The Victorian Government is ensuring our state’s multicultural media organisations can continue to deliver essential information, entertainment and education services to Victoria’s diverse communities.

Victoria’s multicultural media is the lifeblood of our multicultural communities. These organisations play a vital role in amplifying the voices, stories, and experiences of Victoria's diverse communities. Multicultural media organisations foster community connections and promote unity within our vibrant society.

Over the years, our multicultural media organisations have undertaken incredible work, particularly through challenging times like the pandemic and natural disasters.

Recognising the crucial role of Victoria’s multicultural media organisations, the Multicultural Media Grants program aims to improve service capabilities and expand reach into Victorian communities.

The program offers funding to upgrade equipment, build capacity through staff and volunteer training and development, and importantly, to provide opportunities and pathways for people seeking careers in the multicultural media sector.

As our multicultural communities grow, the diversity of multicultural media grows with them. The significance of your contributions can’t be understated.

Thank you to our multicultural media organisations for your essential role in representing, showcasing and connecting Victoria’s diverse communities.

I encourage multicultural media organisations to apply for funds through this program, to help ensure the positive impacts of your work continues.

Ingrid Stitt MP

Minister for Multicultural Affairs

Multiculturalism in Victoria is more than just diversity of cultures, languages, faiths and traditions. It provides the systems and supports that make our shared community stronger. It is the knowledge that sharing cultures and understanding our cultural differences is a strength. It also provides a sense of belonging that contributes to the community harmony Victorians are so proud of.

The Victorian Government is committed to:

• protecting the rights of all Victorians to be free from any kind of:
  • racism
  • vilification
  • discrimination
• building community harmony
• ensuring every Victorian feels safe and can participate in all aspects of Victorian life, irrespective of:
  • Aboriginality
  • gender
  • sexual orientation
  • ethnicity
  • faith
  • language
  • culture
  • migration
  • visa status
  • class
  • ability
  • age.

The contractual relationship between funded organisations and the Department of Premier and Cabinet reflects this commitment. It sets out the expectation that in the delivery of projects and initiatives funded by the Victorian Government, organisations will promote and uphold the government’s stated values of:

• one law for all
• freedom to be yourself
• discrimination is never acceptable
• a fair go for all
• it is up to all of us to contribute to a Victoria we can be proud of.

What is the Multicultural Media grants program?

The Multicultural Media Grants (MMG) Program supports multicultural media outlets to:

• increase resourcing
• build capacity within the organisation.

This allows them to support their communities across:

• print
• radio
• broadcasting
• digital media platforms.

The program also supports multicultural media organisations to:

• foster a greater sense of belonging and connection in multicultural communities
• make people feel connected and supported.

It has 2 objectives to support multicultural media organisations to:

• improve the quality of services, coverage or capacity to extend audience reach to multicultural communities
• equip multicultural staff, volunteers, and young adults in the community with the skills and experience needed to thrive in media careers by:
  • offering tailored training opportunities
  • fostering growth
  • improving employability.

What funding is available?

An organisation can apply for funding up to $25,000 (excluding GST). Organisations can only submit one application. If we receive more than one application, the first submitted application is assessed.

Why is the Victorian Government funding this program?

The media represents a major leader serving society. It can play a critical role in audiences’ sense of belonging to a community[1][2]. More than 1.5 million Victorians speak a language other than English. The Victorian Government is committed to ensuring every Victorian feels safe and can take part in all aspects of Victorian life.

The program aims to support multicultural media organisations to keep improving their services for multicultural communities, in:

• information
• entertainment
• education.

This includes:

• buying resources, production costs, equipment
• capacity building training for volunteers and employed staff to make sure they are well-equipped to support the community
• supporting young adults (18–25yrs) to engage in the media organisation by providing training and pathways into a media career
• providing training to build skills and improve capabilities within the wider community for those who have an interest in media as a career path
• encouraging adaptation in multicultural media engagement through online and digital technologies.

The MMG Program is a merit-based grants program. Multicultural Affairs in the Department of Premier and Cabinet manage it.

Program timeline

• Applications open Friday 11 October 2024 at 9:00 am.
• Applications close Friday 8 November 2024 at 3:00 pm. The department will not accept late or incomplete applications.
• The department will publish successful outcomes and notify applicants in March 2025.
• All projects and final reports must be completed by 31 December 2025.

Funding agreements

If successful, your organisation must enter into a Victorian Common Funding Agreement (VCFA) with the department. This must happen within 30 days of your funding offer. If a grant offer is not accepted during this period, the department may withdraw the grant.

The funding agreement outlines:

• the grant terms and conditions, including use of funds
• key deliverables and due dates
• reporting requirements, including providing all invoices and receipts for purchases and training.

The department makes grant payments according to set milestone deliverables. The milestones are set out in the funding agreement.

The department will publish successful applicant details, including organisation name, project name and grant funding provided on Multicultural Media Grants Program webpage

Your organisation must use all funds during the activity period by 31 December 2025, as outlined in the funding agreement. Also, your organisation must meet any funding conditions set out in the letter of offer or funding agreement.

Failure to meet these requirements may mean your organisation has to return funding to the department.

If successful in receiving funding, your organisation needs to submit a final report to outline what has been delivered.

Applications go through an eligibility assessment (Stage one) before a merit assessment (Stage two).

A panel will then review applications that have been recommended and not recommended. The panel includes representatives from the Victorian Multicultural Commission and from across the Victorian Government.

The Minister for Multicultural Affairs makes the final decision to award a grant under this program. This is based on recommendations from the assessment panel.

The department will then advise your organisation on the outcome of your application.

Stage one – Eligibility assessment

Once the round has closed, the applications are screened to check that the:

• applicant organisation and project are eligible
• application has been completed in full and all supporting documentation has been provided
• applicant does not have any outstanding obligations for previously awarded grants.

Stage two – Merit assessment

We assess applications on merit using the criteria in the following table. Percentage weightings are provided as a guide to the relative importance of different criteria in the assessment process. Applicants will not receive a score by the assessment panel. The level of detail provided in the application should be comparable with the value of the project. Only applications scoring high enough against the assessment criteria are supported.

Information sessions

To support you with the application process, we provide a series of information sessions delivered as webinars. All details, including webinar dates and times, are available on the Multicultural Media Grants Program webpage

Additional resources

Visit the Multicultural Media Grants Program webpage for more information on:

• frequently asked questions
• application form guidance

Other information is available at Multicultural grant resources, including:

• how to write a grant application
• grant terminology explained
• auspice applications
• case studies

Contact the Multicultural Affairs Partnerships Team

For more information, help with your application, or to check if you have any outstanding final reports, contact the Multicultural Affairs Partnerships team:

• Email ma-partnerships@dpc.vic.gov.au
• Phone 1300 112 755