Employers

Grant round opening and closing dates for 2025-26 financial year are:

Round 3: 11 February 2026 – 7 April 2026.

Previous grant rounds:

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

Yes, you can apply for multiple grant rounds, however you will need to submit a new application.

Please note that the selection criteria for Round 3 has been updated. It is encouraged you review the changes before submitting an application written for a previous round.

If you were successful in Round 1 or Round 2, you may submit a new application. If you apply with the same application, your application will not be considered.

Grant round 3 opened on 11 February 2026 and will close on 7 April 2026.
 

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 in a RAES Community Project.

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.

For RJED purposes a new job is described as a job that:

• does not already exist within an organisation and does not displace an existing employee, or
• is created in a RAES Community Project.

To remove doubt, the job created can be the same as another role in the organisation but must not replace or impact the existing job. For example, a café may create a new barista job, in a café that already has a barista. The new barista role should not impact the hours, or work given to the existing barista.

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 round 3 of the RJED grant round of 1,300. This is to ensure all RAES regions can benefit from funding and the creation of new jobs. The allocation considers the size of the September 2025 CDP caseload in each NIAA region and any under and oversubscription by region in RJED Round 1 and 2.

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 the local community where the proposed jobs would be delivered. Evidence could also include minutes from community/board meetings that demonstrates local 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 RJEDHelpdesk@niaa.gov.au.

Assessment will begin as soon as each grant round closes. Round 3 application outcomes are expected to be released to applicants in July 2026. However, timeframes will be 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.

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

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.

The RJED Feedback Survey was open from 1 November 2025 to 1 December 2025 to get feedback on:

• the application process
• the RJED program supporting material and information sessions
• the ways you prefer to receive information and updates about RJED
• what products you would like available for future grant rounds.

Your feedback will be considered as part of future grant rounds. 
 

Yes, the Remote Australia Employment Service (RAES) which began on 1 November 2025 is an employment support service. It is for people who are currently looking for work or may need help to become job-ready, to get the skills and resources they need.

Read more on the new remote employment service.