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Disability Grants FAQs

The answers to these frequently asked questions should provide everything you need to know about the Te Pou disability grants. However, if your question is not answered here, please email grants@tepou.co.nz

1. Applying for grants

  • What grants can I apply for?

    Criteria for each grant is set by Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People, who provide the funding and set the priority areas. However, Te Pou is responsible for ensuring applicants adhere to the specific criteria of a grant.

  • Who can apply?

    • Disability Support Service (DSS) providers who hold a contract with Whaikaha Ministry of Disabled People’
    • Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs) that are part of the DPO coalition.
    • Disabled people, whānau/family who are eligible for DSS.
    • Organisations that do not hold a DSS contract with Whaikaha Ministry of Disabled People’ can be sponsored by organisations that do hold a DSS contract.

2. Specifications of available funding

  • The training programme we are wanting to put in a grant application for doesn’t start for a few months. Would the grant still fund this?

    Yes, the training grants can be used up to three months after the grant has been awarded.

  • The eligibility requirements state that all funded applicants must be a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident. Is Te Pou responsible for checking proof of residency?

    No, it is up to the applying organisation to make the required citizen or residency checks for any staff or individual applied for.

3. Types of expenses that can be applied for

  • Can we apply for travel and accommodation costs for our staff to attend a training or workshop programme?

    Travel and accommodation costs can be included in the application only for staff or participants with a disability.

  • Can we apply for travel and accommodation costs for facilitators coming from overseas?

    This will be considered on a case-by-case basis. We suggest you provide rationale for bringing in facilitators from overseas in the learning activity section of your application. You can also provide supporting information about costs in the budget section of your application.

  • Can we apply for grants for our staff or consumer and their whānau to attend a training or conference that will be run overseas?

    Our grants can only support the costs of training delivered in New Zealand. Please refer to the eligibility criteria.

4. Account registration and logging in

  • I am trying to register on the grants portal but it won’t accept my email address.

    The grants portal is only able to accept self-registration from organisations with email addresses that have organisational domains, such as tepou.co.nz. It will not accept self-registration from organisations that use emails from the following domains: gmail, hotmail, ihug, xtra, Vodafone and email domains outside of New Zealand. If your organisation uses one of these domains, you will need to email grants@tepou.co.nz and we will arrange your registration for you.

  • I have registered on the grants portal but I didn’t get a confirmation email.

    Once you have signed up on the portal an automated email will be sent to the email address that you used to sign up. If you have not received an email, check your spam or junk mail.

  • I checked my junk and spam mail but still haven’t received a registration email.

    Email us at grants@tepou.co.nz and we will let you know what to do.

  • I have forgotten my username or my password.

    Your username is the email address that you used to register or set-up your account on the grants portal. You can reset your password by going into the portal login page and clicking on the 'Forgot password' link.

  • I am having trouble logging into my portal account – I am getting an error message that says my username or password is not valid?

    Please check that the username you are entering is the email address that you used to register on the portal. You can reset your password by following the prompt on the login page.

  • Can you provide me with access to the portal? I am new in my role/someone has left our organisation and I need access.

    It is preferred that organisations/individuals self-manage their own access to the grants portal.

    An existing Organisation Administrator can add or remove users on an organisational account. If they have forgotten their username or password, their username is their email address that was used to register or set up their account. Passwords can be reset by going into the portal login page and clicking on the “Forgot password” link.

    Email us at grants@tepou.co.nz if you need further help.

5. Managing an account

  • Will Te Pou manage our account in the grants portal?

    No, the grants portal is designed to be self-managing for users. It is preferred that organisations self-manage their own access.

  • My organisation already has an account. Can we create another one using a different work email address?

    Only one registered account per organisation is permitted. You will need to use the login details associated with your organisation’s account. If you do not have access to this, email us at grants@tepou.co.nz for further assistance.

  • The person who is responsible for managing our organisations account is away on leave or has left permanently. Can I create a new organisation account?

    You can only have one registered account per organisation. First, check with other staff in your organisation in case someone already has access to your organisation grants portal account. If you cannot find anyone who has access, please contact us at grants@tepou.co.nz.

  • Can we add or remove account users ourselves?

    Yes, an existing organisation administrator can add or remove users themselves.

    To remove a user:

    Login to the portal > settings > users > click on the user whose access needs to be closed > close account > confirm account to be closed.


    To add a user:

    Login to the portal > settings > users > add > enter person’s name and email address.

  • Our organisation or provider name has changed, can we update this name change in our account/profile ourselves?

    Yes, any organisation administrator can update their account/profile name. Login to the portal > account information > update name.

  • Can I reopen an organisation account on the grants portal after I have closed it?

    Yes, organisation administrators can reopen accounts.

    Go to settings and then users. Click on the closed user account in the list of users. Click on the restore account button on the bottom right.

    You will receive an email with an account verification link. The account will need to be verified before you can log in to the portal.

6. Making an application

  • Is there a paper version of the application and can we email in an application?

    No, applications can only be completed and submitted via the online grants portal. An editable Word document with the application questions is available for the Consumer Leadership Development Grant and can be downloaded. Answers can then be copied onto the application.

  • As part of the DPO coalition we are eligible to access the grants, however the application form asks that we provide a Whaikaha Ministry of Disabled People provider number and a current contract number. We don’t have any of these.

    That’s okay - if you are an approved DPO coalition organisation we don’t require these numbers from you. Just put ‘DPO’ in place of these numbers when asked.

  • Where can I access the grant application question template?

    We aren't able to provide the application form prior to the round opening. However, an outline of the type of information you will need to provide in your application is provided in these FAQs - see What kind of questions will be asked? An editable Word document with the questions is available for the Consumer Leadership Development Grant and can be downloaded. Answers can be copied and put onto the online application.

