grant documentation

Staff costs (maximum 40% of the requested grant amount)

• wages
• travel
• meals
• support workers/ activity delivery staff
• project coordination staff

Ineligible Projects

Projects are not eligible for funding if they are:

• located outside an eligible LGA (see Appendix A for eligible LGAs)
• not submitted by an eligible applicant
• projects that incur costs for attendees (e.g. entry fees, club memberships and fundraising to cover these costs)
• projects that are targeted towards club members / a pre-formed group without additional invite or engagement to the wider community aged 12-24 years
• projects that are considered ‘business as usual’ for the organisation
• projects that are not directly funding the delivery of programs for young people
• for the delivery of essential or core government services that should be funded from another source such as local government, the NSW Government or the Commonwealth Government
• seeking grant funding for operational costs such as utilities, cleaning equipment, telephone, and electricity costs
• for a general works package without specific scope, costs, and location (e.g. upgrading lighting at community youth centre without identifying the work required, number of sites or the locations)
• predominantly for marketing, branding, advertising or product promotion including tourism marketing
• providing direct commercial and/or exclusive private benefit to an individual or business
• not clearly providing benefits that will significantly contribute to the objectives of the program
• the recipient of any grant funding from another NSW Government grant program for the same project
• projects that seek to solely subsidise memberships for existing services
• promote the consumption of alcohol or drugs
• pose a reputational risk to the Department. The Department has sole discretion in determining if activities pose a reputational risk.
• include activities that are potentially high risk or dangerous, such as bull riding, sky diving, scuba diving and carnival rides. The Department has sole discretion in determining if activities are potentially high risk or dangerous.
• projects that are not considered age appropriate for youth aged 12 to 24 years.

Examples of activities that may be eligible for such funding include but are not limited to:

• youth concerts and music events
• cooking and life skills activities
• sports and recreational activities
• cultural and creative activities
• dance / disco events
• art and theatre workshops
• outdoor activities
• sporting and sight-seeing activities
• science, technology and gaming activities.

There are five aspects to the eligibility criteria:

1. An applicant must be an eligible applicant
2. An eligible applicant must apply for a grant of funding for an eligible project
3. An eligible project must benefit youth in an eligible project location(s)
4. An eligible project must include a budget with appropriate costings or reasonable estimations
5. An eligible project must meet one or more program objectives.