FMF - FAQ’s

The Future Me Fund is a grant program designed to empower and uplift LGBTQIA+SB young people aged 18 years old years old and under. We are offering 5 grants of $1000 to support arts, culture and community based projects created and carried out by young people in this age bracket. 

The Queer Futures Fund is a grant program designed to empower and uplift LGBTQIA+SB young people aged between 18 to 26 years old. You can apply for a grant up to $15,000 to support an arts, culture and community based project as long as it is for and by LGBTQIA+ youth.

The main difference between these two grant streams is the age range we are targeting and working with and grant amounts available. The Future Me Fund is aimed at young LGBTQIA+SB people (18 and under) who have recently graduated or are still in school and have an idea or creative project they would like to bring to life. It could be anything at all!

The Queer Futures Fund is aimed at an older cohort of young people who might not be eligible for government funding or have the experience to apply for big grants from larger organisations. Whether you’re just learning the ropes of creating and delivering arts, culture and community based projects, or someone who has some experience behind them, we want to hear from you!

Some of our previous applicants are emerging artists, community organisers, writers, directors and filmmakers, but the possibilities are endless. Our aim is to uplift and support Queer storytelling, community building and cultural shifts in whatever form it takes (Ie your project!). 

We have carefully crafted the Queer Futures Fund and Future Me Fund application forms to be as friendly and accessible as possible, however we also acknowledge that our version of ‘accessible” is limited to our own lived experience and may not be the best fit for everybody. If there is a way we can make this process work better for you and remove barriers please get in touch with Lulkbudia by emailing artsandculture@wearitpurple.org. 

To apply for the Future Me Fund you must be 18 years old or younger by the 1st November 2024, identify as LGBTQIA+SB and be based in so-called Australia.

You do not have to be openly LGBTQIA+ to apply for the Future Me Fund. Wherever you are on your LGTBQIA+ journey, your identity is valid and will be respected here and you can choose whether your involvement with Wear it Purple is public or private.

You do not need an Australian Business Number (ABN) or Tax File number (TFN) to receive this grant. If your application is successful we will ask you to send us an invoice for the amount and you will need a bank account for the payment to go into.

We strongly encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and those with English as a second language, people living with a disability, people who are neurodiverse, people who are based in Regional and Rural communities and people with lower socio-economic backgrounds.

For any questions about this, please feel free to reach out to Lulkbudia at artsandculture@wearitpurple.org

Anything! Everything! As long as it’s an art, culture or community based project with LGBTQIA+SB leadership.

In the past, we’ve supported short films, writing groups, traveling queer venues, queer storytelling workshops, community events, animations, underage discos and web series! Scroll down to check out our previously funded projects at the bottom of the page.

The Future Me Fund must go towards projects and cannot be used for personal use like financial aid, assisting with study or top surgeries etc. Wear it Purple has a separate grant program supporting young LGBTQIA+SB young people with financial aid - you can find out more about this here! https://www.wearitpurple.org/financial-assistance-grant

We have 5 grants of $1000 available.

This means each grant is fixed at $1000 and if your application is successful you will receive $1000 whether your project is expected to cost more or less.

The Future Me Fund application asks for your personal details (Name, Location e.c.t) and includes 10 questions. The first two questions are for us to get to know you a bit better, to understand what’s important to you and what unique lived experience you’re bringing to your project.

The other questions are related to your creativity and the vision for your project. You have the option to submit a written, audio or video response to these questions. Everyone communicates their ideas in their own unique way and we want you to feel supported to share your ideas in a format that works best for YOU.

Separate from these questions, you also have the option to upload supporting materials for your project, this can be anything from a spotify playlist to a mood board to a poem, as long as it reflects you or your project.

No, you don’t have to submit a big budget breakdown or anything fancy but we do ask you to write down a list of what you think you will spend the money on (materials, food, equipment e.c.t). This is so we can get a rough idea of how much your project costs and what will be involved. We don’t expect this list to be exact and understand things may change throughout the life of your project.

Managing money and talking about money can be scary for many of us. If this is you, please get in touch with any questions or concerns you might have. Our team is non judgemental and will get back to you with options for support.

