Search Grants & Funding

The Industry Development Program provides support for organisations to deliver one-off or annual professional development and upskilling initiatives to NSW screen and digital games practitioners. These initiatives may include workshops, masterclasses, forums, labs and targeted professional development activities.

The purpose of the Industry Development Program is to fund skilled organisations to deliver viable and innovative training opportunities to emerging and mid-year screen and digital games professionals, meet industry needs and promote sustainable sector practices in NSW.

The Industry Development Program will open 2 funding rounds during 2026/27. Applications may be submitted at any time during the relevant funding round dates and must address all assessment criteria. Applications will be assessed within the periods outlined in these guidelines and published on the Screen NSW website.

Round 1 

Round 1 is open to applicants seeking Multi-Year or Single Year funding.

Initiatives funded through successful Round 1 applications must commence between 15 September 2026 and 30 June 2027.

Round 2

Round 2 is open only to applicants seeking Single Year funding.

Initiatives funded through successful Round 2 applications must commence between 15 April 2027 and 13 September 2027.

The Believer's Grant Program offers funding for individuals, groups or organisations unleashing young people's creativity.

Your project should connect young people with their creativity, in the broadest sense of the word. Artists are creative, but so are scientists, debaters, community builders and dancers. Your project can be anything from a summer camp to a robotics competition to a co-working holiday house for artists.

They're looking to fund the people, projects and programs that are creating the conditions for young people's creativity to flourish at scale, for inventive and dynamic experiments that encourage young people to be curious, to explore, to be lifelong learners and to build community and become high agency people.

Focus is on projects that are 0-1 (just starting) or 1-10 (scaling or iterating), not established groups or projects.

This could be a neighbourhood community science lab, a hacker house, a hardware garage makerspace, a travelling STEM roadshow or an after-school arts or coding club.

Funding is available to support you to collaborate with survivors and descendants of the Stolen Generations in truth telling, preserving history and educating our communities.

The Healing Foundation and Community Broadcasting Foundation have partnered on a $200k fund to support projects for broadcast/publication on community radio, television and digital platforms.

Stories must be broadcast or published first on a community broadcasting station or digital platform and predominantly produced/led by First Nations people.

Music For All welcomes opportunities to directly support or partner with community groups and organisations that are engaged in delivering projects and initiatives that bring, develop or sustain music-making, learning or participation to the communities in which they serve.

They consider applications from a range of groups including:

• Schools and educational organisations
• Universities*
• Community music groups – choirs, bands etc
• Organisations working in youth or social/community services
• Allied health organisations
• Organisations working in education with interests in music, arts or the creative sector
• Community based creative sector organisations or enterprises
• Philanthropic organisations where common interests are shared and a viable partnership can be established

*It would not be Music For All’s normal practice to support pure research activities, however, programs undertaken by universities that include implementable and practical music-making outcomes as either proof of concept or in a seeding arrangement would be considered. 

Community grants are aimed to reduce barriers for organisations to access funds, allowing them to take the next steps in realising the aspirations they have for the children and families they service.

Grants are always open and are distributed three times per year.

Community Grant Guidelines:

• Aboriginal controlled or led organisations are only eligible
• Activities will be focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the first five years of life and their families.
• Request for funding up to $25,000 will be considered
• Grants are one-off (i.e. funding requests that are short-term in nature rather than those likely to require ongoing funding)
• Any activity must be community endorsed
• All organisations must have DGR1 tax status (in the case your organisation does NOT have DGR1 status, please contact us to discuss before applying).

Important to note: to balance the limited availability of funds with equitable access, priority will be given to:

• organisations which do not currently have a pathway to philanthropic funding or have not recently received a donation from CAGES Foundation
• organisations which have existing early years/family led work embedded in their service or in their strategy

Parents, guardians and carers receiving Family Tax Benefit can apply for an Active and Creative Kids voucher for each eligible child.

The $50 voucher is available twice a year to use towards sport, creative and cultural activities.

