Discovery Grants are a two-year grant to develop preventative approaches that support mental health and the conditions for wellbeing, led by community. They create the space to learn what works, what doesn’t and how it could be scalable, self-making, or sustainable.
Our hope is that through resourcing Discovery partners we will be supporting them to:
Discover and develop different ways for community to be connected and supported that are relational, holistic, person-centred, and compassionate.
Shift the narrative and discourse around mental health to one that is strengths-based, led by community voice, and values living and lived experience.
Envision, test, and implement new approaches that shift us from response to prevention by addressing the root causes and determinants that contribute to mental ill health and poor wellbeing in communities.
Reflections from past Discovery Partners
Being Explorative
African Australian Men Wellness Foundation
Autism SA
Ramble Arts
Meet our 2026 Discovery Partners
Roots of Resilience - Intergenerational Storytelling and Wellbeing in African Australian Families
The African Australian Men Wellness Foundation (AAMWF) is a community-led organisation supporting the health and wellbeing of African Australian men and their families across Adelaide. The Foundation works through faith networks, sporting clubs, elders' circles and everyday family relationships already woven into community life. Through Discovery, AAMWF will work alongside three community groups: Fullah Friends of SA, Amazing Northern Multicultural Services, and Adelaide's Congolese community, chosen to reflect the diversity of experience across the African diaspora.
At the heart of the project is a simple but powerful question: what might become possible for young people's wellbeing when the stories held within African Australian families are shared, heard, and carried forward across generations? Rather than arrive with a model to roll out, AAMWF will sit with community to understand how intergenerational storytelling already carries identity, faith and resilience, and discover with them whether and how it can support the conditions for wellbeing.
Through listening, co-design, and small-scale testing and learning alongside community, AAMWF hopes families walking this journey will feel more connected, more heard, and more confident that the stories they carry are a source of strength for the generations who follow.
Website: https://aamwf.com.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aamwf/
Meet our 2026 Discovery Partners
Roots of Resilience - Intergenerational Storytelling and Wellbeing in African Australian Families
The African Australian Men Wellness Foundation (AAMWF) is a community-led organisation supporting the health and wellbeing of African Australian men and their families across Adelaide. The Foundation works through faith networks, sporting clubs, elders' circles and everyday family relationships already woven into community life. Through Discovery, AAMWF will work alongside three community groups: Fullah Friends of SA, Amazing Northern Multicultural Services, and Adelaide's Congolese community, chosen to reflect the diversity of experience across the African diaspora.
At the heart of the project is a simple but powerful question: what might become possible for young people's wellbeing when the stories held within African Australian families are shared, heard, and carried forward across generations? Rather than arrive with a model to roll out, AAMWF will sit with community to understand how intergenerational storytelling already carries identity, faith and resilience, and discover with them whether and how it can support the conditions for wellbeing.
Through listening, co-design, and small-scale testing and learning alongside community, AAMWF hopes families walking this journey will feel more connected, more heard, and more confident that the stories they carry are a source of strength for the generations who follow.
Website: https://aamwf.com.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aamwf/
Creating Community Through Shared Connection – Building Community-Led Wellbeing
Autism SA is Australia's longest-standing autism peak body, supporting people on the autism spectrum and their families across South Australia for more than 60 years. They have deep relationships with their community through a range of programs and supports, providing a strong understanding of the needs of autistic people and their families, with parent wellbeing consistently identified as a significant unmet need.
Through Discovery, Autism SA will build on its Spark Grant, Thriving Together, in which more than 130 parents helped co-design a wellbeing model grounded in connection and lived experience. The project will now work alongside parents and carers of autistic children across South Australia, including rural and remote families, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, LGBTQIA+ parents and fathers, to explore how communities can take ownership of that model and build the local leadership needed to sustain it.
Autism SA's commitment to co-design and community ownership will drive the work, with the goal of moving communities from participation to genuine leadership of their own wellbeing supports. The project aims to develop a practical, adaptable methodology for community-led wellbeing.
Website: https://autismsa.org.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/autismsouthaustralia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/autismsouthaustralia/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/autism-sa
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfmQadrl7YUGjOQvcTpz3jA
Exploring the Gaps of Support for Young Adults
Ramble Arts is a grassroots community youth arts organisation with a 40-year history of connecting young people to community across the Riverland, including Renmark, Berri, Barmera, Loxton and Waikerie. Sitting between an arts organisation and a community centre, Ramble Arts works through deep, personal relationships built over decades of Community Arts and Cultural Development practice.
Through Discovery, Ramble Arts will work alongside regional young people leaving school, a group that has told them how isolating this transition can be. The idea came directly from members of their community, who are ageing out of the organisation's youth programs and have spoken openly about the lack of community connection options for young adults in the Riverland.
