The Direct Aid Program
The Direct Aid Program (DAP) is a small grants program funded from Australia’s aid budget. The program provides funding to local communities to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development consistent with Australia’s national interests. Read more about DAP here.
The DAP will fund projects in China by individuals, community groups, non-government organisations, the private sector and not-for- profit organisations.
Funding priorities
Projects in the following sectors will be prioritised:
- Health
- Empowering people with a disability
- Economic recovery, including food security, poverty alleviation and rural development
- Gender equality and women’s economic empowerment
- Supporting diversity through empowering minority communities
- Environmental protection, climate change and disaster resilience
DAP projects must deliver tangible humanitarian or developmental benefits to identified beneficiaries. Projects that work with China’s most vulnerable groups, including those living in less developed or disaster-prone regions, aligning with projects working on the above listed sectors, will be prioritised.
DAP recipients should be reputable, with the demonstrated capacity to deliver projects and must be registered to operate in China. Foreign NGOs must already either be registered or have temporary registration for the proposed project. All applicants must comply with local laws and regulations while implementing projects supported with DAP funding. Australian Embassy or Consulate staff will conduct a monitoring visit to the project site.
Selected applications should be able to enhance the public diplomacy and economic diplomacy goals of the Australian Embassy in Beijing or Australia’s other Consulates in China. These include building awareness and understanding of Australia’s deep and broad engagement with China and promoting Australia’s development credentials.
Applications for the 2026-2027 round of the DAP program for China will be open later this year.