The Kenneth Myer Innovation Fellowships aim to support breakthrough solutions to Australia’s most pressing social and environmental challenges and bring new talent to the social sector.

A Fellowship offers a unique opportunity for recipients to take 12 months, supported by $180,000, to focus on approaches that have the potential to achieve positive outcomes for society, supporting initiatives that align with one or more of the program themes of inclusion & equality, sustainability & environment including climate change, or human, civil & legal rights. 

What are the eligibility criteria?

The applicant must:

• be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• reside in Australia for the majority of the Fellowship period
• be prepared to take a sabbatical from their current role for 12 months (if relevant)
• have a proven track record of achievement
• pursue out-of-the-box thinking and be a risk-taker
• have an ability to turn well-formulated ideas or new approaches into action (that is, your idea must have substance to it; a good idea on its own is not sufficient)
• have well-developed networks within an area of the proposed project.

The proposed project must:

• be based in Australia
• be aligned with one or more of the program themes of Inclusion & Equality, Sustainability & Environment including climate change, or Human, Civil & Legal rights
• have been in development for not longer than three years.

What are the funding exclusions?

The Kenneth Myer Innovation Fellowships program will not support the following.

1. Projects that have been in development for more than 3 years.
2. Benefits or fundraising events.
3. Capital or endowment campaigns.
4. Ongoing or one-off academic research or work towards higher degrees (including by coursework or dissertations).
5. Medical research.
6. Initiatives focused on specific diseases.
7. International projects.
8. Scholarships.
9. Sponsorships.
10. Funding hubs or accelerators.
11. Creative arts projects.
12. Collaborations between a number of individuals (noting that should an initiative have co-founders, an expression of interest would only be considered from one co-founder).
13. Projects that are focused on program or service delivery (noting that an initiative or project would be considered if it is innovative, scalable and has potential for deep and wide impact, as opposed to delivering, for example, regular activities for particular groups).
14. Organisations (noting that the Fellowship supports initiatives that have been created by an individual; that is, supporting individual endeavour, rather than initiatives that have been created within an organisation).

• Phone: 03 8609 3150
• Email: admin@myerfoundation.org.au