We’re really excited to announce that we’ve been funded to run another round of the Records Access Documentation (RAD) grants.

These grants are to improve access to records for people who spent time in institutional care between 1920 and 1989.

Previous funding rounds saw new files being made available to Care Leavers, significant decreases in the time taken to provide records after they are requested, and record-holding organisations making improvements in providing supported access to records.

Information about records that have been documented as a result of the grants round will be included on the Find & Connect website to assist Care Leavers in finding out what documents exist, and where they can be found.

To be eligible, organisations must be not-for-profit and hold records about Forgotten Australians, Stolen Generations and/or Former Child Migrants. Eligible organisations can also auspice projects that will make records held by organisations such as libraries made available to Care Leavers.

Successful applicants will also participate in a workshop to build networks, learn about best-practice records access, and gain feedback on the progress of their projects.

If you have an idea for a project but aren’t sure if it will be eligible for a grant, please get in touch. We’re really happy to talk through any ideas for any size project, and a project that may seem unimportant may be exactly what we’re looking to fund. We want to work with you to see your project go ahead, so please email us with any questions you have at: RAD-grants@unimelb.edu.au.

Interested in applying? check out everything you need to know here: www.findandconnect.gov.au/resources/radgrants/

Applications open on Wednesday 12th September, and are due on October 22nd