Community Grants and Funding Opportunities

The objectives of the Men’s Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Small Grants Program are to:

• conduct community driven and well supported mental health, resilience and wellbeing projects, targeting men
• deliver mental health, resilience and wellbeing benefits to individuals and groups of men across the state
• reduce loneliness and social isolation among men
• promote mental health, wellbeing and resilience among men, in general, or a specific population group of men such as Aboriginal men, boys and young adult men, older men, men living with a disability, men living in rural and remote areas, or LGBTQ+ men.
• where appropriate, establish connections between community mental health and wellbeing organisations for ongoing referral and support pathways
• where appropriate, develop the cultural competency and cultural safety of mental health and wellbeing organisations to increase their accessibility and responsiveness to priority population groups of men, such as those listed above

Who is eligible to apply?

• To be eligible to apply for a grant under the Program, applications must demonstrate that the proposed project will be delivered within NSW.
• The applicant must be an incorporated, not for profit organisation and have at least $5 million public liability insurance.
• The applicant must be solvent and not under external administration.
• Applications must address all requirements applicable for the grant being applied and be submitted by the closing date and time.
• The applicant must acknowledge that:
  • it has read and understood the Grant Deed Standard Conditions including the reporting requirements applicable for each type of grant; and
  • if an offer of grant funding is made, the grant will be subject to the execution of the Grant Deed Standard Conditions or mutually agreed funding terms.
• Consortium approaches are permitted. 

The Royal Agricultural Society Foundation (RASF) is offering opportunities for community-minded people to be awarded  funding for community projects in their local area.

Previously funding has gone to projects including air-conditioning in the local hall to portable yard panels for the showground or a pop-up gazebo, satisfying community needs and benefiting many.

The RASF invites ideas that deliver strong community benefits and result in enhanced economic and social outcomes for your community. Projects that involve collaboration between people in your town and deliver sustained and broad community benefits will be highly regarded. Applicants will be passionate about rural and regional NSW and have a good understanding of any issues affecting their community.

Infrastructure for local showgrounds and Show Societies are eligible. The improvements must demonstrate that they go beyond benefiting just the local Show Society in running the local Show. They must enable broader use by other community groups to run on-going projects or programs.

While the criteria for this program are broad, the RASF does not fund wages, consultant’s fees, one-off events, operational and administration costs, travel or accommodation

The Program specifically seeks to address technology-facilitated gender-based violence (hereafter referred to as ‘tech-based abuse of women’). For the purposes of these guidelines, tech-based abuse can be broadly described as any behaviour that uses technology to harm others based on their sexual or gender identity.

Women are a key focus of the program because they are represented in statistics as being at greater risk of violence and abuse, including from tech abuse. The majority of reports to eSafety under our cyberbullying and adult cyber abuse schemes, are received from women and girls. Women experience online abuse that is personal, sexualised, often violent and threatening, and which can cause real, enduring harm.

The Program will complement the existing work of eSafety to help safeguard Australians at  risk from online harms and to promote safer, more positive online experiences.

The objectives of the Program are to:

1. increase public awareness about the prevalence and impact of tech-based abuse against women and their children, including when it occurs in the context of family and domestic violence, and dating violence
2. support development of, and access to, innovative initiatives, including new programs and resources that address the drivers of tech-based abuse against women and their children and improve women’s safety, including in specific demographic or geographic communities
3. support initiatives that aim to challenge and shift the prevailing social norms that contribute to tech-based abuse against women and their children
4. support initiatives that promote positive and respectful behaviour and accountability in men and boys that perpetrate or may perpetrate tech-based abuse against women and their children.

What’s new for Round 2? 

eSafety has introduced a priority funding pool for projects that support First Nations communities.  

Up to $600,000 of the total funding for the round is available to organisations with a commitment to delivering projects with and for communitiesthat focus on the prevention of tech-based abuse of First Nations women. 

The Australian Government is inviting applications through a Targeted Competitive process to apply for funding under the VWG Program.

The VWG program provides funding for ex-service organisations (ESOs) or non-ESOs in a consortium with at least one ESO and be an eligible entity type to undertake projects and activities that sustain or enhance health and social wellbeing, build community capacity, potentially expand on existing projects and raise awareness of important issues faced by the veteran community.

The Australian Government has announced a total of up to $3.834 million (GST exclusive) for the VWG Program for the 2024–25 financial year. There is no set proportion of the $3.834 million allocated per stream. Applications will be considered under grant categories: Stream A Small Grants (up to a maximum of $50,000 per grant) and Stream B Large Grants (from $50,001 to a maximum of $200,000 per grant).

