Guidelines

1. What is the Wildlife Rehabilitator Grants Program?

The Victorian Government’s Wildlife Rehabilitator Grants (WRG) program provides funding to support authorised shelter operators and foster carers to rehabilitate sick, injured or orphaned wildlife with the goal of releasing these animals back to the wild.

The objectives of the WRG program aim to help wildlife rehabilitators to:

• improve the standard of wildlife care they can provide
• improve their facilities to treat, house and rehabilitate wildlife for release
• increase their knowledge/skills in the care of wildlife.

2. What are the funding details?

In 2025-26, the total funding allocation for wildlife rehabilitators is $300,000. Grants will be capped at $3,000 per eligible shelter operator and $2,000 per eligible foster carer applicant.

The difference in funding acknowledges that shelter operators take in a larger number of animals and also, they provide support to foster carers to learn how to assess and care for many species of wildlife that come into care.

To ensure equitable access across rehabilitators funding, priority will be given to rehabilitators who have not received WRG funds or  other Victorian Government funding support in the last two years.

3. Who can apply?

To be eligible for the 2025-26 Wildlife Rehabilitator Grants, applicant must meet all the following requirements:

• Hold current authorisation as a wildlife shelter operator or foster carer under section 28A of the Wildlife Act 1975
• Be actively engaged in the care and rehabilitation of injured, sick or orphaned wildlife and maintain an up-to -date shelter records in accordance with regulatory requirements.
• Provide written consent of the property owner if the applicant is renting the premises where wildlife rehabilitation activities are undertaken.
• Provide written consent of the landowner (public or private) for installation of nest box activities (if applicable)

We accept one application per authorised location/address only.

4. Who cannot apply?

The following individuals are not eligible to apply:

• a person that has been convicted of any offence under the Wildlife Act 1975, Wildlife Regulations 2013, Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 or similar interstate or federal legislation during the last 10 years
• any person who does not hold a valid Wildlife Shelter Operator or Foster Carer authorisation under section 28A of the Wildlife Act 1975
• any person who has an outstanding/unresolved Improvement Notice from the Conservation Regulator
• any person who failed to complete milestones in their previous funding agreements with DEECA i.e., did not submit  final completion reports or acquittal reports (WRG 2019 to 2023 rounds).
• any person who intends  to transfer approved grant funding to support another person's project.

5. What might be funded?

The 2025-26 WRG program will fund the following:

General Infrastructure and Equipment

• general infrastructure and equipment to assist with the operation of a wildlife shelter and rehabilitation facilities, e.g., build a wombat enclosure, buy an aviary or buy portable cages.

You must provide a quote and design dimensions for any proposed enclosures to be constructed (refer to https://content.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-07/OCR-Wildlife-rehabilitator-guide-FA02-scren.pdf for DEECA recommended enclosure specifications).

Other Equipment

• purchase of a brooder box or equivalent unit - one unit per application.

You must provide justification for the item and must adhere to your authorisation, for example, brooder box intended to provide oxygenation will not be approved, as this type of intervention requires veterinary oversight and should only occur within wildlife hospitals.

• secateurs, loppers and saws may be requested to support enclosure set up and food collection. In your application, applicant must include a reasonable cost for each item, a short explanation of why the tools are needed for the species you are caring and how the tools will help your planned activities.
• animal handling and rescue equipment, for example brooder box, gloves or nets, PPE for those working with bat species.  Information within the application must include justification for specific species and how the equipment will support activities.

Consumable Items

• purchase of food for wildlife species under care according to their nutritional needs.
• veterinary clinical assessment and diagnostic consultation costs, prescribed treatment including medicines and supplies.
• personal protective equipment (PPE) for shelter biosecurity purposes for example, disposable gloves, face masks, aprons/gowns, footwear (rubber boots).
• disinfectants to support shelter biosecurity practices, for example F10SC and 1L disinfectant.

Training and skill development

• Native wildlife education and training which may be competency-based training delivered by a registered training organisation or any other approved training to be held in the funding period.
• Native wildlife reference materials – non-veterinary (veterinary medicine texts will not be approved).

DEECA reserves the right to

• Not approve any application or
• Approve a lesser amount than that applier for

The full list of eligible items/activities are listed at Appendix A.

