We know that coming to National Conference costs a lot. In the past, we have been able to subsidise costs (for tickets, travel, and accommodation) for some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers and workers from rural, regional, remote and very remote centres from funds secured through sponsorship. We hope to offer subsidies again for National Conference 2025. It is always a challenge to secure sponsorship so, as in previous years, subsidies will likely be limited in number and amount.  

How many people we can help, and how much we can offer per subsidy, will depend on how many sponsors support National Conference 2025 and how much they contribute. We have released our sponsorship prospectus and have created an ‘access and inclusion’ sponsorship category which offers our sponsors the chance to support the subsidy. 

As in previous years, in 2025 we will prioritise subsidies for:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers
• All workers from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations
• Workers from centres in remote and very remote locations

Eligibility criteria

The eligibility criteria are the same as in previous years.

• All applicants must be an employee of an organisation that is a full member of its state or territory peak.

They must also be one of the following:

• A person who identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
• An employee of an Aboriginal community-controlled organisation
• An employee of a rural, regional, remote or very remote community

Applications are limited to three individuals per centre.

Eligible applicants who do not receive a subsidy will be able to purchase conference tickets at early bird rates.

Amount 

The subsidy we can offer to successful applicants will depend on how much sponsorship we receive. Unfortunately, we cannot fully offset the cost of attending the conference for any individual subsidy applicant.  

We encourage all delegates to register and pay for conference tickets as soon as possible to make the most of the early bird rate. We will contribute expenses to successful subsidy applicants once we’ve secured sponsorships and finalised subsidy decisions.

If you have questions about the subsidy process, please contact conference@clcs.org.au. 

Key dates

• 30 June 2025: Subsidy applications close
• 11 July 2025: Early bird conference registration closes
• 30 July 2025: Subsidy applicants advised of the outcome of their application by this date at the latest.