Community Grants and Funding Opportunities

ANZ Seeds of Renewal is a small grants program designed to help build vibrant and sustainable rural communities, to ensure the ongoing prosperity of regional Australia.

The program demonstrates ANZ’s ongoing commitment to shape a world where people and communities thrive. It is built on two key tenets:

• Vibrant communities are diverse and inclusive with strong social capital, where everyone can participate and build a better life; and

• Sustainable communities innovate, expand, and create opportunities that will deliver demonstrable medium to long-term economic benefit to the community, contributing to economic sustainability.

 Who can apply?

Applications are invited from not-for-profit, community based organisations (with an ABN or Incorporation Certificate), including social enterprises, who will deliver projects with a demonstrable medium to long term benefit to a regional community of 15,000 people or less.

The grants program provides financial support to organisations and projects that contribute to the development and promotion of the communities in which we live and work.

There are two types of activities that GrainCorp’s Grants program funds:

1. Community-related programs & activities (Maximum funding limit: $20,000)
2. Community infrastructure projects (Maximum funding limit: $20,000)

To be eligible for a grant, the organisation or project must:

• Be based within a GrainCorp operational region or region linked to grain growing activities;
• Be intended to have a positive effect on local communities in rural and regional areas;
• Demonstrate a direct connection with community development; and
• Align with at least one of GrainCorp’s Community Foundation Pillars.

GrainCorp opens two rounds every year for grant funding applications:

• 1 – 28 February
• 1 – 31 July

The Kick Start grant will help young Australians with a disability access financial support to re-join their supporting club and/or sporting competitions. The funds can help pay club registration fees, carer costs, extra coaching, team uniforms or travel to participate in the sport.

Eligibility Criteria

• Funds to help reconnect to sports post lifting of social isolation. Including competition cost, equipment, coaching fees
• Applications close on Friday 31 July 2026‍
• Recipients will be notified in October 2026‍
• Recipients will be announced November 2026‍
• Previous recipients will not be able to apply for 2026 grants
• Funds are to be spent by 1 March 2027
• All receipts and acquittals forms must be submitted
• If awarded a grant, accept the T&Cs including publishing details of your name, age, place of residence, sporting club, and photos

The Next Chapter program elevates Australian stories that aren’t being told and nurtures a new wave of writers to tell them.   

Each Next Chapter writer will receive a $15,000 stipend and be paired with a handpicked mentor to work closely with them over a twelve-month period as they progress a major writing project. The program also offers meaningful opportunities for the recipients to connect with peers, agents, publishers and readers. 

Participants will also receive the opportunity to attend a residency at Varuna, The National Writers’ House, and attend an end-of year publishing intensive at The Wheeler Centre. 

Of the writers selected, there will be one fellowship place dedicated specifically to a poet, The Malcolm Robertson Fellowship. 

BlueScope Sporting Club grant will be awarded to four registered sporting clubs affiliated with a National Sporting Organisation (as recognised by Sport Australia). The grant is for specific programs to include children with a disability and/or enable children with a disability to be members of their clubs.

The funding can be used for new and upgraded equipment such as marquees, lights, accessible club rooms and restrooms, accessible technology for club digital equipment, cost to implement programs specifically for children with a disability and/or to educate club officials/coaches/volunteers on working with children with a disability.

Eligibility Criteria

• Registered Australian sporting Club affiliated with a National Sporting Organisation
• Criteria must be addressed in the application and this relates to how the grant will directly benefit and improve registration of children with a disability in their club
• If shortlisted, a letter from your Club President must be provided, confirming and supporting this application
• Applications closed on Friday 31 July 2026‍
• Recipients will be notified in October 2026‍
• Recipients will be announced November 2026‍
• Previous recipients will not be able to apply for 2026 grants
• Funds are to be spent by 1 March 2027
• All receipts and acquittals forms must be submitted
• If awarded a grant, accept the T&Cs including publishing details of sporting club name, location and photos

The Huperco No Barriers grant will help young Australians aged 7-12 with a disability over come initial start-up costs to participate in sport. The funds are to be used towards new and upgraded equipment, club and competition fees, cost of travel and accommodation. 

