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Our Approach: Decent Work Exploration Grants

The Decent Work goal has become even more relevant over the past year, as skills shortages are emerging in key industries and locations. This program funds Employer driven, innovative models for work that integrate learning to ensure young people gain the work and experience they need and value.

Organisations often need time, encouragement and resources to consider and adopt new approaches. They need to be able to consult and co-design with young people and employers, collect the evidence on potential outcomes and develop and cost new service models or practices.

To support this work, VFFF is providing Decent Work Exploration Grants, to promote evidence-based innovation design to achieve decent work for young people. These grants build a bridge between an emerging idea and strong multi-year grant proposals, which might be made to VFFF, or to other funders – or both.

VFFF approved five Decent Work Exploration grants in 2022:

Joblink Plus
$30,000 to develop a business case for a social enterprise farm in New England north-west NSW, which will operate also as a residential facility providing skills training and personal development to prepare young people for various kinds of farm work.

Australian Training Company
$30,000 to develop school-based apprenticeships as a pathway to higher-level traineeship opportunities in diverse small-to-medium agribusinesses on the south coast of NSW

Enterprise and Training Company
$35,000 to develop a regionally coordinated approach in South East Queensland that more effectively connects employers and unemployed young people to meaningful work and careers in Aged Care and Agriculture

Miyay Birray Youth Services
$35,000 to develop a model for an Aboriginal controlled social enterprise in Moree NSW, upskilling and employing Aboriginal young people in trades training, to take advantage of social procurement contracts.

Jigsaw Australia
$20,000 to support the final phase of designing and testing a model of supporting young people with disabilities into open employment.