The Brian M. Davis Charitable Foundation undertakes its grantmaking through two methods: 1) a proactive approach by inviting eligible organisations to apply; and 2) targeted open grant rounds on specific priorities.

In June 2025 the Foundation completed a strategic review of its grants program. Our new 5 year Strategic Plan can be viewed here.

The Foundation greatly values the work of our grant partners – it is through their efforts that the Foundation is able to have an impact and preserve and expand on the legacy of Brian M. Davis.

Our primary geographic focus is the State of Victoria.

Grants can only be made to organisations that are registered as a Charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) and endorsed by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) covered by Item 1 of the table in section 30-15 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

We cannot make grants to individuals.

You can check your organisation’s eligibility status on the following websites:

Charitable status: Go to ACNC

DGR1 registration: Go to the Australian Business Register ABN Lookup

Signature Grant - $1.5m over 4 years

Melbourne City Mission's Youth Homeless Initiative (YHI) is a significant 4-year co-designed housing and support program that aims to support homeless young people to effectively transition to adulthood and exit homelessness. The YHI will provide integrated, sustained support comprising housing, case management and therapeutic support for 70 young people in Wyndham. The model is also designed to provide after care support following the young person exiting YHI housing, to ensure a successful transition to independent rentals. At the conclusion of the pilot, it is intended that the program will become an integral part of the service delivery landscape.

Signature Grant - $750,000 over 3 years

Lighthouse’s Foster Care Program is a holistic therapeutic program grounded in relational connection. That connection revolves around the creation of a trauma-informed community to walk alongside foster carers and children in their care, with a Hub Home model providing additional supports. Our Signature Grant is enabling Lighthouse Foundation to expand the current Hub Home Foster Care Service to include Kinship Care, with the establishment of a second Hub Home for kinship families to receive the same important support, including after-school programs, overnight respite stays, community committee support and social interactions.

$330,000 over 3 years

In a ‘for the community, by the community’ model, Afri-Aus Care is rolling out a new model of culturally responsive, wraparound support for children aged 5-16, predominantly from African backgrounds, who are experiencing marginalisation and disengagement from education and the broader community. The Junior Black Rhinos is based on the traditional African philosophy of Ubuntu, which emphasises interconnectedness, collective belonging, and mutual responsibility. The program includes homework support sessions, weekend sports activities, and culturally appropriate counselling to address trauma and neglect.

$75,000 over one year

One-parent families make up 15.9% of families nationally and of these, 79.8% are female-led and are the poorest family structure in Australia, with 37% living in dire poverty and many more in financial duress. Children raised in single-mother households experience unique challenges in education, securing employment and overcoming impacts of poverty and their parenting circumstances. The Council is undertaking the first stage of an innovative co-design project which aims to contribute greater understanding and respond to the needs and wellbeing of children and young people in single parent families from the child perspective.

$130,784 over 2 years

Using the window of opportunity that is afforded by being in crisis accommodation, the Road Home Project aims to impact vulnerable women and children by providing onsite trauma-informed mental health, medical and legal services, at a time when they need it the most. The project is a proof-of-concept pilot delivered by First Step in partnership with Launch Housing. Our grant enables the extension of the pilot to a second Launch Housing site in South Melbourne that provides emergency housing accommodation to families, most of whom are women with children.

$300,000 over 3 years

Evidence and experience tells us the best chance to change lifelong outcomes for children is to change what happens in early childhood – it is the window for change that has the most impact. SVA’s Young Children Thriving program seeks to transform the early childhood development landscape by designing a more proactive and responsive early years system that provides families experiencing vulnerability with the right supports, when they need them.

$300,000 over 3 years

The Children Ahead program provides intensive wrap-around support for children and young people who have experienced violence and trauma. Through positive learning opportunities at school, introducing wellbeing and life skills, building friendships, and helping parents and carers understand a young person’s behaviour, AMF supports children as they navigate and overcome the effects of trauma, helping to build a future where they can thrive.

$240,000 over 2 years

Youth Live4life is changing the narrative around youth mental health in rural and regional Australia. A two-year independent evaluation demonstrated proof of concept, opportunity to scale and the social return on investment, strengthening the case for a whole-of-community response to youth mental health and suicide prevention. Our grant is enabling deeper engagement with the model in existing communities and beyond, increasing and sustaining Live4Life’s impact so that more young people stay safe, well and connected.

8 grants for projects of 1-5 years in duration. $4.55m in total.

11 grants for projects of 1-3 years in duration. $3.4m in total.

12 grants for projects of 1-3 years in duration. $3.2m in total.

16 grants for projects of 1 to 3 years in duration. $3.4m in total.

10 grants for projects of 6 months to 3 years in duration. $4.5m in total.

11 grants for projects of 1-3 years in duration. $2.9m in total.

20 grants for projects of 1-3 years in duration. $6.45m in total.

18 grants for projects of 6 months to 3 years in duration. $3.9m in total.

23 grants for projects of 6 months to 3.5 years in duration. $4.75m in total.