Return to Work Innovations Grants: Recovery through work

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This is a preview of the RTWI - Grant Application Form (R2-25) form. When you’re ready to apply, click Fill Out Now to begin.
 

About Recovery through work - Round two 2025

* indicates a required field.

Return to Work Innovations funding opportunity

Grants up to $500,000 are available for initiatives that support people in Victoria with work-related physical injury to:

  • keep connected with work during recovery
  • return to modified, meaningful work - when safe to do so.

Our goal for this grant is to drive innovation to improve the recovery and return to work experience for people with a work-related physical injury. We are committed to removing barriers to injured workers returning to work, and to upskilling people on best practice approaches.  

Businesses and organisations targeting the following industries should apply:

  • construction
  • manufacturing
  • transport, postal and warehousing

 Click here to visit our home page and learn more about Return to Work Innovations and here to check out the specific guidelines for the Recovery through work grant.

Our work supports the five-year WorkSafe Victoria Strategy. The Strategy includes an aim to increase return to work rates through partnerships and highlights the importance of community collaborations in helping to achieve that goal. 

Research by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) shows that long-term absence from work has a negative impact on physical and mental health. The evidence also supports the value of workers participating in medically endorsed, modified duties as part of their rehabilitation, and maintaining positive connections with colleagues and managers throughout their recovery. 

This research has informed the focus of our grant, Recovery through work. The word ‘through’ suggests that working in a modified, safe way can be a means to recovery – not just an end point. 

Privacy notice

WorkSafe Victoria is a body corporate established under Victorian workers compensation legislation, which Return to Work Victoria is a part of. 

Our functions and responsibilities require us to collect and handle large amounts of personal and health information about individuals, including injured workers, our employees and other persons, including contracted service providers, who assist us in the work that we do.

We are committed to the protection of your privacy and in our handling of personal and health information. In accordance with Victorian privacy laws and principles, we are required to take reasonable steps to let people know the sort of information we hold; the purposes for which we collect it; and how we collect, hold, use and disclose that information.

This Privacy Statement explains our policy for handling personal information which you may provide to us when you access and interact with our website. This Statement should be read in conjunction with WorkSafe's Privacy Policy, which sets out why and how we collect, use, disclose, store and handle personal and health information.

To access and download WorkSafe's Privacy Policy, click here.

IMPORTANT !

Preparing your application: 

  1. Read the Recovery through work - physical injury grant funding guidelines and Funding Agreement.
  2. Download and complete the Project Budget Template.
  3. Respond to all questions.
  4. Press 'save' as you go. You can save, logout and return.
  5. Upload all required documentation. 
  6. Refer to the 'How to apply' section in the grant guidelines.
  7. Submit your application via this platform (SmartyGrants) before the closing date and time. Incomplete applications and/or applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
  8. Please allow enough time to review and submit your application. SmartyGrants will not allow you to submit the form until any errors or missed responses are corrected/completed.
  9. Please provide evidence of leadership endorsement for the proposed project. This should be a letter of support from the relevant senior leaders within the organisation where the change will be implemented. 
  10. There is a short survey at the end of the application form. Please allow an additional 5-10 minutes to complete this prior to the closing time of 2pm.
  11. Confirm your application has been submitted.  You will see an on-screen confirmation message.  Please also check that you receive the confirmation email with the time and date stamped PDF copy of your application.

Previous grant applicants have indicated that on average, even once they had prepared their application responses and supporting documentation, the process of uploading the content via the online platform took approximately 1-2 hours.  

Application requirement

Before completing this application form, applicants must read the  Recovery through work grant guidelines on the WorkSafe Victoria website.

I confirm I have read and understood the guidelines. * Required

Ineligible application (Not Applicable)

This section is not applicable because of your response to question: "I confirm I have read and understood the guidelines." on page 1

Based on your responses, your application is not eligible to proceed.

Please refer to the Return to Work Innovations grants funding guidelines for more information on eligibility and exclusions.

