Under Priority Reform Two of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (Building the Community-Controlled Sector), parties to the agreement acknowledge that Aboriginal community-controlled services are better for Aboriginal people, achieve better results, employ more Aboriginal people and are often preferred over mainstream services. Clause 55 of the National Agreement commits governments to implementing measures to increase the proportion of services delivered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, particularly community-controlled organisations.
In response, the South Australian Government has provided $5 million over three years to establish the Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO) Service Transition Fund (the Fund).
The objective of the Fund is to increase the proportion of South Australian Government services delivered by ACCOs, by providing financial support to ACCOs for the purposes of undertaking upfront investment activities required to deliver an identified South Australian Government service.
The Fund represents a new approach to grant funding for the purposes of achieving Priority Reform Two. With this in mind, aspects of the Fund may change in time subject to lessons learned.
Grants will be available until the Fund has been fully allocated, or by 30 June 2028, whichever occurs sooner.
Please note that the Fund’s Evaluation Panel is in the process of being finalised. Once the Panel has been finalised, upcoming assessment dates will be published here.
Assistance from the Fund is available to South Australian ACCOs (and Aboriginal entities in the process of becoming an ACCO) that have, in partnership with South Australian Government agencies, identified service delivery opportunities, but need to first undertake upfront investment activities.
Upfront investment activities could include:
- Workforce training and skills development
- Accreditation
- Expert business planning and growth advice to enable the services to be delivered in a sustainable manner
- Time-limited salaries and wages directly related to undertaking the required investment activity/ies
- Development and implementation of governance arrangements and/or reporting functions
- Development and implementation of ICT infrastructure
- Development and implementation of data processes and infrastructure
- Capital works such as fit outs and upgrades of existing service delivery or administration infrastructure
- Other activities that meet the objective of the Fund
Applicants may request funding for multiple investment activities.
Applications for the Fund must be submitted by an ACCO (or an Aboriginal entity seeking to become an ACCO), with support from a South Australian Government agency (together “Applicants”).
Please note that you will need the following information on hand to complete the Fund's application form:
- Details of your organisation and the partnering South Australian Government agency (including ABN and headquarters address for ACCOs)
- Documentation that can be used to verify ACCO status or steps being taken to become an ACCO
- Financial information for the past two years (statements or simple profit/loss summary)
- Details of the identified service delivery contract opportunity – including anticipated contract dates and value
- Details of the required upfront investment activity/ies to be supported by the Fund – including timelines and costings.
South Australian Government agencies are encouraged to support ACCOs in completing the Fund's application form by collating and developing required information and material.
We acknowledge that preparing a grant application can be time and resource intensive. If you have existing documents that can be used to answer a question within the application form, you can attach them instead of writing new material.
If we need more information, we will contact you and give you the chance to provide it.
The Fund’s evaluation panel is currently being established. Once the panel is finalised, evaluation panel meeting dates will be published below, along with dates applications need to be submitted by to be considered at each meeting.
If your application is time‑sensitive – meaning you require funds quickly to complete upfront investment activities in order to take on an upcoming service delivery contract – please notify the Fund’s Secretariat at ACCOServiceTransitionFund@sa.gov.au.
Please note that South Australian Government agencies are required to have identified applying ACCO(s) as:
- preferred to deliver an identified service delivery opportunity; and
- requiring initial upfront investment before delivering the service delivery opportunity - that can be supported by the Fund.
Agencies should give consideration to the South Australian Government Procurement Framework when undertaking this process.
For enquiries about the Fund, such as whether or not you are eligible and/or queries regarding the application process, please contact the Fund’s Secretariat at ACCOServiceTransitionFund@sa.gov.au.
ACCOs interested in delivering a South Australian Government service, but who have not yet identified a specific contract or engaged with a relevant agency, are encouraged to contact the Fund Secretariat. The Secretariat can connect you with the appropriate agency.