Seeks to fund 3,000 new jobs over three years to support remote job seekers.

In February 2024, the Australian Government announced that it would invest $707 million to deliver a new Remote Jobs and Economic Development (RJED) program. The RJED program will provide people in remote communities with more jobs offering fair pay and conditions.

This grant opportunity is a part of the RJED Program in which, each grant will run for up to 3 years.

The RJED Program seeks to fund 3,000 new jobs over 3 years to support job seekers currently participating in or that are eligible for Remote Australia Employment Services (RAES), to move into employment.

For the purposes of the RJED program, a new job is:

• A job which does not already exist within an organisation and does not displace an existing employee, or
• A job created in a RAES Community Project.

The intended outcomes and objectives of RJED are:

• 3,000 jobs successfully taken up in RAES regions 
• Delivering more services in RAES regions
• Creating more jobs offering fair pay and conditions
• Improving employment and engagement outcomes for RJED employees and communities
• Increasing socio-economic and wellbeing outcomes through the take up of more jobs offering fair pay and conditions for RJED employees, their families and communities
• Increasing the number of formal employment relationships and flow-on effects of direct jobs in community and local business sectors, who will become ‘employers of choice’ for local job seekers
• Contributing to the Closing the Gap Priority Reforms and targets, to the extent that the RJED program creates new jobs for First Nations people.

RJED Round 3 grant opportunity has two streams of funding available:

• Job Creation – to fund the cost of wages and related entitlements to provide people in remote communities with more jobs with fair pay and conditions.
• The Community Jobs and Business Fund (CJBF) – to provide funding for equipment, operational costs and infrastructure to directly support bringing jobs created under the Job Creation stream into existence.

To be an eligible organisation, you must:

• Be operating or intend to operate in a RAES region(s)
• Have an Australian Business Number (ABN) (exemptions may apply in special cases)
• Where relevant, be registered for the purposes of GST.
• Be a permanent resident of Australia
• Have an account in your name that you control with an Australian financial institution.

And be one of the following entity types:

• An Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act)
• A company incorporated in Australia
• An incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust
• An incorporated association or an incorporated cooperative (incorporated under state/territory legislation, commonly have 'Association' or 'Incorporated' or 'Inc' in their legal name)
• A joint (consortia) application with a lead organisation
• A registered charity or not-for-profit organisation
• An individual or sole trader seeking to employ another individual (i.e. you may not apply for a job for yourself)
• An Australian local government body
• An organisation established through a specific piece of Commonwealth or state/territory legislation, including public benevolent institutions, churches and universities.

Click here to view full funding guidelines on the provider's website.

Please note that the information provided is accurate at the time of entry; however, changes may be made by the funding provider. We recommend contacting the funding provider directly for the most current details or for further information about this grant.

Smith Thornton subscribes to a grant search provider and can help you prepare your grant application. If you have any questions, our Business Services Advisor Jenna van Nierop will be happy to assist. You can email her at jennav@smiththornton.com.au or call her on 9842 5155.