Email Lulkbudia at artsandculture@wearitpurple.org

The Future Me Fund is here for passionate young people who are at the beginning of their creative journey. With this in mind we want this process to be as easy and approachable as possible from application to starting and finishing your project.

The one condition of the Future Me Fund is that your project is completed within 12 months after your contract (official letter of agreement) is signed. This means that you plan to develop, run and complete your project by October 2025, however we understand that sometimes life gets in the way and are always open to making it work around you.

We also ask for collateral from your project (photos, videos, posters, scripts e.c.t) when it is completed. With your consent, these could be displayed on the Wear it Purple website amongst other projects and creations we have funded to celebrate the impact of your project and inspire future change makers to apply for our grants.

We are prioritizing intersectional identities with the distribution of these grants because people from these communities are often excluded and/or exploited by the past and current systems that uphold so-called australia. While we all work, live and operate on Aboriginal land, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this country are often denied access to resources and opportunities, or have to compromise their ways of being in order to fit into the colonial structures of Australia’s society.

Intersectionality refers to the way that overlapping aspects of someone’s identity influences the way they interact with and are treated in the world around them (attitudes, systems, structures in society ).

Aspects of a person's identity can include social characteristics such as:

• Aboriginality

• gender

• sex

• sexual orientation

• gender identity

• ethnicity

• skin colour

• nationality

• refugee or asylum seeker background

• migration or visa status

• language

• religion

• age

• mental health

• socioeconomic status

• housing status

• geographic location

• medical record

• criminal record

Just in the way that being LGBTQIA+SB affects the way that we all see and experience the world, these other social characteristics of a person’s identity have a significant impact on their lived experience, as well as their access to opportunities and privilege.

As a Queer organisation we strive to make sure all voices in our community are being heard, and to elevate the voices that have been silenced, erased or overlooked by society’s systems.

That is why under the leadership of our amazing Youth Action Council, we are ensuring that half of the funding goes toward Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and projects/people based in regional, remote and rural “Australia”.

This means that half of the grant money no matter what will go towards these two groups, so a quarter of the fund pool each. We very well could give more than the reserved amount to projects by these groups - but it just means that this is built into the process of determining the recipients.

You can only apply once with each project. However, if you have a bunch of projects - feel free to apply as many times as you want.

If you’re 18 and Under, you can apply for both grants. However, please know that the Queer Futures Fund is a bit more intensive and requires more information. Whilst we’ve tried to make the Future Me Fund as easy to apply as possible!

Applicants will hear back about the verdict of their application after the two rounds of judging have been complete - which is late September 2024. Shortly after you’ve been notified, you’ll have to sign the contract and send over your invoice to ensure it’ll be paid in time.

Noah McCann

SHORT FILM

Logline: When a struggling young person recognizes themself in a man's body rather than his own, he soon realises that identifying as his true self isn’t going to be easy. Not Her is a docu-fiction that follows the start of young Micah’s transition from female to male, alongside interviews which bring to light the lived experiences of gender diverse individuals.

Casper Horne

GENDER AFFIRMING KITS

The SLAY project is a project designed to affirm young trans and gender diverse people’s identity, while improving their mental health. This will be provided by gender affirming kits supplied with gender affirming garments and resources to improve your mental health. The Slay project aims to help young trans and gender diverse people to feel less isolated through support and connection.”

Myriam Brassard Ghadouani

MUSICAL

Elevator Spies is a comedy musical where a random AFAB civilian stumbles across a top secret meeting and gets mistaken for a long-dead spy named Andrew Smith. 'Andrew' has to keep up appearances or risk getting killed. Think "Mulan" but with spies, deadly lies and trans guys

Thalia Wilson

ZINE

Piecing It Together is a collaborative zine that reflects on the queer asian experience in australia with pieces of work from individuals across the country!!

Edward (Eddie) Wines

LAUNCH PARTY FOR ZINE

genderbility is a lived experience-based zine, centered around helping young Autistic and Gender Diverse people. This project aims to benefit and unify our community through the accessible art form of zines, which maintains a long-standing history in Queer and Disabled Spaces. We plan to use the Wear it Purple Future Me Fund in order to host a launch event for our resource on completion.