This will be a youth-led exploration, with young people in paid positions leading the project throughout, backed by the systems and relationships of their community. Ramble Arts hopes to build the structures that enable young people to lead the conversation about what would genuinely support their wellbeing during this transition, testing ideas now with a view to lasting, community-owned change into the future.
Website: https://ramblearts.org.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ramblearts/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ramblearts
Neighbourhood Node
Mariposa Trails
African Women's Federation of South Australia with Flinders University
Our previous Discovery Partners
The Minor Works Program
Neighbourhood Node’s Discovery into developing the Minor Works Program built on over eight years of shared learning with their community, and study of collaborative cultures around the world. Their aim was to unearth and utilise local skills, knowledge, and time, turning neighbours into micro-entrepreneurs, change agents, and community organisers.
Through this initiative they not only strengthened community bonds but also fostered shared learning, growth, economic participation, and civic engagement. With a strong understanding of social determinants, the project focussed on building community, purpose, and possibility.
The model they developed through Minor Works created:
Trust and reciprocity in their neighbourhoods
Skills, confidence, and empowerment
Support networks that show up when needed
Cultures of collaboration that outlast any single project
The Minor Works doesn’t just build projects, it builds communities that work, and they will be sharing their learnings, resources and practices so other communities can give it a go.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/thepear.alberton/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/thepearneighbourhoodcafe
Website: https://neighbourhoodnode.com.au/
Our previous Discovery Partners
The Minor Works Program
Neighbourhood Node’s Discovery into developing the Minor Works Program built on over eight years of shared learning with their community, and study of collaborative cultures around the world. Their aim was to unearth and utilise local skills, knowledge, and time, turning neighbours into micro-entrepreneurs, change agents, and community organisers.
Through this initiative they not only strengthened community bonds but also fostered shared learning, growth, economic participation, and civic engagement. With a strong understanding of social determinants, the project focussed on building community, purpose, and possibility.
The model they developed through Minor Works created:
Trust and reciprocity in their neighbourhoods
Skills, confidence, and empowerment
Support networks that show up when needed
Cultures of collaboration that outlast any single project
The Minor Works doesn’t just build projects, it builds communities that work, and they will be sharing their learnings, resources and practices so other communities can give it a go.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/thepear.alberton/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/thepearneighbourhoodcafe
Website: https://neighbourhoodnode.com.au/
Exploring Cultural Healing through Community-Led Spaces
Safe Space, Practice, and Growth were priority areas identified through a community exploration into how to create ways of connecting and healing supported by a Spark Grant. Through listening, sharing, and creating together Mariposa Trails are developing learnings about:
Safe Spaces: Testing and trying different spaces to build connection with community that are culturally safe, community-led, and support living well and recovery.
Practice: Deepening their understanding of how peer companions can provide moments of comfort and compassion that support community members to understand their own experiences of mental health and wellbeing in new ways and identify possible support pathways.
Growth: Spreading awareness of cultural differences in mental health and wellbeing, and growing networks of shared learning.
Building on community activation and cultural approaches tested in Spark, Mariposa Trails is committed to creating a strengths-based community movement that offers insights for other groups and advocates for change within mainstream services.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/mariposatrails/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079453812193
Website: https://en.mariposatrails.com.au/
Exploring CALD Women's cultural safety in South Australian birthing practices for improved wellbeing
The African Women’s Federation of South Australia (AWFOSA) is a non-profit organisation representing African women and their families in South Australia. Their Discovery project builds on three years of working with their community in the maternal health care space and established partnerships with Flinders University Public Health researchers.
Through community conversations and research, they are exploring all aspects of maternal care, birth trauma and its impact for Cultural and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) women in South Australia guided by a passionate Reference Group of CALD women, community leaders, and birth trauma and wellbeing advocates.
AWFOSA's commitment to person-centred, lived experience and culturally informed perspectives drives the work, with the goal of shifting systems and practices to better meet community needs. The project is poised to create meaningful impact within the community and generate valuable insights and evidence, informing broader CALD Maternal Care and systemic change.
FB: https://www.facebook.com/awfosa/
Website: http://www.awfosa.com/
The Village Foundation
The Equality Project
Seeds of Affinity and the University of South Australia
Multicultural Men's Group
The Village Foundation - Village Community
Promoting community perinatal mental wellbeing through technology, education, and mentorship.
