Projects must benefit the people of Victoria and are assessed against guiding principles which include the ability of a project to translate into sustainable, practical solutions and build on expertise and learning.

Awardees in the 2008/09 financial year included the Advocacy and Rights Centre, which aimed to establish a legal outreach clinic at hospitals and health agencies in regional Victoria staffed by pro bono regional lawyers. Organisation ANEX was also awarded a grant to undertake a review of laws in Victoria that precluded the installation of syringe vending machines and set out legislative reform.

Deakin University received a grant to research the extent of disadvantage experienced by rural communities in the administration of the law, while Monash University was given funding to research the risks of social networking on secondary school students and its threats to privacy, intellectual property and identity issues.

The grants can be awarded only to organisations and applications close on 17 September.

For more information, go to www.victorialawfoundation.org.au.