If you have further questions, please email us at RTWInnovations@worksafe.vic.gov.au.

  * Required
Response required.
No choices are available for this question.

Grant application Terms & Conditions (Not Applicable)

This section is not applicable because of your response to question: "I confirm I have read and understood the guidelines." on page 1

The Grant applicant agrees to the following terms and conditions when submitting their application:  

  • the purposes for which documents issued by WorkSafe in connection with the application process may be used by the applicants – and that they are commercial in confidence; 
  • documents issued by WorkSafe in connection with the application process (such as budget templates, project schedules and/or other templates) that may be used by the applicants are commercial in confidence;  
  • short-listed applications and/or entering into contract negotiations does not give rise to a contract (express or implied) between the funding recipient and WorkSafe. No legal relationship will exist between WorkSafe and any successful applicant unless and until a binding contract substantially in the form of the proposed funding agreement is executed by WorkSafe and the relevant successful applicant; and 
  • WorkSafe has sole discretion on how it manages queries relating to the application process (including the publication of answers) - if that information has not already been included elsewhere. 

Terms & Conditions  

Participation in the application process is subject to compliance with the Grant application Terms and Conditions described on page 14 of the Grant Guidelines. Please read these before continuing.  

I agree to the Terms and Conditions as described in the Grant Guidelines and the section above. * Required

Ineligible application (Not Applicable)

This section is not applicable because of your response to question: "I agree to the Terms and Conditions as described in the Grant Guidelines and the section above." on page 1

Based on your responses, your application is not eligible to proceed.

Please refer to the Return to Work Innovations grants funding guidelines for more information on eligibility and exclusions.

If you have further questions, please email us at RTWInnovations@worksafe.vic.gov.au.

  * Required
Response required.
No choices are available for this question.

Partnerships

You need to demonstrate how your proposed initiative will be implemented in a workplace setting to support people with work-related physical injury. If you don’t intend to deliver your initiative in your own workplace, you need to partner with an employer, such as a business in a target industry, that conducts return to work planning. 

If the initiative is not intended to be delivered in your own workplace, you need to upload a Letter of Expression of Interest (EOI) from your proposed partner organisation(s) in the Project overview (page 4) section of this application. The letter must include:  

  • Name and contact details of the partnering organisation 
  • Name of contact agreeing to the endorsement 
  • Outline of their role 
  • Commitment of their participation in the event funding is granted. 

For more information around partnership requirements, please refer to page 8 of the grant guidelines.  

 

Supporting documentation  

You will need to attach supporting document as part of your application. You can upload these files in the relevant file attachment sections throughout the application form.  

Supporting documents include:  

  • Letter of Expression of Interest (EOI) from your proposed partner organisation(s) (if required) For guidance, refer to page 11 of the grant guidelines: Recovery through work – physical injury).  
  • References and/or relevant evidence that supports your initiative  

Organisation eligibility (Not Applicable)

This section is not applicable because of your response to question: "I agree to the Terms and Conditions as described in the Grant Guidelines and the section above." on page 1

Please review the Organisation requirements on page [8] of the grant guidelines and respond to the following question.  

If you have any questions in regards to these eligibility criteria, please email us at RTWInnovations@worksafe.vic.gov.au.

Eligibility is subject to WorkSafe's determination in line with the eligibility criteria.

My organisation meets the organisation eligibility requirements as described within the Recovery Through Work grant guideline requirements. * Required
 

Please review the Organisation exclusion criteria on pages 9 &10 of the grant guidelines and respond to the following question.

