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Creativity Australia and the With One Voice program

WITH ONE VOICE PROGRAM SEED FUNDING GRANTS UP TO $10,000 RD 18 OPEN NOW!

As we work towards our Covid-Normal we will be awarding up to 10 grants of up to $10,000 in 2021 through our With OneVoice Local Franchise Start-up fund.

ROUND 18 OPEN NOW!

Hurry! The closing date for ALL Round 18 applications
is 5:00 pm, Tuesday 30 November 2021.

We’re excited to announce that so far in 2021 we have awarded seed funding to start Local With One Voice franchises to three organisations, they are:

1.      Western Riverina (NSW)

2.     Port Stephens (NSW)

3.     Myrtleford/Beechworth (VIC)

4.    Avenue Neighbourhood House Blackburn South (VIC)

Local community groups, social businesses and not-for-profits wanting to promote social inclusion and tackle loneliness, isolation, depression and disadvantage in their community are invited to apply. Additionally, each successful application joins a 12-month intensive mentoring program that ensures success. 

We’re on the look-out for more community organisations who are:

•     Movers and shakers in their communities

•     Aspiring to produce meaningful change and create a more fair and caring society

•     Passionate about community wellbeing and the power of the arts – especially singing

If this is you, we have grants of up to $10,000 available now!

Click here for more information and to start your application


All successful Local Franchise awardees are located in areas that are culturally and economically diverse and seek to redress balance between those that have and have-not. They provide crucial interventions for all participants and support those directly and indirectly affected by many of life’s challenges.

Most importantly, these organisations recognise how singing in a group can improve wellbeing, inspire personal growth and transform communities. Each successful applicant must present a strong local franchise offer that we believe will be successful and sustainable.

Feedback from a recent survey saw current members claiming “If it wasn’t for the choir, I wouldn’t be alive today.” and also explain that joining the choir has made them feel “empowered, happy and alive.”


Also please view our Covid-inspired With One Voice Facebook Livestream channel – where we have presented more than 300 LIVE choral and musical performances for our members right across the country since March 2020 – filling the gaps between our choirs being able to meet in person and ensuring our members and communities remain connected and smiling.

About Creativity Australia

Loneliness, and the depression which accompanies it, is the global epidemic of our era. Statistics show that 2 in 5 people feel socially isolated and unheard. This isolation leads to serious mental and physical health issues and great economic disadvantage. Creativity Australia (www.creativityaustralia.org.au) is building a happier, healthier, more inclusive nation through the life-changing With One Voice program. We bridge the gap between people experiencing disadvantage and those more fortunate through the neuro-scientific benefits of community singing. We build supportive networks that help people connect to brighter futures. Together, we can change the world… one voice at a time. Creativity Australia is a charity founded in 2008 by award-winning social entrepreneur and soprano Tania de Jong AM. Tania de Jong’s TED talk ‘How Singing Together Changes The Brain’, has been viewed over 110,000 times. With One Voice programs are now being replicated around Australia and the world through our unique social franchise model.

With One Voice

Creativity Australia’s With One Voice program operates in Victoria, New South Wales, ACT, SA, WA, Tasmania and Queensland. The inclusive community choirs unite hundreds of people aged 9 to 90, from all faiths and all walks of life: migrants, people with disabilities, job seekers, executives, seniors, students, refugees, asylum seekers and more. View our inspiring member stories.

Why we sing

With One Voice choirs are led by professional conductors and meet weekly, followed by supper. View choir locations. Through the Wish List, participants grant one another wishes big and small: such as free music lessons, language and computer tuition, assistance with resumes, mentors and finding jobs. The choirs help people connect to whatever they need in life: friends, mentors, wellbeing, self-esteem, networks, skills and employment. Over 3000 wishes have been granted so far! Please be inspired by a short 3-minute video.

Neuroscience proves singing makes people happier, healthier, smarter and more creative and increases neuroplasticity. Music and singing have no barriers of language, background or politics. Unlike sport, music is non-competitive – the participants are working together to create something greater than themselves as individuals – and the results are transformative. The choirs transcend borders every week, and in public through regular performances. When we come together to create harmony, participants feel they are together, not different. There is no more us and them, only us. Through uniting more and more communities in song nationwide, Creativity Australia aims to create positive outcomes for people experiencing mental illness, loneliness, social isolation, disability, disadvantage, unemployment and homelessness.

Our impact

Swinburne University research showed 98% of With One Voice choir participants experienced less stress, 91% improved social bonds and 66% feel less depressed. Creativity Australia won the 2016 Melbourne Award for Contribution to Community by a Community Organisation and been named in the Anthill Smart 100 Innovations for the past 5 years.

Donations and Partnerships

It costs just $10 a week, or $500 a year, to support a person in need to attend a With One Voice choir. We would love to partner with you to increase diverse participation in this transformational work. Our work is all about community wellbeing, alleviating disadvantage and inclusiveness. With enough support we can continue to create transformational outcomes for disadvantaged participants and develop our strategy to reach more people and communities in need throughout Australia.

With One Voice Local Franchise

Creativity Australia is passionate about nurturing communities across Australia and beyond to sing together in the spirit of joy, wellbeing and inspiration. We are therefore delighted to offer a suite of With One Voice “how to” guide videos, resources and mentoring for individuals, groups and communities looking to start new, inclusive With One Voice Franchises using our innovative model. Our goal is to have 40 programs operating nationwide by 2022. We have also commenced a Conductor Development Program and have curated a With One Voice Start-up Fund to provide small grants to enable community leaders from around Australia to commence programs and replicate our model.

Our social impact goal

Creativity Australia’s social impact goal is to help break down the traditional silos of the social welfare sector, building cohesive communities that include and support one another, rather than relying on ‘top-down’ services. Thus, we mobilise and multiply community change-makers far beyond the capacity of our organisation: diverse people who will pay it forward and help address the deep issues that impact our society. Your support is critical to the future of the With One Voice program. Together, we can change the world… one voice at a time.

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