Eligibility Criteria

• Funds to help reconnect to sports post lifting of social isolation. Including competition cost, equipment, coaching fees
• Applications closed on Friday 31 July 2026‍
• Recipients will be notified in October 2026‍
• Recipients will be announced November 2026‍
• Previous recipients will not be able to apply for 2026 grants
• Funds are to be spent by 1 March 2027
• All receipts and acquittals forms must be submitted
• If awarded a grant, accept the T&Cs including publishing details of your name, age, place of residence, sporting club, and photos.

The Program aims to help the NSW community rediscover the culture, the events and the people that shaped transport in NSW over the past 170 years, as well as support the restoration and conservation of, and access to our valuable heritage assets (including buildings, rolling stock, vehicles, museum objects and collections).

Depending on the type of project, the following are eligible to apply for grants:

• Organisations: NSW or ACT¹ based bodies corporate that are not-for-profit or charitable institutions with transport heritage and/or NSW heritage or history as their primary objective and purpose.
• Individuals: Members of Transport Heritage NSW. Individuals may apply in the following categories but only in partnership with an eligible organisation:
  • Restoration, reconstruction or preservation
  • Exhibition, interpretation, education or publication
  • Audience development, accessibility and inclusion.

¹ ACT organisations may only apply for heavy rail projects relating to the history and heritage of NSW
Government Railway

The Pathway to Paralympic grant is for aspiring Paralympians. This grant will help support two potential Paralympians with Paralympic-level performance and assist in the additional costs incurred.

The Pathway to Paralympic grant is for aspiring Paralympians. This grant will help support two potential Paralympians with Paralympic-level performance support and assist in the additional costs incurred.

The grants cover the cost of new and upgraded equipment, international competition, additional coaching support and travel (particularly where travel with equipment or a carer/guide is required). Applicants need to provide a written endorsement from their State or National Federation.‍

Eligibility Criteria

• Recipient must have achieved state or national representation in their sport, and state their plans or intentions to qualify for the next Paralympic or International competition
• Registered with a Sporting Club or intends to use the funds join a Sporting Club
• The applicant will need to provide a written endorsement from their State or National federation
• Applications closed on Friday 31 July 2026
• Recipients will be notified in October 2026
• Recipients will be announced November 2026
• Previous recipients will not be able to apply for 2026 grants
• Funds are to be spent by 1 March 2027
• All receipts and acquittals forms must be submitted
• If awarded a grant, accept the T&Cs including publishing details of your name, age, place of residence, sporting club, and photos

Every year the Sisters of Charity Foundation provides grants of up to $20,000 to incredible community projects and programs that break down social isolation and alleviate the impact of poverty on individuals and families.

Community Grants are aimed at helping groups who already make a huge difference to those in need, so they can have an even bigger impact. These groups might struggle to access funding through other avenues but are meeting very real needs in clever ways.

The grants have been used to support a wide range of people, including those experiencing homelessness, food insecurity or domestic violence, disadvantaged families with babies and children, at-risk youth, people living with disabilities, Indigenous people, older people, and those who have been incarcerated or affected by health issues and their families.

The Foundation favours projects that:

• Provide compassion, hope and immediate, practical assistance.
• Are strongly aligned with one or more Foundation goals: to improve financial wellbeing, promote social inclusion, strengthen wellbeing and stability during times of crisis, foster awareness and understanding, and empower marginalised communities.
• Do not receive significant government and philanthropic support.
• Are not associated with well-established organisations with significant reserves.

The Bunnings Community Grants program provides targeted grants of up to $10,000 to support practical projects that deliver real, local impact. Ensuring funding is directed where it can make the greatest difference, this structure introduces a clear and transparent way for Bunnings to support communities across Australia and New Zealand.

Designed to complement existing store‑led community support, the program focuses on initiatives that strengthen resilience, build capability and respond to genuine community needs.

To be eligible for the Bunnings Community Grants Program, you must be a registered not for profit organisation in Australia (with a valid ABN) or New Zealand (with a valid NZBN). Grants are not available to individuals or international organisations.

The Protecting Our Places program encourages and empowers Aboriginal communities to protect, conserve and restore landscapes and waterways important to them.

The program has 3 key objectives:

• Enabling Aboriginal communities to gain more autonomy over their projects, strengthening their ability to deliver favourable results for their cultural heritage, cultural practices and the environment.
• Promoting the sharing and safeguarding of cultural knowledge among Aboriginal groups, government agencies and the community. This enables Aboriginal people to influence the management and preservation of their cultural and environmental resources on their ancestral lands.
• Ensuring land that is culturally important to Aboriginal communities is protected, restored, improved and managed by local Aboriginal groups, land managers and other stakeholders in a way that fosters Healthy Country. This approach deepens the connection between Aboriginal people and their traditional lands and waterways.