I have read the application exclusion criteria in the grant guidelines and confirm that my application doesn't meet any of the exclusion criteria. * Required

Ineligible application (Not Applicable)

This section is not applicable because of your response to questions:

  • "My organisation meets the organisation eligibility requirements as described within the Recovery Through Work grant guideline requirements." on page 1
  • "I have read the application exclusion criteria in the grant guidelines and confirm that my application doesn't meet any of the exclusion criteria." on page 1
  • "My organisation meets the organisation eligibility requirements as described within the Recovery Through Work grant guideline requirements." on page 1
  • "I have read the application exclusion criteria in the grant guidelines and confirm that my application doesn't meet any of the exclusion criteria." on page 1
  • "My organisation meets the organisation eligibility requirements as described within the Recovery Through Work grant guideline requirements." on page 1
  • "I have read the application exclusion criteria in the grant guidelines and confirm that my application doesn't meet any of the exclusion criteria." on page 1

Based on your responses, your application is not eligible to proceed.

Please refer to the Return to Work Innovations grants funding guidelines for more information on eligibility and exclusions.

If you have further questions, please email us at RTWInnovations@worksafe.vic.gov.au.

  * Required
Response required.
No choices are available for this question.

If you answer YES to any of the following questions, you may not be eligible to apply for a grant: (Not Applicable)

This section is not applicable because of your response to questions:

  • "My organisation meets the organisation eligibility requirements as described within the Recovery Through Work grant guideline requirements." on page 1
  • "I have read the application exclusion criteria in the grant guidelines and confirm that my application doesn't meet any of the exclusion criteria." on page 1
The organisation applying for this grant is a Victorian Government Department? * Required
Victorian Government Departments (defined as any Department existing by virtue of an Order made under section 10 of the Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic))
The organisation applying for this grant is insured by ComCare * Required
The organisation is seeking funds as part of this proposal to undertake research * Required
Response required.
Clear the selected value for The organisation is seeking funds as part of this proposal to undertake research
The organisation applying for this grant has outstanding reports and/or is required to return funding to WorkSafe as a result of previous funding or grant agreements * Required
The organisation has been subject to previous WorkSafe prosecutions or convictions within the last five years AND/OR current WorkSafe investigations * Required
(Note: organisations that tick yes will not be automatically excluded.)

Ineligible application (Not Applicable)

This section is not applicable because of your response to questions:

  • "The organisation applying for this grant is a Victorian Government Department?" on page 1
  • "The organisation applying for this grant is insured by ComCare" on page 1
  • "The organisation is seeking funds as part of this proposal to undertake research" on page 1
 

Based on your responses, your application is not eligible to proceed.

Please refer to the Return to Work Innovations grants funding guidelines for more information on eligibility and exclusions.

If you have further questions, please email us at RTWInnovations@worksafe.vic.gov.au.

  * Required
Response required.
No choices are available for this question.

Project eligibility (Not Applicable)

This section is not applicable because of your response to questions:

  • "The organisation applying for this grant is a Victorian Government Department?" on page 1
  • "The organisation applying for this grant is insured by ComCare" on page 1
  • "The organisation is seeking funds as part of this proposal to undertake research" on page 1

This section is designed to help you, and us, understand if your project is eligible for this round of grant funding.

It's crucial that you complete these questions before any others to ensure you are eligible before proceeding with the application. 

Please refer to the Return to Work Innovations grants funding guidelines for information on our funding principles and focus areas for the round. 

If you have any questions in regards to these eligibility criteria, please email the Return to Work Innovations: RTWInnovations@worksafe.vic.gov.au 

The project can demonstrate alignment to the funding principles for this grant round * Required
The project and funding will be used for workers, employers or workplaces in the State of Victoria * Required

Ineligible application (Not Applicable)

This section is not applicable because of your response to questions:

  • "The project can demonstrate alignment to the funding principles for this grant round" on page 1
  • "The project and funding will be used for workers, employers or workplaces in the State of Victoria" on page 1

Based on your responses, your application is not eligible to proceed.

Please refer to the Return to Work Innovations grants funding guidelines for more information on eligibility and exclusions.

If you have further questions, please email us at RTWInnovations@worksafe.vic.gov.au.

  * Required
Response required.
No choices are available for this question.