Voucher 2 – 2025: Available now

• Apply for and use the voucher by 14 July 2026

Voucher 1 – 2026: Available now

• Apply for and use the voucher by 31 December 2026

Note:

• Vouchers must be used with a registered activity provider.
• If you have 2 vouchers that have not expired, you can use them together for a combined value of $100. Each voucher can only be used once.

Our Country Our Future (OCOF) is the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation's (ILSC) chief funding program for facilitating the return and management of Country to First Nations peoples.

They partner with eligible First Nations groups across Australia and across a range of sectors.

Direct funding is offered for:

• purchasing, managing and/or developing land or water-related interests
• planning and capability building projects to support purchasing, managing and/or developing land or water-related interests

Advice and capability support is also available, including in developing partnerships, markets and other opportunities.

The Young Indigenous Women’s STEM Academy is a program for young Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women from high school through to higher education, tertiary pathways and graduate employment, who are interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

The Academy engages and mentors young Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women in who are interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

There is no cost to schools, students, parents/carers and no additional workloads are expected for busy teachers. The Academy is delivered by over 85% Indigenous staff, with the support of exemplary and Child Safe screened STEM Professional mentors and industry leaders.

The Academy is open to young Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Island women living in Australia. Intakes are dependent on scheduled year cohorts, but they highly encourage potential applicants to email the Academy outside of these schedules, as the program may adapt to new locations and ages depending on demand, year on year.

Eligibility requirements:

• Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander female or female identifying.
• In Year 9 or above from 2024 onwards.
• Passing English, Maths and Science.
• Registered for school or homeschooling in their Australian state or territory.
• Demonstrated interest in STEM subjects and topics.
• Young women registered for school, boarding school or homeschooling.
• An expressed interest in STEM, and eagerness to enrol in STEM subjects as applicable.

CORENA provides interest-free loans to help fund climate projects anywhere in Australia in cases where the up-front capital cost is a barrier. Their team can also offer independent technical advice to overcome barriers to implementing cost-effective climate projects.

They welcome project loan applications from non-profits, community organisations and social enterprises and will also consider businesses or cooperatives with a social or environmental purpose.

Note that projects which are cost effective and ‘pay for themselves’ in a reasonable time (with the loan repayments to them covered by the savings made on bills) are favoured.

Examples of Eligible Projects

Renewable Energy

• Solar panels
• Batteries

Energy Efficiency

• Energy audits
• Heating and cooling
• Lighting retrofits
• Energy monitoring

Getting Off Gas

• Heat pump hot water systems
• Induction stovetops
• Heat pump space heating

Electric Vehicles

• Cars & buses
• Delivery vehicles

CORENA encourages you to look at your energy use as a whole and apply for a combination of the above projects, potentially over a number of years, with the aim of becoming an all electric organisation.

If you have another project that reduces carbon emissions but is not listed above, they will also be happy to consider it, they love to support innovative ideas.

This grant program provides funding to build new or upgrade existing preschools on at least 50 non-government school sites, at both independent and Catholic schools in NSW.

Grants under the program are to be directed towards non-government schools that:

• provide primary education (that is, primary schools and composite (K-12) schools)
• are located in high-growth areas, with consideration of socio-economic status, student demographics and classification as a school for a specific purpose.

To be eligible for funding under the program, a non-government school must:

• be registered for funding assistance under the Education Act 1990 (NSW) (the Act)
• not operate on a ‘for profit’ basis within the meaning of section 83C of the Act
• be affiliated with one of the two grant authorities to the satisfaction of the relevant grant authority
• either own the land or have a lease on the land and/or buildings for a period commensurate with the period in which the grant may be required to be repaid if the school no longer provides education services.

The Emerging Gamemakers Fund offers flexible support to emerging independent games practitioners as well as established gamemakers who are interested in exploring creative and artistic experimentation within their practice.

It can fund the creation of a prototype or the completion and release of a micro-scale game. The program will run as a series of rounds from financial year 2023/24 until financial year 2026/27.

For games that are already developed to the point of having a playable prototype, consider instead applying for the Games Production Fund.

Given the scale of funding available and the obligation for teams to compensate themselves fairly under Screen Australia’s Terms of Trade, this program is aimed at teams of smaller sizes, although larger teams are still eligible to apply.

