Building Excellence in Support and Training (BEST)
The Australian Government is inviting applications through a targeted, non-competitive process to apply to deliver services under the Assistance and Other Compensation for Veterans and Dependants Program – Payments to Ex-Service Organisations (ESOs) sub-program – Building Excellence in Support and Training (BEST) Activity.
The BEST program (the program) forms part of the Government’s commitment to support the role of ex-service organisation (ESO) pension and welfare practitioners and advocates, who provide advice and assistance to the veteran and defence communities. It also links closely to the Advocacy Training and Development Program (ATDP), which provides the essential skills for claims, advocacy and welfare work.
BEST is intended to assist the veteran and defence communities by providing support and resources to ESO practitioners for pensions, advocacy and/or welfare work. It assists ESOs by providing a contribution to the work of these practitioners. It does not fully fund an organisation.
The objectives of the program are to assist ESOs to:
- improve the quality of claims received by DVA at the primary determining level
- reduce the rate of appeals to the Veterans’ Review Board (VRB) and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)
- promote the provision of welfare services to the veteran and defence community.
The intended outcomes of the program are to ensure:
- the veteran and defence communities are able to benefit from having better informed ESO practitioners who can ensure claims lodged with DVA are of a high standard and contain all required information to enable timely and quality decisions
- ESO practitioners will assist in improving claims assessment efficiency
- the veteran and defence communities will have access to appropriate compensation and welfare advocacy services.
More information
More information about the Building Excellence in Support and Training (BEST) Program, as well as requirements for applicants, can be found in the following grant opportunity documents:
- Grant Opportunity Guidelines
- Questions and Answers
- Sample Letter of Agreement with Grant Conditions
- Sample Commonwealth Simple Grant Agreement with General Grant Conditions
- Sample Commonwealth Simple Supplementary Terms
- Letter of Declaration confirming sponsorship
- Practitioner List
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Organisations and individuals interested in Community Grants Hub grant rounds are encouraged to subscribe to receive alerts when new information is made available.
Other future grant opportunities are published on GrantConnect, the Australian Government grants information system.
Contacting the Community Grants Hub
If you would like assistance, please call the Community Grants Hub Hotline on 1800 020 283 (option 1) or email support@communitygrants.gov.au.
More information about the Community Grants Hub can be found on the Community Grants Hub website.
Please quote 2019-2923 – Building Excellence in Support and Training (BEST) when you phone or email the Community Grants Hub.