Archived Grant Opportunity View - GO6681

The Australian Government is inviting applications through a demand driven process to deliver services under the Building Excellence in Support and Training (BEST) program.

The BEST program links closely to the Advocacy Training and Development Program (ATDP), which provides the essential skills for claims, advocacy and wellbeing work.

BEST is intended to assist the veteran and defence communities by providing support and resources to ex-service organisations (ESOs) for compensation and/or wellbeing advocacy. It assists ESOs by providing a contribution to the work of their advocates and support staff. It does not fully fund an organisation.

The objectives of the program are to assist ESOs to:

• improve the quality of claims received by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) at the primary determining level
• reduce the rate of appeals to the Veterans’ Review Board (VRB) and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)
• promote the provision of wellbeing services to the veteran and defence community.

The intended outcomes of the program are to ensure:

• the veteran and defence communities are able to benefit from having better informed ESO advocates who can ensure claims lodged with DVA are of a high standard and contain all required information to enable timely and quality decisions
• ESO advocates will assist in improving claims assessment efficiency
• the veteran and defence communities will have access to appropriate compensation and wellbeing advocacy services.

To be eligible you must be an ex-service organisation (ESO) and have an eligible entity type identified in section 4 of the Grant Opportunity Guidelines.

If you are an ESO and may or may not have an eligible entity type, another ESO with an eligible entity type can apply on your behalf as a sponsor. It is imperative that the sponsor complete and submit the application. If the sponsored organisation completes and submits the application instead, the application will be deemed ineligible and will not progress. 

If you are not an ESO, you are not eligible to apply for a grant (either in your own right, or if you have a sponsor apply on your behalf).

Additional eligibility requirements apply, please see section 4 of the Grant Opportunity Guidelines.

Application period

Open: 16 January 2024, Close: 9:00 pm AEDT on 29 February 2024

Assessment of applications - Within 5 weeks from the closing date

Approval of outcomes of selection process -  Within 11 weeks from the closing date

Notification of outcomes to applicants - Within 13 weeks from the closing date

Negotiations and award of grant agreements - Within 19 weeks from the closing date

Earliest start date of grant activity - July 2024

End date of grant activity - 30 June 2025

To apply you must:

• complete the online application form, please see 'Submit Application'
• provide all the information requested
• address all eligibility criteria 
• include all necessary attachments
• provide contact details, including a contact person at the sponsored organisation
• submit your application to the Community Grants Hub by 9:00 pm AEDT on 29 February 2024.

There are different application submission requirements depending on whether you apply as an applicant in your own right or as a sponsor for another entity. Please refer to section 6 of the Grant Opportunity Guidelines for detailed information.

Please use:

• Building Excellence in Support and Training 2024-25 - Questions and Answers - version 2