The objectives of the VWG Program are to:

• maintain and improve the independence and quality of life of members of the veteran community, by providing funding for activities and projects that sustain or enhance health and social wellbeing
• deliver activities and projects not already provided by Commonwealth or state funding to the veteran community to build future community capacity
• expand on existing activities and projects offered to veterans in new regions within Australia or in the development of new activities and projects that will be offered in more than one location
• raise awareness of the important issues faced by the veteran community.

To be eligible, an organisation must be one of the following entity types:

• Company
• Cooperative
• Incorporated Association
• Indigenous Corporation
• Statutory Entity.

Applications from Trustees on behalf of a Trust  and consortia  are acceptable, as long as:

• at least one of the members is an ESO
• the lead applicant has an eligible entity type as per the list above
• the lead applicant is solely accountable to the Commonwealth for the delivery of grant activities.

When fishing in NSW waters, both freshwater and saltwater, recreational fishers are required to pay the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee. All revenue raised by the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is placed into the Recreational Fishing Trusts. There are two Trusts - one for saltwater and one for freshwater. Funds from the Trusts are used to deliver a wide range of projects and programs to boost recreational fishing opportunities in NSW. 

There are different funding applications to choose from when applying for funding:

• Small projects - seeking less than $10,000 of funding
• Large projects - seeking more than $10,000 of funding

What types of projects are funded?

• Recreational fishing small infrastructure - fishing amenities such as fishing platforms, fish cleaning tables, kayak launching platforms, fishing access tracks, fishing safety infrastructure, fishing line bins and other angler facilities
• Recreational fishing large infrastructure
• Improving fishing access - providing more fishing locations, protection of fishing access
• Recreational fishing education and participation - recreational fishing workshops and training sessions, community fishing events, Fishcare volunteers, schools education, providing fishing information to fishers
• Research on fish and recreational fishing - fishing surveys, biology of popular recreational species, angler catch projects, effectiveness of stocking practices
• Aquatic habitat rehabilitation and protection - aquatic habitat protection, improving aquatic habitat for recreational fishing benefit, community grants to remove barriers to fish migration, replanting & protecting riverbank vegetation, restoring water flows, etc.
• Recreational fishing enhancement - fish aggregating devices, artificial reefs, fish stocking
• Fishing for mental health and well-being - promoting the health and well-being benefits of recreational fishing, fishing for therapy initiatives
• Enforcement of fishing rules - DPIRD Fisheries officers

Who can apply?

Fishing clubs, fishing organisations, relevant community organisations, schools, universities, councils,  etc.

The Boating Infrastructure for Communities Grants Program aims to improve access to waterways for boaters of all abilities, particularly focusing on boaters with limited mobility. It aims to enhance the boating experience by upgrading infrastructure, such as boat ramps, pontoons, and amenities, ensuring the safe and enjoyable use of NSW waterways for both recreational and commercial boating communities. This program also seeks to address environmental sustainability and safety improvements, with an emphasis on projects that align with local community needs.

Who can apply

Applications are welcomed from local councils, government agencies, community groups and the private sector.

Types of projects funded under this grant

• Disability and mobility access improvements
  • Projects may include the installation of wheelchair hoists, handrail upgrades to pontoons and installation of accessibility compliant pontoons
• Boating access improvements
  • Projects may include development of or upgrades for boat ramps, wharves, jetties, pontoons, and non-powered vessel access facilities
• Boating amenity and service improvements
  • Projects may include sewage pump-out facilities, fuel and water services, toilets, car and trailer parking, dinghy storage, vessel wash-down facilities, lighting and signage (including electronic variable message signs)
• Local dredging projects
  • Projects that provide navigable access to local boating facilities
• Strategic plans, detailed designs and feasibility studies
  • Projects may include investigations that prioritise and identify long-term boating infrastructure needs and support future boating infrastructure investment
• Priority infrastructure needs at key investment locations
  • Eligible projects are those that support priority infrastructure outcomes within the Maritime Infrastructure Plan

The Safe Places for Faith Communities Grants provides funding for places of worship and other eligible places where faith communities gather regularly.

The program aims to enable faith communities to:

• Come together safely to profess, practice and maintain their faith and religious heritage
• Reduce the risk of harm to people or damage to property
• Build community resilience, wellbeing and cohesion.

