Therapy Grant

Read the guidelines

Applications for the We Care Grant are currently closed and will reopen on 1 September 2025.

There are many children living in NSW or ACT who require therapy for physical or behavioural disability but cannot access clinicians due to financial hardship or ineligibility for NDIS support.

That’s why Variety – the Children’s Charity NSW/ACT has offers the Therapy grant, providing financial assistance towards therapy costs to assist children who need it most.

Grants of up to $2000 are available over a twelve-month period and applications are open all year round.

Eligible therapy requests include:

  • Physiotherapy
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Speech Therapy
  • Hydrotherapy
  • Psychology
  • Exercise Physiology

The guidelines for our We Care – Therapy Grants were updated on 12 November 2024. Please ensure that you look at the updated guidelines before applying.

Read the Guidelines

If your child has an assessed mental health condition like anxiety, depression anger management, sleep and self-esteem issues, OCD or other behavioural issues, your child might be able to get Medicare rebates for up to 10 mental health sessions from psychologists, social workers and occupational therapists each calendar year.

To get these rebates, your child will need a Mental Health Treatment Plan from a GP (this covers the services your child needs and the goals of the treatment) or a referral from a psychiatrist or paediatrician. It doesn’t matter how old your child is.

For more information, please see the Department of Health website.

Guidelines

If you are the parent or guardian of the child applicant – please click here:

Apply

If you are a health professional, support worker or support person submitting an application on behalf of a family or child applicant – please click here:

Health Professional Application

If you have already started an application and are wishing to resume – please click here:

Resume application

To stay in touch, sign up to our newsletter or join our Facebook group. You can also email the team directly with any questions you may have to [email protected]

Translated Therapy Grant Flyers & Guidelines

Please note we’ve changed the name of our grant and are in the process of updating these flyers to reflect that.

Click the button below to download a We Care Therapy Grant flyer in Arabic.

العربية Arabic Flyer

Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Arabic.

العربية Arabic Guidelines

Click the button below to download a We Care Therapy Grant flyer in Assyrian.

ܐܵܬܘܿܪܵܝܵܐ Assyrian Flyer

Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Assyrian.

ܐܵܬܘܿܪܵܝܵܐ Assyrian Guidelines

Click the button below to download a We Move Grant flyer in Dari.

دری Dari Flyer

Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Dari.

دری Dari Guidelines

Click the button below to download a We Care Therapy Grant flyer in English.

English Flyer

Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in English.

English Guidelines

Click the button below to download a We Care Therapy Grant flyer in Hazaragi.

هزارگی Hazaragi Flyer

Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Hazaragi.

هزارگی Hazaragi Guidelines

Click the button below to download a We Move Grant flyer in Kurdish.

Kurdish Flyer

Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Kurdish.

Kurdish Guidelines

Click the button below to download a We Care Therapy Grant flyer in Pashto.

پشتو Pashto Flyer

Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Pashto.

پشتو Pashto Guidelines

Click the button below to download a We Care Therapy Grant flyer in Persian.

فارسی Persian Flyer

Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Persian.

فارسی Persian Guidelines

Click the button below to download a We Care Therapy Grant flyer in Swahili.

Swahili Flyer

Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Swahili.

Swahili Guidelines

Click the button below to download a We Care Therapy Grant flyer in Tibetan.

བོད་ཡིག་ Tibetan Flyer

Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Tibetan.

བོད་ཡིག་ Tibetan Guidelines

Frequently Asked Questions

Applicants must:

  • reside in NSW or ACT
  • be aged between 0 and 18
  • be medically diagnosed with a condition that requires therapy
  • be ineligible for an NDIS plan or have extenuating circumstances that mean you require financial assistance for therapy while waiting for an approved NDIS plan.
The applicant’s family household gross income needs to below $80,000 per annum. This income includes child support payments, rental income, investment income or any other income that is received by any parent/carer who is financially responsible for the beneficiary.
Applications for the We Care Grant are currently closed and will reopen on 1 September 2025.
The following attachments must be included as part of the application:

  1. A GP or Paediatrician signed letter on their official letterhead, outlining the child’s diagnosis/condition and the referral to the therapy (i.e. OT, Physio etc.). This document must be dated within 3 months at the time of submission
  1. Household Income – For each parent/carer who is financially responsible for the child, we require a Centrelink Income Statement and/or your most recent payslip showing annual income.
The type of therapy requested must be directly related to the child’s diagnosis and supported by a GP or Paediatrician. Eligible therapy requests include:

  • Physiotherapy
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Speech Therapy
  • Hydrotherapy
  • Psychology
  • Exercise Physiology

Please note the requested therapy will form the basis of the grant and if successful, cannot be amended after the approval date.

The grant is up to the value of $2000 over a twelve-month period.
Once submitted, your application will be pre-assessed by the Kids Support Team to make sure it meets criteria and if it is eligible, you may be contacted to discuss your application. If your application is shortlisted, it will then go to the Grants Committee for a final decision.
If your grant application is approved, you will receive an outcome letter with full instructions for invoice payments. All payments are uploaded into our payment portal.

Invoices
Provide your chosen supplier with a copy of your outcome letter.

Invoices should include:

  • Addressed to: Variety – the Children’s Charity NSW/ACT
  • Provider’s ABN
  • GST (if not applicable it needs to show this)
  • Provider’s bank details
  • Providers name, address, phone number and email
  • References the child’s name or VAR

Reimbursement
We will require an itemised tax receipt for reimbursements.

Receipts should show:

  • Business name and ABN
  • Date after the grant was approved
  • List items purchased
  • GST (if not applicable it needs to show this)
  • Payment method or showing balance of 0.00

The payment of invoices and reimbursements can take up to 3 weeks.

Outcome letters are emailed to applicants approximately 6 – 8 weeks after their initial submission.

If you need us please get in touch

Have a look at some of the other ways Variety supports kids