  • What kind of questions will be asked?

    • Information to show you satisfy the eligibility criteria.
    • Details of the speciality of services you provide (organisations only).
    • Your Whaikaha Ministry of Disabled People details (organisations only).
    • The primary contact person for your application.
    • Details of the learning activity.
    • Details of the costs associated with the learning activity.
    • Details of every participant that will undertake the learning activity.
    • Delivery of the learning activity (method, location, etc).
    • Details of the organisation support for participants to undertake the learning activity.
    • Outline of opportunities that will enable the participant to apply the skills and knowledge attained from the learning activity to benefit disabled people/sector.
      • Background of facilitator in the disability sector (organisations only).Involvement of disabled people in the development/ facilitation of the training (organisations only).
    • How the learning activity aligns with Enabling Good Lives approach and the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

    An editable Word document with the questions is available for the Consumer Leadership Development Grant and can be downloaded. Answers can be copied and put onto the online application.

  • I am not able to upload the participant information Excel spreadsheet for our application. I downloaded the template and have created the list, but when I try to upload it I get an error message.

    The Excel spreadsheet is an easy way to add participants to your application, particularly when there are many of them. The spreadsheet won’t upload if new columns have been inserted or if the drop-downs haven’t been used. Just add the names and use the drop-downs to select demographic information.

  • Why is it mandatory to provide demographic information of participants?

    The demographic information about participants is collected for Whaikaha Ministry of Disabled People in order to identify and report on trends. Individuals are not identified, and information is anonymised. For more information about this see the grant terms and conditions.

  • My organisation is registered on the portal but we can’t submit applications. An error message says we can’t be verified on the grants portal. Why is that?

    Your organisation may not meet the eligibility criteria. Your organisation must hold a current Disability Support Service contract with Whaikaha Ministry of Disabled People or you must be part of the Disabled Peoples Organisation (DPO) coalition.

7. Once an application is submitted

  • My application is pending on the grants portal. When will I find out the outcome of my application?

    For the consumer leadership development grant and workforce development grant, we aim to complete the moderation process and notify you with an outcome a few weeks after the round closes.

    For the training grant, you will know the outcome within a few working days from the application submission date.

8. My application was unsuccessful

  • Our application was unsuccessful for this grant round, will we get feedback on how we can improve our chances of success in the next round?

    All unsuccessful applicants receive an email notifying them of the outcome. However, as stated in the grant terms and conditions, we are not obligated to provide individual feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

9. When things change

  • I have a staff member who was funded to complete a training and due to various reasons can no longer complete this. Would we be able to replace them and use the funding for another employee to attend the training?

    Yes, you are welcome to use the funds for another person to do the same training. If a suitable replacement cannot be found please let us know at grants@tepou.co.nz

  • Can we change the start or finish date of our learning activity?

    We understand that due to unforeseen circumstances changes to start or completion dates of the learning activity may occur. You will need to email us at grants@tepou.co.nz to let us know the new dates. We will advise you if the new dates are acceptable.

  • We have had to cancel the learning activity. How should we proceed?

    Send us an email at grants@tepou.co.nz to let us know. We will then let you know the next steps.

  • We have been awarded a grant but some of the participants are not able to make the training activity anymore. How do we withdraw these participants, and can we replace them with new participants?

    Keep track of who completed the training. After the training is completed you will be sent an email from the grants portal asking you to complete a final report. At that stage, you can let us know who completed, who withdrew and if you need to you can add additional people.

  • We had someone who did not complete the training they were funded for and no one took their place. What happens with the unspent funds?

    When you go into the report you will need to first enter a training completed date. You can put in the current date. Then you will be able to complete the rest of the report and indicate the person as withdrawn. This will trigger a clawback process and you will receive instructions for returning the funds within a few days.

10. Reporting

  • Why do we need to do a report?

    The terms and conditions of your grant state that we require you to report to us at the end of the learning activity. We use this information to understand how effective the training was and several other measures. We also need to know if all the grant funding was spent.

  • When is my report due?

    You need to submit your final report a month after the last participant has completed the learning activity, unless an extension was requested and approved.

  • Our report is due but not all participants have completed the learning activity yet. What do we do?

    Send us an email at grants@tepou.co.nz with the grant number, the reason for the delay, and what the expected completion date will be. We will let you know if that is acceptable and notify you of the new reporting date.

  • Where can I see the final reporting template questions?

    Once your grant is active you will be able to see the questions, but you won’t be able to submit your report until after the learning activity is completed. You will have a month after the learning activity is finished to complete the report.

  • Can I get a copy of my submitted grant report?

    Yes, you can download a copy of the report from the portal. Once logged in > completed tab > select the grant the report was completed for > download.

11. Invoice processing

  • I have tried to upload an invoice using the browse system in the portal as instructed but when I submit it comes up with an error message. I have emailed it to grants@tepou.co.nz. Will you be able to accept it?

    No, only invoices uploaded to the grants portal can be accepted. Uploading an invoice to the grants portal is very similar to attaching an invoice to an email. When uploading, browse to the location on your computer where the invoice is saved, select the document, then click upload. If you upload the wrong document don’t worry, you can try again.

  • Can we invoice for just some of the grant? We are still confirming some of the costs involved.

    We require you to invoice us for the full amount used - but no more than the granted amount. If you don’t end up spending all of your grant you can tell us later - you may be required to return unused funds.

  • Our grant application was approved, but we only need some of the funds now. How much should we invoice?

    You can invoice for less than the amount granted, but not more. However, once you have invoiced for less you can’t claim the rest later.