The Village Foundation built on previous work that sought to address improving the wellbeing of parents through preventative supports that centre around connection. Co-developed with a network of parents, healthcare professionals, and people with lived experience, the Village Community, in partnership with UniSA, brought together three avenues for support: Village Life - access to relevant support and information via online and facilitated learning, Village Connect - connection through an App for parents and a self-monitoring mood tool, and Village Mentoring - the opportunity to engage in providing and receiving face to face mentoring support from experienced peers. Their Discovery Project, focussed on the Village Mentoring component, and working with different community groups to understand what would be important for them in how they engage with this type of support.
The Village Foundation - Village Community
Promoting community perinatal mental wellbeing through technology, education, and mentorship.
The Village Foundation built on previous work that sought to address improving the wellbeing of parents through preventative supports that centre around connection. Co-developed with a network of parents, healthcare professionals, and people with lived experience, the Village Community, in partnership with UniSA, brought together three avenues for support: Village Life - access to relevant support and information via online and facilitated learning, Village Connect - connection through an App for parents and a self-monitoring mood tool, and Village Mentoring - the opportunity to engage in providing and receiving face to face mentoring support from experienced peers. Their Discovery Project, focussed on the Village Mentoring component, and working with different community groups to understand what would be important for them in how they engage with this type of support.
The Equality Project - Rainbow Connection
The Equality Project's Discovery project worked to understand and leverage existing networks, as well as create new points of connection for LGBTQIA+ people in both metropolitan and regional South Australia. They spent time listening to community to understand and surface ways and priorities to increase connection, resourcing, and strengthen new networks by building on existing connections and shared interests. The purpose and perspective of the work was from the viewpoint of understanding what is needed to reduce isolation and improve mental and physical health outcomes for the queer community. You can learn more about what they learnt here.
Seeds of Affinity & UniSA - Pathways for Women
Co-designing a technology-based-solution to improve the health and mental wellbeing of formerly incarcerated women.
This partnership is working to bring to life a Messenger chatbot to support women with lived-prison-experience navigate release from prison in compassionate and supportive ways. ‘Lindabot’ was workshopped and prototyped in collaboration with women who have been or are currently experiencing incarceration and will be supported and hosted by Seeds of Affinity. Through the co-development process understandings emerged of how those with past experience could share their learnings to support others, or provide access to information to navigate the existing supports for formerly incarcerated women during the critical transition post release. Most importantly, women recognised their strengths, what they had to contribute, and future pathways together.
MCCSA - Multicultural Men’s Mental Health Community Connectors Program
MCCSA, through the Multicultural Men’s Group, partnered with four Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) community groups; Kabudu Men's Club, Australians for Syria, the Latino American Society of SA, and the Burundian community to explore what mental health and wellbeing means for their communities. The men’s community groups were supported to explore their own priorities, challenges, opportunities, and strengths that can be built on or leveraged to create opportunities for connection and support. Through this journey the groups identified barriers and opportunities to improve cultural awareness and training of mental health providers more broadly. You can learn more about their experiences through this video and their findings in their report; Connection is Prevention.
What do you mean by community?
We invite applicants to share how they define what community means to them. We understand that this might include one or many ways in which a group of people recognise that they are in connection through a shared identity, experience, purpose, belonging or location.
Who do you fund?
Discovery Grants are open to the public and we support values and purpose-aligned organisations that partner and work charitably with community within South Australia.
We work to make our grant processes and programs accessible and beneficial to the full diversity of our community in South Australia. We encourage applications from new organisations, and community-led organisations such as First Nations, LGBTQIA+, multicultural, people with a disability, Lived Experience or diversity of age – learn more about Who and What We Support here. If you have any concerns or questions about the process or your eligibility please don't hesitate to reach out and we will do our best to support your application.
Do you fund research?
We support that universities and research organisations can play an important role in supporting community to develop insights into preventative approaches but to be aligned with the purpose of Discovery, this must be grounded in community ownership and outcomes.
In honour of this, the community group engaged in the Discovery Grant must be the lead applicant with the university as a supporting partner.
Do you fund service or program development?
We understand that developing new ideas or projects outside current commissioning opportunities can be challenging to fund. We are happy to support a Discovery Grant that could inform new service offerings where there is existing community support for the idea, community will be involved in the project governance and delivery, and there is a true openness for the learning and output to be directed by and for community as the primary focus. Additional consideration will be given to the likelihood that the service developed will be able to be delivered sustainably. Applications for iterations or expansion of existing services, or pilot programs will not be supported through Discovery.
What types of ideas do you fund?
Discovery Grants are designed to support strength-based, preventative approaches for better mental health & wellbeing in South Australia.
Ideas that demonstrate a consideration of social and and cultural determinants of health, community capability building or alternate options and approaches will be prioritised. You can read more about our approach to mental health & wellbeing in our narrative.