The grant amount available for application is $5,000 to a maximum of $250,000, exclusive of GST.

Grant funding is provided as a one-off payment. The funding is non-recurrent. The project must be completed, and funds expended, by 30 June 2026.

The total grant program funding is $15 million. $5 million is available for application in this funding round of the program. The next round of grant program will open in the 2025-26 financial year.

Edified’s Energiser Grants provide financial support to worthy projects initiated by students and alumni around the world. They help ideas become reality, with the aim of creating positive change for the members of the initiators’ communities.

Your community could be your home town, your country, or anywhere around the world. It could be a specific group of people, such as children in remote areas or adults working in health. It could even be a virtual community. They only ask that your project doesn’t exclude people on the basis of race, faith or sexuality.

Eligibility:

To be eligible for a grant, your project must be aimed at improving education within your community. It could be anything – language tutoring programs, building safe spaces for girls to learn, or a new EdTech platform.

You need to be a current student or recent graduate (within the past five years) of an Australian, New Zealand, UK, Irish, Canadian or European educational institution (these regions are chosen because that’s where our clients are). Your institution must have delivered higher education, vocational training or English language tuition.

Domestic and international students of any nationality and from any study mode, including part-time, online and offshore, are welcome to apply. The grants are open to both individuals and groups.

The project can be delivered in any country in the world.

The HDP Grant funding aims to support early childhood education and care providers to embed suitable strategies to enable their partnership, and children’s participation, in the HDC Program and related capacity building supports. The key objective of the HDP Grant is to increase awareness of and engagement with the HDC Program.

Who can apply:

• Not-for-profit community preschool (centre based or mobile);
• Not-for-profit long day care (as identified in the National Quality Agenda IT system, or where sufficient evidence is provided upon request), including a local government managed service;
• Multifunctional Aboriginal Children’s Service*;
• Aboriginal Child and Family Centre*
• Aboriginal Controlled Community Organisation*; and
• Standalone for-profit long day care (defined as for profit providers operating a single long day care service as identified by the National Quality Agenda IT system);

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music Office (NATSIMO), with funding from Music Australia, has announced the first series of LIFECYCLE Touring Grants, which will provide 12 grants of $20,000 for touring artists.

The grants are designed to support national touring activities for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander music creators, supporting growth and fostering a vibrant, visible and inclusive music landscape.

All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music creators are invited to apply, and eligibility is not restricted to members of APRA AMCOS.

From February 2024, eligible parents, guardians and carers of school-aged children can apply for a new voucher. This program to support eligible families with school-aged children to participate in sport, recreational, creative or cultural activities with registered providers.

The voucher is valued at $50 and:

• will be available twice a year, starting from February 2024
• can be used for eligible active or creative activities with registered providers
• must be redeemed before the expiry date on the voucher.

You will be able to apply for a voucher if:

• your child is a NSW resident and aged between 4.5 and 18 years old
• you receive:
  • Family Tax Benefit Part A
  • Family Tax Benefit Part B
  • Both Family Tax Benefit Part A and Family Tax Benefit Part B.

Each quarter, SilverChef provides four grants, each worth $5,000, to community groups that use foodservice and hospitality to uplift the community. The grants comprise $3,750 credit to be spent on SilverChef’s Certified Used equipment range; with a balance of up to $1,250 that can be paid in cash, or allocated towards more equipment and/or freight costs.

The SilverChef Community Grants Program is open to eligible Australian community groups that use hospitality or food services to help disadvantaged or under-served members of their local community. 

These community groups can include:

• Registered charities and not-for-profits
• Social enterprises (direct-benefit, cross-subsidy or donation model)
• Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander Corporations (organisation with an ABN which uses more than 50% of its time and/or resources to improve the lives of Indigenous peoples)

The Educational Scholarship Program was established to fund eligible Aboriginal individuals to undertake training or education related to learning and teaching Aboriginal Language for the benefit of their Communities, and across NSW more broadly.

