Who we fund and who we don’t

The fund is available to benefit the workforces listed below. Peak bodies for these sectors are also listed.

Applicants either need to be from organisations working within the eight industries; or have the support of these sectors. We fund initiatives by these industries for these workforces.   

Entities that can apply for funding include registered charities, companies, incorporated societies, charitable trusts, maraes, rūnanga or other Māori authorities. Central or local Government, Te Pūkenga/NZ Institute of Skills and Technology and industry skills boards cannot apply. However, they can be involved in a project seeking funds in a support or specialist capacity.

What we do and don’t fund

Projects must deliver benefits to as many workers within a sector/industry as possible - across employers. Projects benefitting one workplace or company, or a limited group of employers will not be supported. 

It could be that an innovative initiative is piloted in a workplace to generate learnings for the wider workforce. Fund recipients will need to take an open approach to sharing the details of their projects and the outcomes.

For Round Three, projects that can be completed within two years will be prioritised, with clear phasing and achievable delivery plans. Large‑scale proposals (over $1 million) will require more detailed scoping, including business plans, technical specifications and clear budgets. 

  • Initiatives that have a significant impact on the following areas:     

    • Development of vocational training, workforce development and education

    • Best practice and continuous improvement in services

    • Attracting people to work in the sectors and workforce retention

    We prioritise projects that:

    • Innovate

    • Deliver sector wide or multi-industry benefit

    • Positively impact workers who are:

      • Māori;

      • Pacific;

      • Disabled.

    • The delivery of training or delivery of education 

    • Research only projects (projects may include research as one component) 

    • Work already undertaken 

    • Ongoing service delivery or business as usual activity 

    • Projects benefitting one organisation/workplace or a limited group of employers 

    • Applications that do not specify clear outcomes that will benefit relevant sectors 

    • Projects that fall under a core government response or function, or where there are other funding pathways available 

    • Projects without demonstrated wide industry support 

    • Initiatives for registered professions, eg social workers and clinicians 

    • Programmes involving Level 7 qualifications or higher 

    • Career transition/work readiness programmes 

After checking whether applications meet the basic eligibility requirements, they are assessed against set criteria.

How we select what to fund

    • Innovation

    • Scale of impact

    • Multi-industry

    • Addresses key need/opportunity

    • Projects that improve outcomes for workers who are Māori, Pacific or Disabled.

    Please look at the assessment framework for guidance on what we consider innovative; of sufficient scale etc.

    • Quality of the project plan

    • Evidence base for the project (both the identified need and the approach to addressing)

    • Monitoring of progress and measurement of results

    • Budget justification/cost effectiveness

    • Openness to sharing for wider sector benefit

    • Commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi

    • Feasibility and sustainability of the project

    Please look at the assessment framework for guidance on how we assessed these areas.

How much funding is available and when

The Fund has $15 million to spend over about three years (between June 2025 and 2028). We will run two further grant rounds in 2026, opening in February and August. Additional rounds may be scheduled if there is sufficient unallocated funding to justify them.

Help to apply

The third grant round is open from 23 February to 31 March 2026. Organisations need to talk with the fund team before they can submit an application.

Apply here. More information, including the assessment criteria and project plan content requirements is available here.

Our funding agreements  

We fund a diverse range of projects of varying sizes from different types of entities, therefore our funding agreements are tailored to suit the nature of the application. Generally: 

  • Your proposal, budget and timeline are used as a schedule outlining the project details that you need to deliver on 

  • We pay in advance, but withhold five per cent until a final report is provided showing satisfactory delivery of the stated activity 

  • Where payment is made in instalments (for example, multi-year grants), a progress report showing satisfactory delivery against milestones is required before the next payment 

  • Our grant distributions do not attract GST as they are for services delivered for public benefit, not to us as the funder. You don’t invoice - we pay on receipt of the funding agreement/progress reports. 

FAQs

  • You can apply for one project per round.

    If you are not successful, we may invite you to submit your proposal in a later round with suggestions on how to strengthen your application. You can submit a proposal a maximum of two times.

    You can apply for different projects in future grant rounds.

    Organisations are required to talk with the Executive Officer prior to every application for this very specific fund. The discussion helps determine if your project is suitable and provides application guidance if needed.

    If you’ve read the website information and assess you are eligible and have an appropriate project, email admin@workforcefuturesfund.nz to arrange a chat. This can be at any time, including between grant rounds.

  • We will fully fund applications. We also welcome applications requesting partial funding. For all applications, we assess in-kind and other contributions from applicants and other funding sources.

  • We check applications for completeness and eligibility and then the Grants Assessment Panel considers the applications before the Board makes decisions.

    The time between the application round closing and applicants being informed of the outcomes is up to four months.

