Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains Australia's leading cause of death — responsible for approximately 25% of all deaths. Heart disease, stroke, and related conditions kill more Australians than any other cause, yet much of this burden is preventable. Grant funding supports a wide range of cardiovascular health activities: research into causes and treatments, community prevention programmes, cardiac rehabilitation, and specific support for high-risk populations.
Scale of cardiovascular disease
- Approximately 1.2 million Australians have heart disease
- CVD causes ~48,000 deaths annually
- Heart attack and stroke are the major acute events
- Heart failure is increasingly common with an ageing population
- Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) — rare in mainstream Australia but devastating for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
Risk factors
- Smoking (declining but still significant)
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Diabetes and obesity
- Physical inactivity
- Poor nutrition (high saturated fat, high sodium)
- Mental health (depression is associated with heart disease)
- Socioeconomic disadvantage (concentrated CVD burden in lower SES groups)
Disparities
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have dramatically higher rates of CVD and die younger from CVD than non-Indigenous Australians
- Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is almost entirely concentrated in Indigenous communities
- Rural and remote communities have less access to cardiac services
The Heart Foundation is Australia's peak cardiovascular health charity and a significant funder of heart health research and community programmes:
Heart Foundation grants
- Cardiovascular research grants (competitive, peer-reviewed)
- Scholarships and fellowships for cardiovascular researchers
- Vanguard grants for early-career researchers
- Clinical leadership grants
- Community programme funding
Heart Foundation Heart Healthy programmes
- Heart Healthy Communities
- Physical activity initiatives
- Nutrition programmes
- Cardiac rehabilitation programme support
Heart Foundation CPR and community education
- Community CPR training
- AED (defibrillator) placement and training
The National Health and Medical Research Council is Australia's largest medical research funder — cardiovascular research receives significant investment:
- Project and investigator grants
- Centres of Research Excellence (some focus on CVD)
- Practitioner fellowships
- Early career fellowships
Competition is intense — most NHMRC grants require institutional affiliations and strong publication records.
State governments fund cardiac services through:
- Hospital cardiac units and cardiac catheterisation labs
- Cardiac rehabilitation programmes
- Community heart failure management programmes
- Primary care cardiac programmes
Philanthropic grants typically complement — not substitute for — this government funding.
RHD is preventable but devastating — and almost entirely affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in remote Australia:
- Caused by untreated streptococcal throat and skin infections → rheumatic fever → RHD
- Young people (teens and twenties) suffer heart valve damage requiring surgery
- Preventable with improved housing, hygiene, and timely antibiotic treatment
- RHD Australia coordinates the national response
RHD funding sources
- Department of Health and Aged Care
- State health departments (particularly NT, WA, QLD)
- Heart Foundation Indigenous heart health
- Philanthropic funders focused on Indigenous health equity
Community defibrillators save lives — enabling bystanders to respond to sudden cardiac arrest:
- Gaming trusts fund community AED purchase (in Australia: state gaming regulators, service clubs)
- Heart Foundation AED funding rounds
- Service clubs (Rotary, Lions) fund local AED placement
- Local councils fund AED in community facilities
- WorkSafe-style grants for workplace AEDs
Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) reduces reinfarcation and death after heart attack — but many patients don't access it:
- Funding for CR programme expansion (particularly in rural areas)
- Digital/telehealth CR for remote patients
- Culturally appropriate CR for Indigenous patients
- Mental health integration in CR (depression post-heart-attack is common and undertreated)
Heart failure is a growing chronic disease burden:
- Community heart failure management programmes (nurse-led)
- Self-management education
- Heart failure clinics to prevent hospital readmission
- Palliative care integration for end-stage heart failure
Prevention
- Cardiovascular risk factor reduction (smoking cessation, physical activity, nutrition)
- Screening programmes (blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol)
- Worksite wellness programmes
- School-based heart health education
Research
- Basic science (mechanisms of heart disease)
- Translational research (lab to clinic)
- Clinical trials
- Health services research (improving delivery and access)
- Indigenous heart health research
Community education
- CPR and first aid
- AED placement and training
- Heart attack warning signs (women's symptoms differ from the "classic" chest pain)
- Stroke awareness (FAST campaign)
Support for patients and families
- Heart Foundation Heart Support Groups
- Online patient communities
- Cardiac nurse support lines
- End-of-life care for cardiac patients
Evidence alignment
Cardiovascular medicine has a strong evidence base — reference evidence-based prevention and treatment guidelines (National Heart Foundation guidelines). Applications that stray from evidence into unproven approaches will face scrutiny.
Population focus
Name your target population clearly. Rural communities, Indigenous populations, low-income communities, and those with limited English have worse heart health outcomes. Funders value programmes targeting underserved populations.
Continuum of care
Show where in the prevention-treatment-rehabilitation-management continuum your programme sits. Strong applications show awareness of the whole pathway, even when focusing on one stage.
Data on unmet need
Use AIHW cardiovascular disease data, ABS health surveys, and local data to demonstrate unmet need in your target community.
Tahua's grants management platform supports health funders and cardiovascular health organisations — with programme participant tracking, health outcome measurement, community reach data, and the reporting tools that help heart health funders demonstrate impact across prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation programmes.