The Games Production Fund offers flexible support to Australian independent gamemakers and games studios. The grant is aimed at projects that already have an early-stage prototype. 

The program allows Screen Australia to respond to the varied needs of gamemakers at different career stages, providing direct funding that will assist studios in meeting their goals and establishing themselves in the international games landscape.

Applicants must contextualise the milestone they are working towards and how this funding will help them achieve it in their applications. Significant milestones include: 

• Completion/release of a game
• Early Access release of a game
• Completion of a demo (to release at a digital event, or present at a physical event)
• Creating a vertical slice that is of global competitive quality and enables a team to access the international funding and pitching ecosystem
• Developing an early-stage prototype to a quality suitable for submission to an accolade signifying cultural impact, such as a notable award, showcase, festival, gallery or museum exhibit opportunity
• Any other goal, as defined by the applicant

The program will run as a series of rounds from financial year 2023/24 until financial year 2026/27.

Applicant Eligibility

Applicants must be a company at the time of application. 

Other business structures, including sole traders and public companies, are not eligible. 

Sole traders are instead encouraged to consider applying for the Emerging Gamemakers Fund if they otherwise meet the criteria of that program. 

All applicants and projects must also meet the eligibility criteria under Screen Australia’s Terms of Trade. 

CAGES Foundation Economic Development Grants exist to assist First Nations businesses and enterprises to attract investment and build revenue whilst supporting sustainable communities.

These grants are separate to any financial impact investment that the investment committee of CAGES Foundation may make from the foundation’s corpus.

Economic Development Guidelines:

• Preference for Aboriginal Community Controlled or led organisation
• Organisations that are working toward breaking down systemic barriers and creating opportunities that exist for First Nations businesses
• Funding might include:
  • Core operating expenses, including salaries, communications and business development costs.
  • Developing internal investment products within Aboriginal controlled non-government organisations.
• Any activity must be community endorsed
• All organisations must have DGR1 tax status.

All partnerships start with a conversation. There are no grant rounds. Opportunities are limited due to the long-term nature of our existing partnerships.

The Breaking New Ground Program aims to assist schools, local governments, developers, community Australian football clubs, umpiring organisations and other landowners to better develop sporting infrastructure accessible to AFL programming and activities in communities across Australia.

The objectives of the program are to:

• Develop increased supply through the construction of new ovals, especially in growing communities.
• Increase the AFL facility network in areas of need, by maximising the carrying capacity and accessibility of new places to play and the quality/functionality of supporting infrastructure.
• Provide inclusive and accessible facilities that cater for the diversity of participants, particularly females, who wish to participate in our game.
• Enable planning and project partnerships to form with a range of government and non-government bodies to result in an improved quantity, quality and welcoming venue network for Australian football.
• Develop venues to support the sport’s complete talent pathway, umpiring, staff and people working and volunteering within the game.

Who Can Apply?

Schools (private and public), Developers, Local Government Authorities, AFL affiliated leagues and community clubs, umpiring organisations, other sports bodies, State Government Authorities and private landowners.

If applicable, applicants must have written support of the landowners or land managers as part of their submission.

Public Lending Right (PLR) and Educational Lending Right (ELR) are Australian Government programs that compensate Australian creators and publishers in recognition of income lost through free multiple use of their books in public and educational lending libraries. These programs support the enrichment of Australian culture by encouraging the growth and development of Australian writing.

A creator or a publisher must register and submit title claims within five years from the year of publication. Books are surveyed in a sample of either public lending libraries (PLR) or school, TAFE and university libraries (ELR).

Eligible creators are:

• authors, editors, illustrators, translators and compilers
• Australian citizens, wherever they reside, or non-citizens who normally reside in Australia (eligibility ceases if residency in Australia ceases)
• those who receive on-going royalties from the sale of their book.

Eligible publishers are:

• companies whose business consists wholly or substantially of the publication of books and who regularly publish in Australia—'regularly publish' is defined as at least once in the preceding three year period
• non-profit organisations that publish to further their aims or objectives
• self-publishing creators.