Diabetes affects over 1.5 million Australians, with a further 500,000 estimated undiagnosed. A new diagnosis occurs every five minutes. The economic cost exceeds $14 billion annually — making diabetes one of Australia's most significant chronic disease burdens. Type 2 diabetes (representing about 85% of cases) is substantially preventable through lifestyle interventions, yet rates continue to rise, particularly in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and lower-income populations. Grant funding supports prevention, management, research, and community programmes addressing this epidemic.
Types of diabetes
High-risk populations
Complications
Poorly managed diabetes causes:
- Cardiovascular disease (leading cause of death in diabetes)
- Kidney disease (leading cause of kidney failure)
- Vision loss (leading cause of blindness in working-age adults)
- Peripheral neuropathy and amputations
- Mental health impacts
Diabetes Australia
Diabetes Australia is the peak national body — funding research, advocacy, and supporting state diabetes organisations:
- Leadership grants for diabetes innovation
- Research funding partnerships
- Policy and advocacy
- Diabetes educators and community programmes
JDRF Australia (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation)
JDRF focuses on type 1 diabetes research — raising significant funds for cure and management research:
- Research grants (type 1 diabetes)
- Advocacy for technology access (insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitors)
NHMRC
NHMRC funds significant diabetes research across:
- Disease mechanisms
- Prevention trials
- Management and complications
- Health services research
Menzies School of Health Research
Menzies funds Indigenous health research including diabetes — particularly in the Northern Territory.
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
Baker Institute conducts world-class diabetes research — receives government and philanthropic funding.
Type 2 diabetes prevention
Prevention programmes targeting high-risk individuals:
- Lifestyle intervention programmes (weight management, physical activity, nutrition)
- Diabetes prevention in workplaces
- Community-based prevention in high-risk communities
- GP-delivered prevention (brief interventions)
- Digital health prevention tools
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander diabetes
Indigenous diabetes programmes require community-controlled approaches:
- ACCHO-led diabetes prevention and management
- Cultural food sovereignty
- Exercise and physical activity in culturally appropriate forms
- Kidney health (dialysis services in remote communities)
- Remote community nutrition programmes
Diabetes self-management education
Gestational diabetes
Type 1 diabetes support
Complications prevention
Research
Diabetes technology dramatically improves outcomes:
- Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGM): now PBS-funded for type 1, some eligibility for type 2
- Insulin pumps: some PBS funding
- Closed-loop systems ("artificial pancreas"): emerging
Grant funding supports access where government subsidy doesn't reach — for lower-income people, non-PBS-eligible populations, and education to use technology effectively.
Population risk stratification
Show your target population's risk level. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Pacific Islander, and South Asian communities face dramatically higher diabetes rates — this evidence makes compelling applications.
Prevention evidence
Type 2 diabetes prevention has strong evidence — the Diabetes Prevention Program showed 58% risk reduction through lifestyle intervention. Reference this evidence and show how your programme implements evidence-based approaches.
Complications cost
Complications from poorly managed diabetes cost many times more than good management. Show the downstream cost avoidance of your prevention or management programme.
Cultural appropriateness
Diabetes management must be culturally appropriate — standard Western dietary advice (reducing rice, for example) may conflict with cultural food practices. Show culturally adapted approaches.
Mental health integration
Diabetes distress and depression are common in people managing diabetes. Show how your programme addresses mental health alongside physical health.
Tahua's grants management platform supports health funders and diabetes organisations — with programme participant tracking, clinical outcome measurement, community reach data, and the reporting tools that help diabetes funders demonstrate impact across prevention, management, and research programmes in Australia.