The two objectives of the NSW Aboriginal Languages Educational Scholarship Program are:

• to support Aboriginal individuals undertake their Languages training and education to grow the number of Aboriginal Languages speakers, educators and teachers across NSW Communities, in alignment with the objectives and functions of the AL Act and ALT Strategic Plan 2022 - 2027 » Aboriginal Languages Trust (nsw.gov.au).
• to undertake research to strengthen the use and practice of Aboriginal Languages within NSW Aboriginal Communities, whilst valuing Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing and ensuring Community has sovereignty over Language research outcomes

To be eligible you must:

• Identify and be recognised by your Community as an Aboriginal person;
• be a NSW Resident*;
• be Enrolled in Aboriginal Languages Course (or module(s)) at an ALT recognised Aboriginal Community Languages Organisation or NSW TAFE; OR
• be enrolled in an Undergraduate or Master’s degree or studying Postgraduate Module(s); OR
• be enrolled in a PhD or Doctorate in NSW relating to Aboriginal Languages research; OR
• be engaged by an ALT recognised Aboriginal Community Languages Organisation to undertake Aboriginal Languages research (for Community-led research projects – not delivered by a Tertiary Institution)

Note: * Exception may be granted under special circumstances, where an applicant can demonstrate that the Language group area crosses State borders and/or the study/research will significantly benefit a NSW Languages group.

School leavers and career changers who enrol full-time in initial teacher education (ITE) programs commencing in the first semester/study period of 2025 may be eligible for up to $40,000 from the Australian Government to support them in their studies.

The Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships Program aims to attract more high-achieving and diverse candidates into teaching by supporting new undergraduate and postgraduate ITE students to meet the costs of their study in exchange for teaching in government schools or government-run early learning settings for a time equivalent to the length of their ITE program.

Up to 1,000 scholarships per year will be offered over five years between 2024 – 2028.

Eligibility:

Applicants must be new ITE students commencing their full-time course in the first study period or semester of 2025 who are living in Australia and

are either an

• Australian citizen;
• Permanent resident;
• holder of a permanent humanitarian visa; or
• a New Zealand citizen living in Australia. 

The objective of this grant opportunity is to:

• support the development and delivery of community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led justice reinvestment initiatives across Australia, by supporting:
  • the development, implementation, and evaluation of local justice reinvestment strategies and activities 
  • local project teams and leadership structures to undertake the work of developing, implementing and evaluating justice reinvestment strategies.

The intended outcomes of this grant opportunity are:

• Improving justice outcomes and reducing contact with the criminal justice system and incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults and young people, in line with Closing the Gap Targets 10 and 11.
• Contributing to systemic reform of government systems that intersect with the justice system.
• Contributing to building a strong and sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector delivering high quality services to meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the country.

The Australia-Indonesia Institute (AII) seeks to strengthen the Australia-Indonesia relationship in ways that enhance mutual understanding and people-to-people links. The AII grant program aims to: increase public awareness of Australia in Indonesia, and of Indonesia in Australia, and the importance of the bilateral relationship; develop partnerships in areas of shared interest in the bilateral, regional and global context; and increase Australians’ capacity to effectively engage with Indonesia and Indonesians’ ability to effectively engage with Australia. 

To be eligible you must:

• be one of the following entity types:
  • an Australian entity with an Australian Business Number (ABN), Australian Company Number (ACN), or Indigenous Corporation Number (ICN)
  • an Australian consortium with a lead organisation
  • an Australian registered charity or not-for-profit organisation
  • an Australian local government body
  • an Australian State/Territory government body
  • a Corporate Commonwealth Entity
  • an Australian statutory authority
  • be an Australian citizen or permanent resident of Australia
  • be a citizen or organisation from Indonesia.
• and be willing to provide or develop child protection guidelines that meet the Child Protection Policy | Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (dfat.gov.au) for your project if it involves people under the age of 18 years.

This grant opportunity provides organisations, such as schools and community groups, with funds to sponsor a student or group of students to participate in STEM engagement events, activities and competitions that are hosted in-person or online, within Australia or overseas.

The intended outcomes of the grant opportunity is to:

• support Australian students to develop STEM skills
• increase the number of students applying to participate in domestic and international STEM competitions and events
• increase the number of students participating in STEM education and going on to a career in STEM
• increase engagement and participation in groups under-represented in STEM.

For this grant opportunity $1.6 million is available for the 2024-25 financial year. The grant amount will be up to 100% of eligible project costs.

• The minimum grant amount is $1,500
• The maximum grant amount is $15,000.

The maximum grant amount per student is:

• $2,000 to participate in a STEM engagement event, activity or competition occurring within Australia; and
• $5,000 to participate in a STEM engagement event, activity or competition requiring international travel.

Funding will be provided through two Streams based on the Index of Community Socio-educational Advantage (ICSEA) value of the school that the involved student or group of students are enrolled at.

