Employers

There will be multiple grant rounds advertised on GrantConnect throughout the life of the RJED program until 2027 for eligible employers to apply for funding to create new jobs.

Grant round opening and closing dates for the 2024-25 financial year are:

• Round 1: 11 December 2024 – 3 February 2025
• Round 2: 4 February 2025 – 7 April 2025

You can apply for both RJED grant round 1 and 2 either with the same application or different applications.

If you applied with the same application in Round 2 as in Round 1 and it was successful in Round 1, your application will not be considered in Round 2.

If you are not successful in Round 1, your application will NOT roll over into Round 2 and would need to be resubmitted if you choose to apply.

This program is about creating new jobs that communities want and need.

For the purposes of the RJED program, a new job is:

• a job which does not already exist within an organisation and does not displace an existing employee or
• a job created under the New Jobs Program Trials or CDP Trials.

Feedback from consultations in remote communities show people want local jobs that could be part-time, full-time or casual and be flexible around personal, family and community obligations.

Jobs could be to care for the environment, work in a shop, care for others, grow a small business or they may have other ideas.

There is no minimum contract length for any jobs, they simply need to be appropriate to what an employer and employee can agree will achieve the objectives of the position, noting RJED jobs are limited to a maximum of 3 years. If a position is seasonal, it is important to describe the nature of the role in detail as this will be considered in the assessment of an application.

Applicants should apply for one job per person they intend to employ. RJED jobs can be full-time, part-time or casual. This means, for example, you could apply for: 

• 2 part-time jobs at an average of 20 hours per week to perform what could otherwise be 1 full-time role, or
• 4 casual jobs at an average of 10 hours per week to perform what may otherwise be 1 full-time role. 

To ensure you receive adequate funding for award wages and associated on costs for each employee, each job must be outlined and counted separately in the budget template as part of your application.

Given RJED positions must be paid jobs with award conditions, traineeships may only be eligible for funding if the traineeship is a fully paid position operating under employment law.

It is important to be clear in your application about the nature of the position. 

There is a projected regional allocation of jobs for the first two RJED grant rounds of 630 jobs to ensure all RES regions have the opportunity to benefit from funding and the creation of new jobs. This takes into account the size of the CDP caseload in each NIAA region (based on April 2024 data). The allocation is an estimate only and is subject to change based on application uptake and the outcome of the grant selection process.

Further details are in the Grant Opportunity Guidelines available on GrantConnect.

As an employer, you need to talk to your local community to find out what jobs and projects they want before you start the grant application process.

Then when you apply for a grant to pay for wages and equipment, you will need to demonstrate evidence of community support for the jobs you want to create.

The evidence you choose to provide is a decision for you to make based on your community. 

A common form of evidence is a letter of support from your community. Evidence could also include minutes from community/board meetings that demonstrates community engagement and support for the project/positions.

We recommend including as much information/evidence as possible, so it is clear for the assessors.

For more information, read section 6 of the RJED Grant Opportunity Guidelines.

Grants will be assessed against the selection criteria outlined in the Grant Opportunity Guidelines. It is important for applicants to ensure they understand and fully respond to all questions and provide any additional information as requested. If applicants are unsure or have any questions, please contact the helpdesk on 1800 939 500 or REAS@niaa.gov.au.

Assessment will begin as soon as each grant round closes. The Grant Opportunity Guidelines provide an estimated timeline of application outcomes being released 6-8 weeks after the grant round closes. However, timeframes will be strongly impacted by the number of applications that are received.

This is because the grant round is a competitive process which means applications will be assessed on their merits and will be compared to other applications. There are several stages to the assessment process leading up to approval by the delegate before applicants can be notified of outcomes. Approval or partial approval of an application is at the discretion of the delegate. provides an estimated timeline.

Yes, everyone including unsuccessful applicants will be notified on the outcome of their application and have an opportunity to receive feedback.

Some general feedback following Round 1 about application content, evidence of community support and budget is available in the detailed FAQs on GrantConnect.

Further requests for feedback should be directed to your local NIAA regional office.

The draft Grant Opportunity Guidelines (GOGs) for the RJED program were released for public consultation in July 2024 and set out proposed elements of the new program like eligibility criteria, assessment and the overall grant selection process.

Feedback from the First Nations Reference Group (FNRG), community consultations and findings from existing evidence on remote employment, including job trials, also informed elements of the draft GOGs. 

Yes, the second stage of this remote employment reform is the design and delivery of the Remote Australia Employment Service (RAES) to directly replace CDP on 1 November 2025.

This will support people who are currently looking for work or may need help to become job-ready, to get the skills and resources they need.

Current CDP services will continue to support remote job seekers and we will work to ensure a smooth transition between programs.

Read more on the new remote employment service.