Items must be purchased and paid for between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026.

Please ensure you keep receipts as they may be requested for auditing purposes

6. What will not be funded?

The WRG program will not fund the following activities and items:

• the purchase of land
• activities that are already funded through another organisation or program (example: WIRES, Wildlife Victoria, local Council or other Victorian Government’s initiatives)
• recurrent operating costs, for example rent and utility costs, and/or activities that establish expectation of ongoing funding
• purchase of computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones
• expenses associated with other animals (i.e., domestic pets) or wildlife that is not covered by your authorisation
• marketing, advertising, fundraising or promotional activities and activities located outside the State of Victoria
• any other item or activity determined by the Assessors through the assessment process to be an inappropriate or unsuitable use of the funds
• any item that is in contravention of the conditions of the shelter authorisation
• any illegal activity
• political campaigns or advocacy activities for political parties.
• expenditure to release recovered animals to another shelter operator instead of releasing back to the wild or expenditure to transport/release animals across the Victorian border
• expenditure to support recreational wildlife or commercial wildlife licenced businesses
• expenditure to support another person (with or without authorisation)
• any other item or activity determined by DEECA through the assessment process to be an inappropriate or unsuitable use of the funds.

The full list of non-eligible items/activities are listed at Appendix B.

7. What are the assessment criteria?

First, applications will be checked for eligibility to make sure that the applicant and their activity are eligible for funding. After that, eligible applications will be assessed using the criteria listed below. Each criterion is given a percentage weighting to indicate its relative importance in the assessment process. Applications should address all relevant criteria.

8. What supporting documents or evidence are required?

To assess your grant application, you MUST attach to the application form the following documents:

• your most recent shelter records (April 2024-September 2025) (Refer to Appendix C for DEECA templates)
• quote for single item equivalent to or greater than $500 from any category – failure to provide this will result in your application ineligible.
• layout or design and dimensions of enclosures (if seeking funding for new infrastructure must meet the DEECA enclosure requirements under your shelter authorisation). Refer to link https://content.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-07/OCR-Wildlife-rehabilitator-guide-FA02-scren.pdf
• photographs of the existing facility, area, or equipment (if seeking funding to replace/renew them)
• list and evidence of training courses attended, if any (Refer to Appendix D DEECA templates) with evidence. (for rehabilitation only and not for TAFE or other non-wildlife related training)
• a signed written consent from the property owner to undertake the shelter activities if renting.
• a signed written consent from the land or property owner to undertake nest box installation.

Supporting documents must be in an acceptable file type, such as Word, Excel, PDF, or JPEG. The maximum file size for each file is 10MB.

If you have documents to submit that cannot be attached to your online application, you can email them to enviro.grants@deeca.vic.gov.au quoting your unique GA-FRXXXX-XXXXX number on the subject line. Attach all documents to one email, zipping the files if required.

Note: all supporting, or evidence documents listed must be uploaded to the application before submission. No hard copy applications will be accepted.

9. What are the funding conditions?

Funding agreements

Successful applicants must enter into a funding agreement with DEECA.

The Victorian Common Funding Agreement (short form) will be used for this funding. Information is available on  https://www.vic.gov.au/victorian-common-funding-agreement.

DEECA will send the agreement via Adobe Sign to successful applicants to sign electronically.

The activity does not include using the funding for political campaigning or advocacy activities for political parties.

Legislative and regulatory requirements

In delivering the activity grant recipients are required to comply with all relevant Commonwealth and state/territory legislations and regulations, including but not limited to:

• The Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth)
• The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic)
• Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004
• Wildlife Act 1975
• Wildlife Regulations 2013
• Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986
• Guide to the Drugs Poisons and Controlled Substances Regulations 2006.

All recipients are required to comply with their authorisation conditions.

Tax implications

Applicants should consult the Australian Taxation Office or seek professional advice on any taxation implications that may arise from this grant funding.

Successful applicants without an ABN will need to provide a completed Australian Taxation Office form ‘Statement by a Supplier” so that no withholding tax is required from the grant payment.

