Assistance is available for Western Australian children aged up to 18 years of age, who are sick, disadvantaged or have special needs. Variety also supports schools, community groups or other organisations that help kids in need.
To apply for assistance, you must be able to demonstrate a genuine need (including financial evidence) and information on how the assistance requested will meet this need.
In most instances, you’ll also require supporting letters from relevant professionals (e.g. Specialists, Therapists, Teachers, Local Coordinators) and quotes for the items requested.
Our program is designed to be flexible to allow you to apply for the items that best meet your individual needs. Every child is different, so every application is considered on a case by case basis.
However, there are some restrictions. For example, we don’t fund salaries, private vehicles, research or retrospective grants. See our application form for full details.
Variety aims to ‘fill the gaps’ and prioritise requests for which there are no alternate sources of support. If the Variety Grants Committee believes that funding is already available through another agency (including CAEP, Lotterywest),you may be referred elsewhere, unless you can explain why you cannot access their support. Sometimes, we ‘top up’ funding where another agency cannot fund the entire cost of equipment or a project. An example would be part contribution towards a mobility aid or car modifications.
Variety does not give cash. Instead, we purchase equipment / services directly on behalf of the recipient, or reimburse upon presentation of receipts.
You can request support at any time.
All Variety applications are assessed by an independent Grants Committee, which usually meets every month. We try to assess all applications quickly, however some requests may take longer than one meeting (one month) for a decision to be made.
We’ll advise you in writing of the outcome, as soon as a decision has been made.