NHMRC Targeted Call for Research: Childhood Dementia 2026

Maximum grant amount: $5,000,000
Grant duration: Up to 5 years
Applications close: 3 June 2026

The Targeted Call for Research (TCR): Childhood Dementia 2026 aims to accelerate research that transforms the diagnosis, care and therapeutic landscape for children living with dementia and their families. Childhood dementia refers to a group of rare, progressive and life-limiting neurodegenerative disorders, and this call seeks to support coordinated, high-impact research addressing critical gaps across diagnosis, care, treatment development and family support.

The initiative supports multidisciplinary and translational research that can deliver system-level impact, improve equity of access to care and strengthen Australia’s health system readiness to respond to childhood dementia.

Key Requirements

Proposed research must address one or more of the following priority areas:

Rapid diagnosis: Developing and implementing faster diagnostic pathways, including improved clinician awareness, screening protocols and referral systems.
Care models: Designing and evaluating evidence-based, multidisciplinary care frameworks for children with dementia, including rehabilitation, symptom management and integrated palliative care approaches.
Therapeutic development: Advancing translational research to better understand disease mechanisms, identify novel therapeutic targets and prepare the health system for disease-modifying treatments.
Psychosocial and family support: Developing scalable interventions to support mental health, wellbeing, grief and care coordination for families and carers.

What is eligible for funding?

Research to accelerate and improve diagnosis of childhood dementia, including development of rapid diagnostic pathways, screening tools, clinical protocols and referral models.
Design, evaluation or implementation of evidence‑based multidisciplinary care models, including rehabilitation, symptom management and integrated palliative care approaches.
Translational and therapeutic research that advances understanding of disease mechanisms, identifies novel therapeutic targets or improves health system readiness for disease‑modifying treatments.
Research focused on psychosocial, mental health and wellbeing support for children with dementia and their families, including scalable care coordination and support models.
Projects that deliver system‑level impact, improve equity of access to care and support national consistency in diagnosis, treatment and care delivery.

Projects may include clinical, translational, health services or implementation research and must be led and administered through an NHMRC‑approved Administering Institution.

What companies are eligible for funding?

Applications will only be accepted from NHMRC-approved Administering Institutions, including universities and eligible research organisations. Individual researchers must apply through an approved Administering Institution.

All applications must meet the eligibility and governance requirements set out in the official NHMRC TCR: Childhood Dementia 2026 Guidelines.

Is this grant competitive or entitlement based?

Competitive. Your application will be assessed among other applications by a judging panel.

How can I increase my chances of winning this grant?

By engaging an accredited government grants consultant, such as Avant Group.

Competitive grants often require significant business case development and project analysis to support the application, this may include detailed presentations supporting the project’s merit, projected sales, cost-benefit analysis and more.

As part of your engagement with Avant Group, your account manager will assess the required documents and will provide the following as needed to support your grant submission.

Grant application writeup including a detailed presentation illustrating how the grant funding will contribute to your project, how the funding will contribute to the project’s budget, a project milestone plan, delivery timeline, impact on employment if applicable and a breakdown of the management and leadership team for the project

Industry analysis presentation
Competitor Analysis Presentation
Marketing and Sales Analysis Presentation
3-5 year Cashflow Forecast
3-5 year Balance Sheet Forecast
Cost-Benefit Analysis of Grant Funding
End-to-end grant application including information collating, analysis and application writing
CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) cost-benefit analysis
Stakeholder relations and Risk Mitigation Plans
Any other relevant forecasting that will support your application

How can I get help with my application? Or know if I’m likely to win funding?

Avant Group offers a no-obligation assessment of your eligibility for funding and will assess your likelihood of a successful grant application.

This grant is open

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