Acknowledging Victorian Government support

Successful applicants are expected to acknowledge Victorian Government support. Promotional guidelines at https://www.deeca.vic.gov.au/grants will form part of the funding agreement. Successful applicants must liaise with the departmental program area to coordinate any public events or announcements related to the project.

Payments

Payments will be made when:

• the funding agreement has been signed by both parties (recipient and DEECA)
• grant recipients has provided additional information and supplier details form requested by DEECA
• other terms and conditions of funding continue to be met by recipient.

Monitoring and reporting

Grant recipients are required to comply with project monitoring and reporting requirements as outlined in the funding agreement. This may include progress reports, site inspections, completion reports and acquittal documentation to the agreement.

Privacy

Any personal information about you or a third party in your application will be collected by the department for the purposes of administering your grant application and informing Members of Parliament of successful applications. Personal information may also be disclosed to external experts, such as members of assessment panels, or other Government Departments for assessment, reporting, advice, comment or for discussions regarding alternative or collaborative grant funding opportunities. If you intend to include personal information about third parties in your application, please ensure that they are aware of the contents of this privacy statement.

Any personal information about you or a third party in your correspondence will be collected, held, managed, used, disclosed, or transferred in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 and other applicable laws.

DEECA is committed to protecting the privacy of personal information. You can find the DEECA Privacy Policy online at www.deeca.vic.gov.au/privacy. Requests for access to information about you held by DEECA should be sent to the Manager Privacy, P.O. Box 500 East Melbourne 8002 or contact by emailing Foi.unit@deeca.vic.gov.au.

10. What is the application process?

Applications are submitted online using the Grants Online portal.

Attaching required documents:

Supporting documents must be in an acceptable file type, such as Word, Excel, PDF, or JPEG. The maximum file size for each file is 10MB.

You will receive a unique application number (GA-FRXXXX-XXXXX) when you submit an application online. Please write it down for future reference and quote it when communicating with the department about your application.

If you have documents to submit that cannot be attached to your online application, you can email them to grantsinfo@deeca.vic.gov.au quoting your application number. Attach all documents to one email, zipping the files if required.

Make sure your application is submitted by 3:00 pm on Tuesday, 2 December 2025 (AEST)

No hard copy applications will be accepted. Late and incomplete applications will not be considered.

12. What is the notification process?

All applicants will be notified in writing of the outcome of their application once the assessment and approval processes are completed. All decisions are final and are not subject to further review. Unsuccessful applicants can request feedback on their application via email enviro.grants@deeca.vic.gov.au.

13. Key dates

14. Checklist

Read these guidelines and the information about this grant program at Wildlife Rehabilitator Grants before applying. Please complete the following checklist.

☐ check if you are, or your organisation is, eligible for this grant funding?

☐ check if your activity is eligible for this grant funding?

☐ check that will be able to comply with all relevant laws and regulations in the delivery of your activity?

☐ check that you have fully completed the application form by answering all relevant questions asked?

☐ check that you attached the appropriate supporting documents requested?

Appendix A – Eligible Items

Appendix B – Non-Eligible Items

For more information, refer to DEECA Wildlife – Rehabilitation Authorisation Guide: Things you need to know, June 2023. (https://www.vic.gov.au/wildlife-rehabilitator-authorisation-guide)

¹Note: You must not acquire, receive, possess, destroy (euthanise) or dispose of the following wildlife: whales, dolphins, seals, marine turtles, platypus, fish, deer, non-indigenous quail, pheasants and partridges.

Appendix C – Shelter Records

You can download a copy of the Wildlife shelter record sheet from https://www.vic.gov.au/wildlife-rehabilitation-shelters-and-foster-carers

• Wildlife shelter record sheet
• Wildlife code book
• Species code for use on wildlife shelter record sheets

Appendix D – Training attendance record

This template was developed from applicant feedback from previous years.  Each year in the Wildlife Rehabilitator Grants application form, a question asks you to list training/course details you have completed over the years.

This template is for you to update once you complete training or attend conferences. Simply upload the template into the application form without having to re-type the information each year https://www.wildlife.vic.gov.au/grants/wildlife-rehabilitator-grants.

Appendix E – Resources

Appendix F – High Pathogenic Avian Influenza

Page last updated: 17/10/25