The purpose of the Connecting Seniors Grant program is to build social connections and reduce isolation for older people, including those aged 65 years and over, or 50 years and over for Aboriginal people.

The objectives of the Connecting Seniors Grant Program are to:

• provide meaningful and lasting social connections

• help older people connect with each other in small group activities in person 

• enable older people to develop lasting quality relationships

• engage new people, particularly harder-to-reach older people.

Each project requires a minimum number of new participants. With the funding range from $20,000 to $40,000, the expected minimum number of new participants would range from 20 to 80. This is based on an estimated costing of approximately $500 per person for the total grant value (for example, a $20,000 grant would be seeking the participation of at least 40 older people).

Priority groups for funding, under the Connecting Seniors Grant Program, are

• Aboriginal people aged 50 years and over

• people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds

• people living with disability, dementia, chronic disease or mental illness

• carers

• people in rural, regional and remote areas

• people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer or asexual (LGBTIQA+).

Organisations who represent harder to reach cohort groups are encouraged to apply.