  • We seek the information in a written form, but you are welcome to also provide additional video content as is relevant to your application.

    If you need help to write your application, or there is a specific reason you want to provide an application using video, email us via admin@workforcefuturesfund.nz and we’ll arrange a chat.

  • The relevance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi to the fund includes that:

    • (Source of the funds) Much of the money that has contributed to the fund has come from the Crown, a signatory to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

    • (Lens of equality) Article three in Te Tiriti o Waitangi relates to ōritetanga/equality. The fund can give effect to article three through supporting vocational education and employment outcomes for Māori.

    • (Lens of opportunity) The organisational value of respect acknowledges that the industries are best placed to know the issues/opportunities and the solutions. This can be further broken down to respecting the initiatives that are led by or have significant Māori contribution to them will be more likely to be successful with Māori audiences. This links to article two rangatiratanga (self determination).

    • (Lens of nationbuilding) Our workforces are critical to our communities, and some of the industries provide essential services to vulnerable community members. Te Tiriti o Waitangi sought balance between tangata whenua and tangata tiriti and for each to take care of the other. Acknowledging Te Tiriti o Waitangu supports strengthened workforces and services.

    We are implementing this in a number of ways through our strategy, application assessment, ensuring Māori representation in advice and decision making, monitoring and evaluation; and engagement. If you are eligible for the funds (see website information) and have a proposal that will positively impact Māori in the specified workforces, please email admin@workforcefuturesfund.nz as we are keen to discuss it.

  • This grant targets support and non-registered workers because the original funding was designed for vocational education for these workforce groups - not registered professions (such as social workers, nurses and clinicians).

    The history of the money shapes how it is granted today. It was originally given to the Community Support Services Industry Training Organisation (CSSITO), trading as Careerforce, for vocational education for particular workforces.

    When it was announced that Careerforce programmes, resources, staff, operating systems and fixed assets would be transferred into Te Pūkenga, the shareholders voted that CSSITO's reserves be kept separate. They directed that these reserves would be distributed to the original workforce groups through grants.

    This is why we focus on support and non-registered workers rather than registered professions.

    Registered professions were not significant participants in the sub-degree vocational education that this funding originally supported. They access their training and vocational development from other sources.

    This history also explains other criteria, such as the focus on workforce development at level 6 or below on the qualifications framework; and the emphasis on developing those already in the workforce rather than supporting transition-to-work services.

    Potential applicants with questions about eligibility for the fund are encouraged to contact admin@workforcefuturesfund.nz.

  • Yes, we meet the charitable purpose of advancement of education given that we will only fund organisations with projects that have wide workforce benefit. We will not support a project benefitting just one organisation or workplace.

  • We are aiming that this limited amount of funding has a large, and medium to long term impact on the eight eligible sectors. To do that we are seeking initiatives that meet the most pressing needs and/or offer the most opportunity for large scale innovation and progression.

    It’s therefore essential that the industry/ies that you are seeking to assist support your proposal as being a top need/opportunity. And also that they assess your proposal will be taken up by workforces and be effective in its objectives. Applicants need to demonstrate this significant industry support, for example through project partners and/or letters of support.

  • The fund was established with reserves from Careerforce following the transition of its learning and training functions into Te Pūkenga as part of the Reform of Vocational Education. The eligible sectors for the fund are those served by Careerforce at the time it transitioned into Te Pūkenga.

  • Community Support Services Industry Training Organisation is the legal entity for the fund. CSSITO is a charitable company and a registered charity (CC32360).

  • About $15m is available for distribution between June 2025 and June 2028. We will have at least two more grant round in February and August 2026. There may be additional grant distribution rounds if unallocated funds justify it.

    We don’t have a set amount that we will grant each funding round. We are looking for projects seeking more than $30k, and we are prepared to fund large, multi-year initiatives. Contact us via admin@workforcefuturesfund.nz and we can discuss your idea. Please ensure you have read the information to determine whether you are eligible first.

  • CSSITO is not registered for GST. If you are registered for GST and believe our funding is a taxable supply for you, you must include any GST in the total amount requested.  If your application is approved the fund will pay you based on the amount you applied for.  No additional funds to cover GST will be added to this amount. 

    You are solely responsible for accounting for and remitting the GST component to Inland Revenue (IRD).  

  • The name Workforce Futures Fund was developed at a workshop of shareholders and board members.

    We acknowledge the team at Māori translation service Ōkupu, who gifted us Tahua (fund) Rāngaimahi (workforce) Anamata (future).

  • The Grants Assessment Panel have been chosen for their deep experience in the sector. Before assessing applications, panel members declare any potential conflicts of interest; these are reviewed, and the panel member abstains from assessing applications if appropriate. A similar process is followed for others involved in the assessment and decision-making process, including Board members.