Applications for the first round of the Lived and Living Experience Workforce Leadership Development Grants have now closed.
Overview
Eligibility criteria
Grant value
Eligible qualifications and courses
Assessment criteria
How to apply
Frequently asked questions and glossary
Overview
The Royal Commission recommended that the transformed Victorian mental health and wellbeing system should be designed, delivered and led by people with lived and living experience. To support this foundational part of the reform agenda, the Department of Health has provided funding for MHV (Mental Health Victoria) to allocate grants that can build leadership in current lived and living experience workers across consumer and family/carer roles in state-funded mental health, alcohol and other drugs (AOD) or harm reduction services.
Supporting reform of Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing system is a process that intends to engage people with a lived experience at its core. Building lived and living experience workforce skills, knowledge and capabilities is a key priority of Victoria’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Strategy 2021-24. Aligning with this, the grants are for leadership-focussed qualifications and courses to support lived and living experience workers.
The Lived and Living Experience Workforce Leadership Development Grants offer up to $5000 to eligible workers employed in state-funded mental health, alcohol and other drugs (AOD) or harm reduction services.
Please note this grants program complements the Lived and Living Experience Workforces University Scholarships program. For more information about this program, visit the ACN website.
Mental Health Victoria’s role
MHV will support the application process and administration, and will make decisions about all grant applications. MHV has drawn on the expertise of our Lived and Living Experience Advisory Group (LLEAG), in partnership with the Lived and Living Experience Scholarship Advisory Group, to assist in designing and overseeing the program. MHV will be the main point of contact for successful applicants and will evaluate and monitor the grants program until it is closed.
Eligibility criteria
Who can apply?
Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Be in a state-funded role employed in a state-funded mental health, alcohol and other drugs or harm reduction service including peak bodies, training organisations and services delivered by NGOs.
- Be employed in a designated lived or living experience role. Designated lived experience roles include all positions that, regardless of the position type or setting, require lived or living experience of mental illness or psychological distress, substance use or addiction, or of being a family member or carer.
- Be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or New Zealand citizen.
- Be eligible to enrol in, or already be enrolled in, a qualification or course that begins by semester 1, 2023 (e.g. diploma, TAFE qualification, leadership training) or by the end of May 2023. Recipients may defer their enrolment once.
- Be able to provide a letter of recommendation from line manger and/or lived/living experience senior (if relevant), confirming the applicant’s length of engagement in the sector and how the service will support the applicant’s learning (e.g., through study leave, flexible workload, etc). Please use the template provided.
Grant value
Up to $5,000 is available.
A lived and living experience worker can only apply for one qualification or course in their application.
Eligible qualifications and courses
What could be considered for funding?
Qualifications or courses which focus on developing your leadership skills and capabilities as a lived and living experience worker. To be awarded a grant, candidates must demonstrate their commitment to the lived and living experience workforces and describe how the proposed course will support them to use their lived or living experience perspective across leadership or management roles in the mental health and wellbeing, AOD or harm reduction sector. For example, in leadership, management or change management roles.
We understand qualifications and courses that are leadership specific are limited in the lived and living experience space. As such, applicants will need to demonstrate a clear connection to how the qualification or course connects to leadership and skill development.
We welcome TAFE level and other training/courses aimed at leadership and project management. Some examples of possible qualifications and courses can be found here.
What is out of scope?
The following will not be approved for this grants program:
- Qualifications or courses that are outside the scope of lived and living experience worker leadership capabilities, roles and responsibilities.
- Use of the grant for FTE, salaries, travel, accommodation or external materials. The grants will only cover the qualification or training cost.
- In-house training provided internally by your organisation or employer.
- The Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work is on the free TAFE list, therefore out of scope for this funding.
- Qualifications or courses provided by overseas providers.
- A qualification or course which is better suited to another State or Federal funding stream
Assessment criteria
Grants will be awarded based on your answers to the selection questions and additional weighting will be given to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants, and those who work in regional or rural Victoria.
Applicants will be asked to complete a statement between 100 and 200 words addressing each of the following criteria:
- Describe your experience in the mental health, AOD and/or harm reduction sectors in lived or living experience roles (consider all relevant experience including paid, unpaid, or partly paid engagements).
- Briefly describe how the qualification or course proposed will contribute to your role and how this aligns with the intentions of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.
- Briefly outline how the qualification or course proposed will build your leadership capabilities and opportunities within the mental health, AOD and/or harm reduction lived and living experience workforce.
- Describe your professional development goals and how you wish to contribute to the mental health, AOD and/or harm reduction lived and living experience workforce in the future.
How to apply
To apply, please click on the ‘Apply now’ link below and fill out the required form. Applications must be submitted by Friday 18th November 2022 11:59pm AEST.
We require a letter of recommendation from your line manager and/or lived/living experience senior. Please use this template which will provide the following information:
- Length of your employment in the sector
- How the service will support the applicant’s learning (e.g. through study leave, flexible workload, etc)
Important Information
- We highly recommend thoroughly reading all the information on this page and the Frequently Asked Questions and Glossary before applying.
- The grants are very competitive and there may be more applications than available scholarships. Meeting the eligibility criteria does not guarantee you a grant.
- Only the information you provide in this application will be considered.
- You must answer all questions in the application, as incomplete applications will not be considered for selection.
- This application is to apply for a grant only. This is not an application for admission to an educational institution.
- Applicants will be contacted 4 to 6 weeks after the funding round closes to advise them of their application outcome.
Please note: The grants team will not respond to applicants until December 2022, so please keep this in mind when selecting study options for your proposal. The qualification or course must begin by the end of May 2023 and please check if this date fits with timeline of the provider for the qualification or course before applying.
Frequently asked questions and glossary
The Frequently Asked Questions and Glossary document will be updated on a regular basis.
If required, MHV may contact you to discuss your application further. If you have accessibility requirements or would like to request more information, please contact us as we are happy to assist where possible.
