Disability Consumer Leadership Development Grant
Tū tonu mai e te Kaihautū i te kei o tōu waka – A voyage leader stands up to many a tempest
About the grant
Consumer leadership development grants are intended for disabled people and their whānau to develop leadership skills to benefit themselves, their families/ whānau and/ or the wider disability community development activities.
This grant is also available to organisations funded by Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People who deliver Disability Support Services (DSS) or Disabled Persons Organisations (DPO) that are part of the DPO coalition to provide leadership opportunities for disabled people, their families/ whānau and/or the wider disability community.
Organisations or grass-roots collectives without a Disability Support Service contract may still be eligible, refer to the Who can apply section on this page for more information.
The next grant round is opening on 1 March 2024 and closing midday Thursday 28 March 2024.
Applying for 2024 grants
The funding round will open on Friday 1 March and closes at midday on Thursday 28 March 2024.
Applications can only be completed and submitted via the online grants portal.
There are two steps:
- Register on the online grants portal (this can be done at any time and your details will be saved). Te Pou will verify your registration.
- Complete and submit your application for the grant (you can do this from the 1 March 2024). For support with the grant portal or application process, please contact our grants team.
We recommend submitting your application on our online grants portal at least 3–7 days before the closing time. This allows the grants team to review your grant application before it is submitted to the external grant moderation panel.
To help with preparation, you can review the application questions here.
If you have previously been successful in receiving Te Pou grant funding, please ensure all previous reporting and accountability is up to date.
You can expect to hear back from us with the outcome of your application in April 2024.
How the grant can be used
Individuals and organisations can use the Consumer leadership development grant to cover the costs of disabled people/ tāngata whaikaha Māori or their family/whānau to take part in activities to develop their leadership and encourage mana motuhake. For this grant, ‘consumer’ refers to disabled people and their whānau.
The grant can be used for:
- course, conference, or workshop fees
- related resources (for example, workbooks, tutors/facilitators)
- accessibility costs for disabled people, including travel and accommodation and the cost of support
- people (accessibility costs do not count towards individual or organisational caps)
Note to service providers: the grant does not fund course development and administration, standard service delivery, service development and business-as-usual costs. However, in exceptional circumstances, the panel will consider course development applications on a case-by-case basis.
The leadership activity must:
- develop leadership skills
- be for the benefit of individual disabled people or the wider disability sector
- be accessible for disabled people
- not already be fully funded by other agencies/funds
- start (and usually end) in the calendar year of the grant
- be delivered in New Zealand.
Who can apply
Consumer Leadership development grants are available to individuals, family/ whanau who are eligible for Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People funded Disability Support Services (DSS), and organisations who are funded by Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People to provide Disability Support Services. Organisations who provide disability support services but do not hold a DSS contract with Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People. You may be eligible even if you are not currently receiving services, if so please contact us for advice.
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Applying as an individual
Anyone eligible for Disability Support Services (DSS) can apply directly for the consumer leadership grant.
Applicants must provide a supporting document from either Needs Assessment and Service Coordination services (NASC), your service provider or your Enabling Good Lives connector to your grant application. If you received Individualised funding these details can be provided when registering on the grants portal.
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Individuals applying through an organisation
Organisations can sponsor an application for disabled people and family/ whānau beyond their service. To sponsor this grant, disabled people, family/ whānau need to be eligible for DSS services. If disabled people, family/ whānau are eligible for services but not receiving them, an organisation can sponsor an application.
Individuals will need to arrange for the organisation to complete and submit the sponsored application.
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Applying as an organisation
Disability Support Services (DSS) provider organisations that hold a current Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People contract, or by Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) that are part of the DPO coalition can apply directly for the Consumer leadership grant.
Organisational applicants must provide a Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People provider number and current DSS contract number when registering on the grants portal. If you are a DPO Coalition organisation we do not require these numbers from you.
If your organisation does not hold a Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People funded Disability Support Services (DSS) contract but provides leadership and training opportunities to disabled people and whānau/family eligible for services, you can also apply on the grants portal.
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Applying as a collective
We welcome applications from grassroots and family/whānau collectives. Before applying, please contact our grants team via email or phone so we can advise on grant portal registration and the application process.
How much can be funded
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Individuals
Participants can be funded up to $5,000 (GST inclusive) per calendar year, either from one, or multiple applications. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure no participant exceeds the $5,000 cap. In exceptional circumstances, the panel may be able to exercise discretion in relation to the amount.
Please note accessibility costs do not count towards an individual’s cap.
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Organisations and collectives
Organisations and collectives applying for grants can be funded up to $80,000 (GST inclusive) per calendar year, either from one, or multiple applications. In exceptional circumstances, the panel may be able to exercise discretion in relation to the amount.
Please note accessibility costs do not count towards organisational and collective caps.
Organisations sponsoring applications on behalf of disabled people, whānau/family or organisations without a Disability Support Services contract will not have the cost of these applications included as part of their yearly cap.
Grant priorities
Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People has identified the learning priorities for the disability sector:
- positive behaviour support
- supporting people with Autism
- supporting Whaia Te Ao Marama 2018 to 2022: The Māori Disability Action Plan
- supporting people with high and complex needs
- supporting whānau/families.
All applications will be reviewed on how they align with awareness of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), Leadership development and the Enabling Good Lives principles:
- self-determination
- beginning early
- person-centred
- ordinary life outcomes
- mainstream first
- mana enhancing
- easy to use
- relationship building.
We encourage new applications from first time applicants.
The priorities are developed and agreed in partnership with Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People. Applications that fall outside of these priority areas will be considered but will receive a lower rating.
Every funding round there is significant demand and oversubscription on available grant funding meaning the process is competitive for the decision-makers and not everyone will receive the grant they apply for.
Eligibility criteria
As well as complying with our terms and conditions, applications must also meet our eligibility criteria.
Organisations must be:
- funded by Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People to deliver DSS; or
- a DPO that is part of the DPO coalition; or
- organisations that provider disability support services but do not hold a DSS contract with Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People; or
- sponsored by an organisation that is funded by Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People to deliver DSS
Individuals/participants and collectives must be New Zealand citizens or permanent residents, and/or:
- a disabled person eligible to receive Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People funded disability services, or a whānau member of
- an eligible disabled person
- a Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People funded DSS IF recipient, IF host, or a person registered on system transformation roll out (Enabling Good Lives and Mid Central)
