Expressions of Interest open 2 March 2026
Expression of Interest
2026 Information Pack
Full Application
2026 Information Pack
Our Approach
to Mental Health & Wellbeing
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.
Wondering if a Discovery Grant might be right for you?
Are you a group or organisation that works closely with a community group?
Are you passionate about creating change with community and open to listening and learning?
Is there an idea that community want to take forward that will shift their experience and our collective understanding of preventative approaches for mental health and the conditions for wellbeing?
The Details
Any organisation or group can apply for a Discovery Grant that is working with and for the sole benefit of a South Australian community.
Discovery grants are a two-year grant to the value of $120,000/year with an additional $5,000 to support the development of tools or evaluation frameworks to inform ongoing learning for the purpose of reflection and adaptation. During the grant period you will also have the support and partnership of the Foundation and wider network. You can gain an insight into the work of our past partners below.
This is a two-stage application process. The first stage, expressions of interest, opens 2 March and closes 5pm Monday 13 April. All applicants will be notified of the outcome by 22 May and 6 applicants will be invited to provide a full application alongside interested Spark Partners, due 5pm 13 July. Three Discovery Partners will be selected and the grant period will commence from September.
Online Information Session
12 - 1pm Wed 11 March available as a video resource following the session.
Support Videos
Learn more about preparing and submitting your application
Reflections from past Discovery Partners
Being Explorative
How do I apply?
After preparing your application using the EOI Information Pack, applications can be uploaded online from Monday 2 March until 5pm Monday 13 April through Grant Toolbox: https://fayfullerfoundation.granttoolbox.com.au/.
We recommend registering a week before the due date if you haven't used this platform before and there is a support video available on this webpage. If you can’t access this platform, have questions, or would like support in completing an application, please get in touch!
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.
Could the experience or size of an organisation be a barrier to receiving a Discovery Grant?
We don’t give preference to larger or more established organisations. Our decisions are informed by the work itself; importantly the intentions, partnership with and involvement of community, as well as alignment to Discovery in how the work will be carried out.
Can we apply if we aren’t a South Australian organisation?
Our South Australian eligibility requirement is determined by whether your application demonstrates that the work will occur and be to the primary benefit of a South Australian community group. You can be a national organisation or not have a central office in SA if the above is evident through 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.
Does mental health and wellbeing have to be core business for our organisation?
We understand the intersectional nature of mental health and wellbeing, so it doesn’t need to be the core business of your organisation – just your proposal.
Can I submit more than one application as an organisation?
We recognise that some organisations are made up of lots of departments and people doing great work. We will accept more than one application from an organisation but we encourage you to check in with us and coordinate internally to put forward your most aligned opportunities.
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.
Does it have to be a new idea?
Discovery Grants are not intended to provide ongoing funding, or funding for the running of community groups or implementation of programs. The intention of the grant is to provide opportunities for community to be the ones to develop and build new insights and understandings of what supports their experience of positive mental health and wellbeing. Discovery Grants intend to support communities to explore what is not otherwise known, or understood, with a primary focus on prevention and promotion of strengths-based, holistic and contextual approaches.
Does mental health and wellbeing have to be core business for our project?
We value that approaches to building mental health and wellbeing are likely to look at shifting or engaging with social, economic, environmental, cultural and political determinants. Our assessment process will prioritise proposals where the primary focus is building better mental health and wellbeing, rather than being an additional benefit.
What methods can I use to test my idea?
How you choose to test and develop your idea with community is up to you and should be the right fit for the context of your idea and your ways of working with community. We will look to understand how your approach and method will enable you to learn, reflect, and adapt throughout the grant period as well as the ways community are included and contributing across different stages of the project. Some example methods include: participatory research, prototyping, service-design research and co-development.
Please note, Discovery Grants aren’t intended for implementing pilots as traditionally this methodology only supports community feedback after trialling an already developed idea. Instead, they are intended to support developing all components of the idea in small stages with community, and adapting it as you go based on what you are hearing and learning.
Do you accept applications or changes after the closing date?
We understand that unfortunate circumstances and technology crashes happen, and as such will have a 24 hour grace period to receive late applications or components.
I’ve never worked on a project where I feel like we’ve been able to do the best possible job ... because it wasn’t limited by what we said we would do 12 months ago before we had learnt what we were supposed to be doing. It’s been quite extraordinary.
Neighbourhood Node
Mariposa Trails
African Women's Federation of South Australia with Flinders University
Meet our 2024 Discovery Partners
The Minor Works Program
The Minor Works Project seeks to leverage the connections made through Neighbourhood Node’s existing social connection hubs to create meaningful opportunities for community members to bring their ideas to life. By opening up business infrastructure for community use, their aim in Discovery is to unearth and utilise local skills, knowledge, and time, turning neighbours into micro-entrepreneurs, change agents, and community organisers.
This initiative not only looks to strengthen community bonds but also to enrich lives by fostering shared learning, growth, economic participation, and civic engagement. With a strong understanding of social determinants, the project focuses on building community, purpose, and possibility.
Drawing on their long-established community network and social enterprise, the Minor Works Project takes a "learning by doing" approach, committed to testing and trialling at small scales to uncover key principles, a replicable model, and system-wide insights. By offering a fresh perspective on community-led initiatives, this project aims to promote wellbeing through innovative, purpose-driven community engagement and development.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/thepear.alberton/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/thepearneighbourhoodcafe
Website: https://neighbourhoodnode.com.au/
Meet our 2024 Discovery Partners
The Minor Works Program
The Minor Works Project seeks to leverage the connections made through Neighbourhood Node’s existing social connection hubs to create meaningful opportunities for community members to bring their ideas to life. By opening up business infrastructure for community use, their aim in Discovery is to unearth and utilise local skills, knowledge, and time, turning neighbours into micro-entrepreneurs, change agents, and community organisers.
This initiative not only looks to strengthen community bonds but also to enrich lives by fostering shared learning, growth, economic participation, and civic engagement. With a strong understanding of social determinants, the project focuses on building community, purpose, and possibility.
Drawing on their long-established community network and social enterprise, the Minor Works Project takes a "learning by doing" approach, committed to testing and trialling at small scales to uncover key principles, a replicable model, and system-wide insights. By offering a fresh perspective on community-led initiatives, this project aims to promote wellbeing through innovative, purpose-driven community engagement and development.
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
Mariposa Trails will expand on their Spark work through Discovery by focusing on three core components: Safe Space, Practice, and Growth.
Safe Space: Their project aims to create a culturally safe, community-led space that supports living well and recovery by finding meaning through creating comfort, compassion and connection and by serving others.
Practice: This space will support peer companions, and train volunteers, staff and community members to respond to people in crisis in a culturally safe way; equipping them with skills to support others while fostering cultural understanding and connection.
Growth: Through Discovery, Mariposa Trails’ community will be supported to explore strategies that help them grow as individuals and collectively as a community by tapping into the many skills people already have and involving them in creating programs, practices, and interactions to support the social health of their community.
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. For three years they have been successfully working with their community in the maternal health care space. Through Discovery and in partnership with Flinders University Public Health researchers the AWFOSA will expand this focus to include women of the wider Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) community.
Through community conversations and research, they will explore all aspects of maternal care, birth trauma and its impact on 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 will drive 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
Our previous Discovery Partners
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.
Our previous Discovery Partners
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.