FW is a national digital platform that champions gender equity in Australian workplaces through professional development, advocacy and community. They support women and gender diverse people to progress their careers, while partnering with employers and governments to remove systemic barriers to workforce participation.
The Queensland Government tasked FW with delivering a critical public programme: advertising to and assessing women who are ready to re-enter the workforce after a career break for their eligibility for funding from a $5 million grant. The project operated under intense urgency— a strict seven-week deadline from briefing to launch, a complex government policy environment, and vulnerable women with real financial need.
The grants were designed to address systemic barriers faced by women returning to work, including costs associated with childcare, transport and appropriate clothing. Many applicants were time-poor, lacked access to laptops, lived in regional or remote areas, or relied on unreliable internet connections. The platform therefore needed to be accessible, inclusive and accommodating, while still meeting rigorous eligibility and identity verification requirements.
FW did not have an in-house engineering capability and, after assessing off-the-shelf SaaS options, determined that a custom solution was required to meet policy, scale and user experience needs. Having successfully partnered with ClearPoint previously, FW engaged ClearPoint to design and deliver a secure, scalable solution — at speed — that would ensure funding reached the women who genuinely needed it.
ClearPoint was selected based on an existing strategic partnership, proven delivery capability under pressure, and deep expertise across cloud platforms, experience design and AI engineering. The engagement began with rapid scoping and design led by a ClearPoint Principal Engineer, breaking the programme into pragmatic, high-impact deliverables that prioritised early value.
Two weeks after completing the design, ClearPoint delivered an initial eligibility and information experience, allowing FW to quickly share programme details and capture early interest. In parallel, ClearPoint developed a full grant application platform, optimised for scaling seamlessly as demand increased. Firebase was selected for its development velocity, mature ecosystem and extremely low cost to serve.
A strong focus was placed on inclusive user experience. The application allowed applicants to start, save and return later — critical for those juggling work, caregiving and other responsibilities. Extensive mobile and tablet testing ensured the platform worked reliably on low bandwidth connections, recognising that many applicants did not have access to laptops or stable internet.
To streamline identity verification at scale, ClearPoint implemented Google’s Document AI and worked closely with FW to fine-tune the model for handwritten forms and official Justice of the Peace declarations. Using just 50 training documents, the team achieved an F1 score (a machine learning metric of precision and recall) of 0.90 (87.1% recall and 90.3% accuracy) in a single day. This ensured applications were assessed fairly, with rejections driven by genuine ineligibility rather than technical limitations. The platform went live just five weeks after commencing build.
"From the moment we briefed ClearPoint on the Queensland Women’s Career Grant, there was an immediate alignment of purpose. We were working on a critical initiative to get funding into the hands of women returning to the workforce, and the timeline was incredibly ambitious. The ClearPoint team treated the project with the same urgency and passion that we do at FW. They helped us turn a complex policy commitment into a seamless digital reality, and seeing the first $5 million in applications approved within just four weeks has been an incredible milestone for us all."
Mel Lee, FW Director (Digital)
The platform has been highly effective, with $5 million in approved applications delivered within four weeks of going live. Eligible women began receiving payments before Christmas, ensuring timely financial support at a critical moment. The solution has proven its ability to operate at real-world scale while maintaining fairness, accessibility and policy integrity.
By automating document processing and identity verification, FW saved hundreds of hours of manual effort, allowing staff to focus on supporting applicants rather than processing paperwork. The success of the programme strengthened FW’s relationship with the Queensland Government and demonstrated their strategic shift toward a technology- and platform-led model for scaling social impact.
For ClearPoint, the engagement reinforced its ability to deliver mission-critical digital platforms at high-velocity, combining modern cloud architecture, inclusive design and applied AI to deliver outcomes that matter.