• Stream 1: At least $800,000 in funding is available for applications on the behalf of a student or group of students enrolled in a school with an ICSEA value of 1000 or below.
• Stream 2: Up to $800,000 in funding is available for applications on the behalf of a student or group of students enrolled in a school with an ICSEA value of 1001 or above.

You may submit multiple applications for the same STEM event, activity or competition, noting the combined total amount of those applications cannot exceed $15,000.

Eligibility:

You can apply if you:

• have an Australian business number (ABN)
• are one of the following entities:
  • a primary or secondary school that is registered with the relevant authority
  • an incorporated not for profit organisation
  • an entity incorporated in Australia
• are able to enter into a grant agreement in your own right or through an affiliated entity.

Government Schools in NSW, SA, TAS and WA
Government schools in New South Wales (NSW), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS) and Western Australia (WA) are not legal entities in their own right. You must include your relevant state or territory education department's ABN as a Collaborator in your application in order to enter into a grant agreement.

Unincorporated Associations and Entities
Non-government schools, including catholic organisations, that are unincorporated entities must apply through a related incorporated entity in order to enter into a grant agreement.

Additional eligibility requirements
We will only accept applications where you:

• apply on behalf of a student or group of students under the age of 18 (at the time of application) to participate in a specific STEM event, activity or competition that meets the requirements under the grant opportunity guidelines and any qualification or acceptance requirements have been met
• declare the group of students participating at the STEM event, activity or competition are supported by their school or organisation
• declare that you have the capacity to meet any costs of participation at the STEM event, activity or competition not covered by grant funding
• declare that the event, activity or competition is not being run by the applicant
• declare that you have not already received funding to attend this event, competition or undertake this activity either under this program or through other sources of Australian government funding.

The Australian Government is inviting applications via an open competitive process to apply for grant funding under the National Disability Conference Initiative (NDCI) 2025-26. The NDCI is delivered as part of the activities supporting Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031 and assists in delivering improved outcomes for people living with disability and their carers.

This grant opportunity provides grants to conference organisers to assist people with disability to participate in nationally focused, disability-related, conferences held in Australia. Grants will support eligible conference organisers to provide accessibility measures that maximise the inclusion and participation of people living with disability at their conference. This in turn supports the vision of Australia’s Disability Strategy.

To be eligible you must:

• be the conference organiser
• confirm the conference will be held in Australia in the 2025–26 financial year
• hold a conference that is disability-related and nationally-focused (refer to section 5.1 Eligible grant activities)
• not be receiving (or applying for) funding from another government source for the same activity and purpose that you are requesting NDCI funding for (that is, to provide accessibility measures that will maximise the inclusion and participation of people with disability at their conference)
• be one of the following entity types:
  • Indigenous Corporation
  • Company 
  • Cooperative
  • Incorporated Association
  • Statutory Entity
  • Partnership.

The 2025-27 Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Grants program funds projects that support better management, maintenance, conservation and activation of declared Aboriginal Places under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.

You are eligible to apply for the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Grants category if you:

• are the owner, manager, long-term lessee or custodian (or have written support from all custodians/owners) of an Aboriginal Place declared under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974
• are a Local Aboriginal Land Council, local council, business, non-government organisation, community group or individual, with your operations and headquarters in NSW (if you are a business or incorporated entity)
• have legal responsibility for maintenance and repair of the declared Aboriginal Place.

The 2025-27 Activating State Heritage Grant program aims to increase public engagement with items listed on the NSW State Heritage Register. It's designed to protect and promote State heritage by incentivising owners to invest in heritage activation.

The NSW Government is looking for applications that can demonstrate a better use of space, engage community in heritage, contribute to community wellbeing and support economic activity and vibrancy within our local areas.

You are eligible to apply for the Activating State Heritage Grant category if you:

• are the owner, manager, long-term lessee or custodian of an item listed on the State Heritage Register (SHR) in NSW:
  • with written support of the owners of the site (if you are a manager or lessee)
  • with written support of all owners or owners’ corporation (if the site has multiple owners).
• have legal responsibility for maintenance and repair of the SHR listed item
• agree to provide matched funding for the project
• are a local council, business, non-government organisation, community group or individual, with your operations and headquarters in NSW (if you are a business or incorporated entity).

Applicants without an ABN or ACN will have to provide a statement by supplier form.

Please note, you are required to hold at least $20 million in public liability insurance in order to enter into a funding deed with the NSW Government. You are not required to have this insurance at the time of application. If successful, you will be asked to provide a copy of your certificate of currency when entering into a funding agreement.