1. Read our selection criteria below to determine whether your organisation and your project meets our basic criteria. You might also want to explore our website to get a better idea of the values underpinning our work, our statement of purpose, and the sort of work we are currently involved in.
2. Contact us to obtain an application form. If you have any questions about QSA, our selection criteria or the application process, we are happy to discuss them with you. There are two funds - the Overseas Aid Fund and the Aboriginal Concerns Fund. You will need to fill out the appropriate application form for the fund to which you intend to apply.
3. Submit an application. Our Management Committee meets regularly, and is usually able to respond to an application within two months. You might be asked to produce further information if an aspect of the application is not clear. If successful, a Letter of Understanding will be drawn up between your organisation and Quaker Service Australia outlining the responsibilities of both parties.

Project Selection Criteria - Overseas Aid Fund

[For the selection criteria for the Aboriginal Concerns Fund, click here]

1. Project Activities

• Are initiated or supported by the community being assisted, and not for the benefit of an individual
• Seek to relieve suffering and poverty
• Enhance the standard of living of those involved by improving access to basic services such as safe drinking water, sanitation, adequate nutrition and health care and primary education for children.
• Address the particular needs of women and children
• Seek to protect children from abuse and exploitation
• Involve local people, both men and women, in project planning and implementation,
• Increase the knowledge, skills and expertise of those involved, with the aim of increasing their capacity to earn a living
• Allow these skills and expertise to continue to be passed on to others after the funding period has ended
• Protect the environment and promote sound environmental and ecological practices
• Make use of local materials and appropriate technology
• Provide examples which can be followed by others, either locally or in other communities
• Do not include proselytising activities nor support for orphanages and welfare activities overseas

2. Project Partners

• Have their roots in and the support of the community that is to benefit from the project.
• Represent the community and its needs honestly and fairly.
• Seek to reduce injustice, discrimination and oppression and enhance the human rights of those with whom it works
• Seek to work in an open and transparent way and to avoid all forms of corruption and bribery

Project Selection Criteria - Aboriginal Concerns Fund

• Is designed, submitted and will be implemented by either the Indigenous community or by those working in close collaboration
• Accurately and fairly represents the relevant community
• Is able to show community consultation and support for the proposal
• Includes clearly stated objectives and plans for carrying out the project to meet those objectives
• Ensures that the project is striving towards sustainability ( in other words how the project can continue after the funding period has ended without the need for additional assistance) and includes the acquisition of skills for future use to benefit the community
• Contributes to redressing social justice issues and to respecting and strengthening Indigenous identity and spirituality
• Promotes the dignity and respect for human rights for all members of the community, including the children.       
• Encourages sound environmental and ecological practices where relevant
• Encourages and facilitates community self-reliance
• Funds or supports an individual ONLY if the outcome is clearly for the benefit of their Indigenous community.

• Projects which involve proselytising activities; welfare support or major building work
• Retrospective funding for work already done
• A project which does not have the support of the community, or will only benefit an individual (such as attendance at conferences, trips overseas, academic works).