The Queer Futures Fund is a grant program designed to empower and uplift LGBTQIA+SB young people aged between 18 to 26 years old.

Grants of between $5,000 and $20,000 are available to support arts, culture and community based projects run by LGBTQIA+SB youth for LGBTQIA+SB youth.

The Queer Futures Fund is open to individuals, organisations or groups. Applicants may be emerging artists and performers, community organisers, writers or filmmakers (and so much more). The aim is to support Queer expression in whatever form you imagine, the creation and strengthening of communities and the cultural shifts that occur from each passion project.

Projects must commence between 1 January and 30 June 2027. There's no fixed end date, though most projects are completed within 12 months. They ask that you outline clear milestones so they can see how you plan to get there.

To be eligible for an Queer Futures Fund grant, applicants must:

• 26 years old or younger (18 to 26) by 1st December 2027.

• Identify LGBTQIA+SB

• Based in Australia

• Have an Australian Business Number (ABN)

• Have a Tax File Number (TFN) (if applicant is an individual)

Eligible projects must:

• Commence between 1 January and 30 June 2027

• Be lead by LGBTQIA+SB young people

• Meaningfully engage LBGTQIA+SB community in development or presentation

Ignite Pride Grants are to empower the community to do what it does best: support each other.

These grants are perfect for local or place-based organisations, groups or projects that work directly with LGBTQIA+ people and communities. Applications are also welcomed for projects or activities with state, territory or national focus or that address systemic issues or gaps.

Grants are between $5,000 and $20,000. The total pool will fund approximately 8-10 grant partners.

To be eligible for an Ignite Pride grant, applicants must:

• be an Australian charity registered with the ACNC (or auspiced by an Australian charity registered with the ACNC)

• be an organisation and/or project based in Australia for the benefit of LGBTQIA+ people in Australia

• be specifically working with and led by LGBTQIA+ people and communities

You do not need to be endorsed DGR1 to be eligible for an Ignite Pride grant.

Narrabri Shire Council’s Community Financial Assistance Grant supports the delivery of projects and activities that pursue our values of a connected, unique, and culturally rich community.  The Community Financial Assistance Grant aims to support and empower local clubs and not-for-profit community organisations to deliver activities, programs, and events that contribute to the economic, infrastructure, social connections, and vibrancy of Narrabri Shire.

The Community Financial Assistance Grant is designed to assist our community’s development, provide funding for capacity-building events, projects, programs, and activities that benefit the people and the Shire.

The financial support offered through Council’s Community Financial Assistance Grant seeks to achieve the following objectives:

• Increase the range of, and access to, recreational, social, cultural, and environmental activities, programs, and services to the people of Narrabri Shire.
• Encourage a sense of community pride that allow communities to promote their towns and villages through promotional activities.
• Reflect the community’s priorities and vision
• Provide for the inclusion and participation of all members of the community that enable vulnerable individuals and groups to participate in local activities and opportunities.
• Foster community partnerships and encourage cooperation between community groups, organisations, and Council to ensure that residents and organisations benefit from common resources.
• Promote Narrabri Shire as a vibrant, diverse place to live and visit.

Dementia Australia is offering small grant opportunities of up to $30,000 as a one-off payment, to organisations or groups that support Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities, to raise awareness of dementia in their community, their way. 

Grant recipients will also receive one free professional dementia information session for their staff or committee members, delivered by Dementia Australia. The information session will help staff gain a greater understanding of dementia, empowering them to confidently discuss dementia-related topics with their community members.

This grant aims to: 

• increase equity of access to dementia information and support across diverse groups
• build greater understanding of dementia
• empower staff and community leaders to facilitate conversations about dementia in their community. 

The selection process will prioritise applications that:

• Target the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and/or CALD communities.
• Are led by Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people or people from a CALD background.
• Demonstrate specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time sensitive outcomes.

Residential aged care agencies and University led projects are not eligible to apply. 

Nutrien Ag Solutions Community Grants is a small grants program aiming to contribute to the success, vibrancy and wellbeing of rural and regional communities nationwide.

