Creating an Online Application
Accessing an Online Application Form
From the relevant grant program page on the DPCD website, click on 'Apply for this grant online' under the Application Forms heading. This will launch My Grants. If you are not logged on to My Grants already, you will be prompted to do so.
Applicant Details
If you have previously completed an application form, My Grants will then prompt you to use the applicant and/or auspice from your last application. If you select either of these options your application form will be pre-populated with these details. For example, if you were the applicant on the last application you submitted online, your name will appear and My Grants will ask you if you want to use the same details for the applicant for this application. If you select ‘Yes’, your applicant details will appear on the first page of the form automatically. If you select ‘No’ then the applicant details on the form will remain blank.
Validating Data Entered
As you complete the application form, My Grants will validate your responses by providing further information for a field or raising an error message. These are indicated by the following icons.
 | Some fields have additional information that you can view by holding the mouse over the question mark next to the field to assist you with entering correct data. |
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 | Where you have entered information that is inappropriate for a particular field, My Grants will display a red exclamation mark. Hold your mouse pointer over this exclamation mark to read the error message. |
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 | Where it is mandatory to complete a field in the form, a red star will appear next to it. |
Most forms have more than one page – in this case you will have to navigate through them using the Previous, Save and Next buttons. Please note that you cannot leave a page that contains validation errors.
When you are creating your application, do not use the following characters as they may cause your application not to save or result in an error preventing you from submitting your application:
- Ampersand (‘&’)
- Dollar signs, commas and decimal points in the budget fields.
When creating an application, there may be short delays at times and a message ‘Loading…’ will be displayed in the top right hand corner of the screen. This is due to My Grants updating the database.
Copy and Paste
In My Grants you have the ability to copy and paste text from other documents into the online application form. If you do this, ensure you do not paste text that exceeds the maximum allowed as indicated on the form e.g. 1000 characters.
If you have problems copying and pasting the text, add the document as an attachment and make reference to this in the relevant section of the form.
Project Budget
When completing the budget section of the form remember the following:
- Your budget must balance – please ensure Total Income is equal to Total Expenditure.
- Enter the income and expenditure values as whole dollar amounts (e.g. 12500) and do not use commas or dollar symbols.
- The Amount Requested for this Program is a mandatory field. You will not be able to submit your application form if this field is not completed.
For more information on how to create a budget for your project, please refer to Completing the budget.
Attachments
You can attach documents, files or images that exist in your directory. Note that you will only be able to attach documents of a type that is supported by software installed on the computer you are using. For example, if you want to attach a Microsoft Project file you will only be able to do so if you have Microsoft project installed on the computer you are using to submit your application.
The last page of the form will provide you with a section to add your attachments. By clicking on the ‘browse’ button you will gain access to your directory. Search and select the item you wish to attach, click on ‘Open’ and the item will be attached to the application form.
Files will not be attached to your application if:
- The file is found to contain a virus. DPCD will scan for viruses in any files you attach to your application. Files found to be containing a virus will be automatically deleted from your application.
- The file is not an accepted file type or named appropriately.
- You have attached a file of a type that the computer you are using does not have the software to open (e.g. a word document and the computer does not have Microsoft Word installed).
- The file is larger than 2MB.
In these cases, the result will be that the file you uploaded will not appear on your application.
DPCD need to ensure that we can read any electronic files you attach to your application. For this reason, the online application will only accept files of the following types.
Document Formats
- doc
- htm
- html
- mdb
- mpp
- pps
- ppt
- rtf
- txt
- vsd
- xls
- pub
Image Formats
- bmp
- gif
- jfif
- jpe
- jpeg
- jpg
- png
- tif
- tiff
- wmf
To successfully attach a file, its name must be in the format "yourfilename.ext" where "ext" is one of the file types listed above. Files not conforming to this naming convention will be automatically deleted from your application.
Zipping Multiple or Large File Attachments
If you need to provide multiple files in response to a document we have asked for, please "Zip" the files and attach the "yourfilename.zip" file where requested. Windows XP and MAc OSX enable you to "Zip" files together. Find out more about other operating systems.
Files larger than 2MB will be automatically deleted from your application.
Saving an online application form
My Grants allows you to save a draft application by clicking on the 'Save as Draft' button. When you save a draft of an application it will appear in your ‘My Applications’ list. You can open a draft application for further editing from this page. You can close an application at any time by clicking the ‘x’ on the top right-hand side of the screen.
Supported Web Browsers
The following browsers support My Grants:
- Windows Users
- Internet Explorer 6.0 +
- Firefox 1.0 (plus other incremental versions of 1.0)
- Macintosh Users
- Safari
- Firefox 1.0 (plus other incremental versions of 1.0)
Please note that the above browsers require JavaScript enabled for My Grants to function. If JavaScript is disabled we recommend that you use the Word version of the application which is available on the relevant Program page on the website. Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 has JavaScript enabled by default.
- Do not copy and paste text greater than 2000 characters into the form.
- Ensure dates are entered in the format DD/MM/YYYY
Browsers not shown have not been tested. They may or may not work with My Grants. It is strongly recommended that you use the browsers listed above.
Printing an Online Application
Some application forms permit you to view a printable version. This allows you to make a hard copy of a form for your own records. To view the printable version, click the Print Preview button on the bottom right hand side of the last page of the application form. You can then use browser functionality (e.g. File -> Print in Microsoft Internet Explorer) to print the application form. We recommend that you print a copy of your application before you submit it.
Submitting an Online Application
Online application forms are designed to allow you to electronically submit your application. You can do this by clicking the 'Submit' button. My Grants confirms that you have completed all the mandatory fields. If you haven’t completed all the mandatory fields a message will appear instructing you to find and correct any mandatory fields that are incomplete or incorrect.
If the application is complete and valid, My Grants will submit the application for processing and assign a reference number that you should use in future correspondence. My Grants will also send a confirmation email to your email address and the submitted application will appear in your ‘My Applications’ list.
Some grants require you to submit a declaration about the information in your application. This declaration may be electronic or may request that you print, sign and send it via return mail.
My Grants Session Expires
My Grants is a secure environment. If your session in My Grants is inactive for more than 30 minutes your access will expire automatically. This is to protect your information. A session is considered ‘active’ when you are completing the form, moving from field to field, saving as draft, clicking on ‘Save & Next’ etc. If your session expires, you will lose information on the page you were working on unless it has been saved. All previous pages will be saved. To recommence your session you will need to login to My Grants again and the application you were working on can be found within the My Applications section.
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