Connected Beginnings

Connected Beginnings is about making sure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children get the best start to life.

About the program

Connected Beginnings is for children from birth to school age and pregnant women. Through it, children can get steady, wrap-around support. This helps them meet the learning and development milestones needed for a smooth start to school.

Connected Beginnings is a grants program. Grants are made available in communities in need across Australia. Funding is used to get families access to culturally appropriate support services, including:

maternal and child health
early childhood education and care
family support
preschools and schools
local government and council support.

The program is jointly funded by us and the Department of Health.

How does it work?

Connected Beginnings is administered through a ‘restricted non-competitive selection process’. This means that we invite specific organisations to apply for the grant.

Connected Beginnings is community owned and led. This means Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a say in how activities funded by the grant are delivered to their people, in their own places and on their own country.

Connected Beginnings is a ‘place-based’ grant. This means the grant must be used to meet the unique requirements of the local community. Activities must centre on the needs of the people in that community.

Connected Beginnings uses a collective impact approach. This means that community members and organisations work together to:

identify the community’s strengths, skills and resources
identify issues affecting their community
co-design solutions to these issues.

Closing the Gap

Connected Beginnings is a Closing the Gap measure. It supports all Closing the Gap priority reforms and focuses on targets 2, 3 and 4.

Backbone organisations

Grant recipients are called ‘backbone’ organisations. Backbone teams work with communities to co‑design goals and solutions to support children. This ensures Connected Beginnings:

is led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
funds meaningful activities delivered in place and on country
funds solutions that meet the unique needs of each community.

Backbone teams generally comprise 3–6 roles, which may include:

project director
project coordinator
community engagement officer
family engagement officer.

Backbone teams work with Aboriginal-controlled services, schools, community groups, Elders and leaders to establish a governance structure. Together they use local language, culture and storytelling to develop action plans.

Community Partner

The Community Partner is a national organisation contracted to oversee key aspects of the grant, including:

scoping new Connected Beginnings sites
offering foundational support to new sites
providing ongoing support to existing sites.

Current projects

State	Location
NSW	Doonside
NSW	Mount Druitt
NSW	Taree
NSW	Bourke
NT	Alice Springs
NT	Galiwin’ku
NT	Tennant Creek
NT	Angurugu
QLD	Doomadgee (Mt Isa)
QLD	Rasmussen
QLD	Mareeba
SA	Ceduna
SA	Port Augusta
SA	Salisbury/Playford
TAS	Bridgewater/Gagebrook
TAS	Burnie
TAS	George Town
VIC	Mildura
VIC	Shepparton
WA	Kalgoorlie
WA	Derby
WA	Roebourne
WA	Armadale West
WA	Bidyadanga
WA	Central Great Southern (Katanning)

When and how are grants offered?

Site selection

When determining communities of need, we consider:

child development needs, as shown by the Australian Early Development Census
population size and socioeconomic data
consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak bodies and state and territory government agencies.

Site establishment

Once we have selected a site, we start extensive community consultations. This helps us decide whether and how to establish a Connected Beginnings project. This happens in three phases:

Consultation with community leaders and service providers

The community must have a shared vision for early childhood development. We also consider the community’s willingness, capacity and capability to lead the effort.

Readiness assessment

We work with the community to confirm they understand Connected Beginnings and want to be considered for a grant.

Together, we map out what a Connected Beginnings project could look like. We also identify which organisation is best placed to receive a grant offer.

If a community decides it is not ready for a Connected Beginnings project, we won’t make a grant offer.

Invite organisations to apply

Organisations that want to apply can get help from the Community Partner during the application process. Successful applicants become the backbone organisation.

Generally, we offer 6–8 grants per year.

How do I apply?

When we issue a grant offer, we will let you know what you need to do.

If you are successful applying for a grant, you must enter into a grant agreement. View a sample grant agreement.

What can grant money be used for?

Connected Beginnings activities must be place-based and use collective impact approaches.

Grants can be used to fund activities like:

establishing a small backbone team
operating expenses like rent, lease of computers, phones and administration
connecting local children and families to support services
developing engagement resources
community engagement events
developing and implementing a shared governance model
developing and implementing data sharing and evaluation arrangements
developing and delivering training packages for staff in community organisations
professional development including capacity building, community research, collective impact and trauma training.

Evidence and evaluation

Connected Beginnings was evaluated in 2019. Read the report. The program will be next evaluated in 2022.

Connected Beginnings targets some of the most disadvantaged communities across Australia. It is designed to improve children’s school readiness. Success measures to date include:

an 8% increase in the number of children aged 60–72 months who are fully immunised
an increase in education and care attendance of 12 average hours per child from 2018 to 2020
45% of pregnant women receiving antenatal care visits at 13 weeks (33% national average).

Expansion

Currently, Connected Beginnings supports 31 sites. In 2021 the Australian Government committed an extra $81.8 million to expand Connected Beginnings to 50 sites nationally by 2025.

The expansion includes:

a dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce to employ local people
broader, more extensive and longer consultation and community engagement
increased support from the Community Partner role
better data collection, project reporting, monitoring and evaluation
a greater focus on bringing service provider organisations and community leaders together
increased community consultation through the site scoping and site readiness process
supporting participation of Aboriginal community-controlled organisations.