This grant is open to all communities in remote, rural and regional Australia. Organisations wanting to apply will need to have their project endorsed by a Nutrien Ag Solutions Branch Manager. Please contact FRRR if you do not know where your local Nutrien Ag Solutions branded store is located.

A broad range of charitable projects are considered under this program, including:

• Delivering, or providing activities, events, programs and services;
• Purchasing or hiring equipment and materials;
• Community infrastructure projects such as community facility upgrades;
• Organisational capacity building such as strategic planning; and
• Developing community resources such as volunteer programs, community gardens or providing access to training and skills development

The Woolworths Netball Grants Program supports grassroots netball clubs and associations across the country to improve the health and wellbeing of Aussie kids.

This year, grants of $2,000 will be awarded to 40 clubs across Australia. There will also be a massive $20,000 grant for the winner of the 2026 People’s Choice Prize, as well as 12 Free Fruit for Kids deliveries valued at $250 each or a $250 Woolworths Essentials e-Gift Card to purchase fruit for kids

To be in the running, apply and explain how your club or association would use a grant to help improve the health and wellbeing of Aussie kids, in one or more of the following ways:

• Sporting equipment / uniforms / improvements to facilities
• Access to Woolworths’ NetSetGo program; and/or
• Nutrition

NSW Women’s Week celebrates the contributions of women from all backgrounds and promotes gender equality across NSW. In 2027, Women’s Week will run from Tuesday 2 March to Monday 8 March, aligning with International Women’s Day on 8 March.

Women’s Week Grants fund events held during Women’s Week that advance gender equality by:

• increasing the empowerment and participation of women and girls in our communities
• celebrating and strengthening focus communities
• challenging gender stereotypes, roles and expectations.

Women’s Week Grants fund innovative events that increase the empowerment and participation of women and girls in our communities, which advances gender equality in the long term. Funding provides Aboriginal and / or Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Organisations, rural, regional and remote-based organisations and not-for-profits with an opportunity to give back to their communities by delivering events or activities that benefit local women and girls. 

NSW Women’s Week events must align with at least one of the 3 pillars of the NSW Women's Strategy (2023-2026), these pillars are:

1. Pillar 1 - economic opportunity and advancement
2. Pillar 2 - health and wellbeing
3. Pillar 3 - participation and empowerment

By investing in artists themselves - not just their outcomes - Practice in Community is grounded in the belief that artists are essential to social change and to the thriving of regional communities. It supports the deep, relational work that builds trust, belonging and long-term community impact.

Rather than funding short-term projects, Practice in Community values process over product, supporting the deep, slow, and relational work that builds genuine community connection and supports lasting impact. By embedding artists in everyday life, the program enables community-led projects that build connections, generate exchange, and create opportunities for local people to share stories, explore challenges, and imagine new futures together. The program will enable communities to take a creative and arts-led approach to responding to an identified local priority.

The program aims to:

• Increase community participation in the arts by creating exciting community-led projects.
• Provide vital support for artists by offering multi-year financial resources, mentoring, and professional development that sustains artistic practice and wellbeing.
• Invest in the sustainable development of the CACD sector through practice-led learning, shared knowledge, and stronger networks for artists embedded in community.
• Contribute to social impact outcomes through building connections, generating exchange, and creating opportunities in regional, rural, and remote communities.
• Measure and communicate this impact through a responsive and rigorous learning and evaluation approach.

To be eligible, applicants must be:

• an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• must hold, or be able to obtain, an ABN
• over 18 years old
• living outside a Major City of Australia, as defined by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Remoteness Structure – this means artists living in Inner Regional, Outer Regional, Remote, and Very Remote areas around Australia are eligible
• a resident within 100km of the community in which the proposed project will take place
• a professional, independent artist with at least five years of experience in Community Arts and Cultural Development (CACD) or community-engaged practice
• able to demonstrate an established history of working with communities through creative projects
• available to undertake the program over the relevant two-year term for their cohort, on a part-time basis

Building Digital Skills grants help organisations deliver free Be Connected digital literacy programs to older Australians in their community.

Building Digital Skills grants of up to $20,500 help organisations to support older Australians aged 50+ through free digital mentoring sessions. A range of resources and support materials are available to help organisations to deliver this program, including the learning courses available on the Be Connected learning site.