Commonwealth Outcomes Fund projects
Project selection
The Australian Government selects projects under the Outcomes Fund. State and territory governments, service providers and social enterprises deliver the projects in partnership with us.
The first projects were well developed projects from states and territories. Future projects will be further developed and take a more proactive, targeted approach.
New South Wales
Get Back in the Game
The Get Back in the Game program will support young people aged 15 to 21. The program focuses on young people disengaged from education, employment and training. It will address the barriers and risk factors affecting their ability to study or work.
Service providers will deliver the projects.
They will:
- find employment or training opportunities
- support young people to complete education or training
- offer career and transition planning
- provide work and training readiness activities. This includes resume and job interview preparation
- make referrals to specialist mental health and social support services
- help with navigating government and other services.
Support focuses on the needs of the young person. It addresses their individual barriers and challenges.
The program will focus on:
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people
- Young people living in rural, regional and remote areas
- Young people living with a disability and mental health.
The Australian Government will commit $5 million from July 2025 to June 2027. The NSW state government will match this funding from January 2025 to December 2026.
The Australian Government is funding the Community Pathway. This focuses on young people aged 15 to 21, who are no longer at school. NSW is funding the School Pathway. This focuses on school students aged 15 to 19, enrolled in Educational Pathways Program public schools.
Get Back in the Game aligns mainly with Focus Area 2: Overcoming barriers to employment.
South Australia
The Workplace Program
The Workplace Program will provide people with:
- supported accommodation when leaving custody if they don’t have a home
- support to reconnect with community and gain employment and housing
- help to find long term housing and support.
The support may include:
- group sessions
- workshops in living skills
- help to set up routines
- help to rebuild positive relationships with family, friends and community
- help to get a job.
The South Australian and Australian governments are both providing $6.75 million in funding.
The Workplace Program aligns with 2 Commonwealth Outcomes Fund focus areas. They are:
- Focus Area 2 – overcoming barriers to employment
- Focus Area 3 – supporting people facing or experiencing homelessness.
It supports Target 10 under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap(Opens external website): ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not overrepresented in the criminal justice system’.
The Young Parenting Program
The Young Parenting Program is a 16-week program. It is for young parents aged up to 25 years, who are either pregnant or parenting a child up to age 5. The program is evidence-based and can break the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage.
The Young Parenting Program aims to:
- increase parenting ability
- improve child development and family functioning and wellbeing
- create employment pathways.
Peer mentors with similar experiences to the young parents lead the course. The peer mentors receive support from social workers and peer leaders. They provide group sessions teaching practical parenting skills alongside participation in playgroups. They encourage parents’ confidence.
The South Australian and Australian government are both providing $1.43 million in funding.
The Young Parenting Program aligns with 2 Commonwealth Outcomes Fund focus areas. They are:
- Focus Area 1 – supporting positive outcomes for families and children
- Focus Area 2 – overcoming barriers to employment.
The South Australian projects were announced on 16 December 2024. Read the investing to overcome disadvantage in South Australian communities(Opens external website).
Victoria
Delivering self-determined Aboriginal employment initiatives
This project will support the Aboriginal communities across Victoria to increase employment. It will do this by setting up a trained and experienced workforce.
The project is Aboriginal-led and based on self-determination. First Nations communities can design and deliver their own localised programs. The Victorian Government and a Traditional Owner Corporation (TOC) or TOC-nominated partner will co-design the initiatives and we will support the process.
The initiatives will run out of TOC-operated Economic Hubs across Victoria. The hubs’ core aims are to:
- support place-based tourism
- provide co-working spaces and shopfronts
- Support Aboriginal businesses and entrepreneurs to sell products and network.
They will develop and deliver a range of employment support initiatives. This will begin in 2025. The design, scope and timeframe of the initiatives will vary. It will depend on the priorities and expertise of each TOC. The core focus is on tailoring the training and development of participants through co-design.
The Victorian and Australian governments are both contributing $7.84 million in funding.
The project aligns with the Commonwealth Outcomes Fund’s Focus Area 2 – overcoming barriers to employment.
The project was announced on 17 December 2024. Read the Community-led initiatives to improve employment outcomes for Aboriginal Victorians media release(Opens external website).
More information
Email outcomesfund@dss.gov.au.