Dementia Australia offers up to $30,000
Dementia Australia has launched its 2026 Diversity Small Grants programme, with applications now open across Australia.
Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and culturally and linguistically diverse organisations and community groups can apply for up to $30,000.
Funding will support activities that build awareness and improve understanding of dementia in local communities.
Applications close on Wednesday 5 August 2026, and full details are available on Dementia Australia’s website.
This is the third year of the programme after earlier rounds in 2024 and 2025.
Dementia Australia CEO Professor Tanya Buchanan said the organisation was offering the grants again after strong results in the first two years.
“Through the grant programme Dementia Australia hopes to facilitate greater equity of access to dementia information and support in ways that are culturally appropriate and meaningful,” Professor Buchanan said.
In 2025, Bidgerdii Community Health Service used its grant to run dementia awareness and risk reduction workshops in its community.
Bidgerdii Community Health Service
Those workshops culminated in a book based on the lived experiences of community members.
Bidgerdii published ‘Aunty Molly’s Journey’, which follows a proud elder who begins to notice changes in her memory.
The book drew on stories and experiences shared by local elders during yarning sessions.
Lauren Noller, Bidgerdii Programmes Manager, said: “Aunty Molly is fictional but everything in the book is based on the stories and experiences collected from local elders at a series of yarning sessions we held.”
Bidgerdii dedicated the book to its elders, and the project aimed to help readers speak up, ask questions and seek help from a doctor, family and community.
Noller also said the book could connect with many families, not only Indigenous readers, because memory change can affect anyone.
Dementia Australia supports an estimated more than 446,500 Australians living with dementia and more than 1.7 million people involved in their care.
For the 2026 round, interested groups can apply through the Diversity Small Grants page at dementia.org.au before 5 August 2026.
