2026 Community Heritage Grant recipients announced
45 community organisations receive funding to preserve Australia’s cultural heritage.
The Australian Government’s Community Heritage Grants program has provided 45 community organisations with funding that will protect important heritage, strengthen community connections and ensure these stories continue to inform, inspire and educate Australians for many years to come.
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Museum, courtesy of Helen Laffin, Senior Heritage Collections Co-ordinator/Curator.
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Museum, courtesy of Helen Laffin, Senior Heritage Collections Co-ordinator/Curator.
Since 1994 the program has invested over $10.15 million dollars to over 1,800 projects, dedicated to the care, preservation and accessibility of nationally significant cultural heritage collections. Director-General of the National Library of Australia, Alison Dellit, has welcomed this year’s grant announcement.
In 2026, the Australian Government has awarded funding of $378,162 to support the work of 45 non-profit Australian organisations through the Community Heritage Grants program. It’s a privilege to continue working with the Office for the Arts and fellow national cultural institutions to help local communities continue to care for nationally significant collections.
The Community Heritage Grants program is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts; National Library of Australia; National Archives of Australia; National Film and Sound Archive of Australia; and National Museum of Australia.
2026 Community Heritage Grants – selected case studies
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS)
The RACS is the peak professional body responsible for surgical education, training, standards, and professional development across Australia and New Zealand. Established in the 1920s, the College was formed to provide local specialist surgical training independent of British institutions and has since become a leading advocate for surgical excellence, research, and healthcare improvement. RACS supports more than 7,000 practising surgeons and 1,300 trainees and contributes to surgical education and outreach throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Heritage Collection is very grateful and excited to be a recipient of a Community Heritage Grant. This will be used to work with a professional historian to complete a significance assessment of our vast collection. Our team is small and our collection includes valuable archives and heritage material. The assessment will help to guide us in planning our future preservation goals and broadening our connections with visitors.
Laynhapuy Homelands Aboriginal Corporation
Laynhapuy Homelands Aboriginal Corporation (Laynha) is a Yolŋu-owned and governed organisation established in 1985 to support Aboriginal people living on their traditional homelands across North-East Arnhem Land. Emerging from the Yolŋu homelands movement of the 1970s, the organisation provides essential services to approximately 30 homeland communities. Central to its work is the protection and continuation of Yolŋu culture, language, knowledge, and connection to Country.
Beginning in the early 1970s, the homelands movement was one of the ways elders sought to protect Yolŋu from dangers that the mining industry introduced to North-East Arnhem Land.
It was a powerful movement and a beautiful expression of self-determination. Thanks to their vision and their hard work, today, the Laynhapuy homelands are still places of strength and wellbeing – heartlands of Yolŋu language and culture. From the very beginning of the homelands movement, Jonetani Rika walked and worked alongside the old people to help them realise their vision. His diaries tell that story from a unique and deeply authentic perspective.
We are enormously grateful to receive CHG funding to properly assess Mr Rika’s diaries, to explore how they might be protected, reproduced and in some cases restored. As a hero of the homelands movement and a loyal and faithful friend to generations of Yolŋu, Mr Rika is a much-beloved community member. A very old man now, this project honours the unique contribution he has made over the last sixty years and invites current homelands families to reflect on their own efforts to sustain the movement in an increasingly complex and challenging world.
Broken Hill City Art Gallery
Established in 1904, Broken Hill City Art Gallery is Australia's oldest regional public art gallery. Operated by Broken Hill City Council, the Gallery holds more than 2,000 artworks, reflecting the artistic, cultural, and social history of Broken Hill and regional Australia. The collection includes paintings, works on paper, and significant works by artists associated with the region.
The Broken Hill City Art Gallery is delighted to receive support through the 2026 Community Heritage Grants. This funding will enable essential restoration to be undertaken on a work by one of Broken Hill’s most celebrated artists, Pro Hart, in a year which marks the 20th anniversary of his passing. This project is preserving his artistic legacy for future generations to experience and enjoy.
A full list of the 2026 Community Heritage Grant recipients can be found below.
Recipients
| Organisation | Project | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| Young Historical Society | Significance Assessment of the Young Historical Society Collection | $7,535 |
| Arts Mid North Coast | Significance Assessment of the Photo World Collection | $6,563 |
| Nimbin Aquarius Foundation | Preservation Needs Assessment of the Aquarius Archives Collection | $6,973 |
| National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association Dance College (NAISDA) | Preservation Needs Assessment: NAISDA Archive uplift project | $7,261 |
| Australian Jewish Historical Society | Preservation Needs Assessment of the Australian Jewish Historical Society Collection | $5,500 |
| Bathurst District Historical Society | Preservation Needs Assessment of the Bathurst District Historical Society Textile Collection | $7,507 |
| Unions NSW | Sydney Trades Hall Poster Collection Preservation Needs Assessment | $5,500 |
| Shoalhaven Historical Society | Conservation and framing of paintings by Samuel Elyard | $19,784 |
| The Fort Street Foundation | Fort Street Archives Preservation Needs Assessment | $5,500 |
| La Perouse Museum | Preservation Needs Assessment for La Perouse Museum Collection | $5,500 |
| Narrandera Parkside Cottage Museum | Conservation Treatment of the Macarthur Cloak | $3,555 |
| St John Ambulance Australia (NSW) | Preserving Our Legacy: The St John (NSW) Historical and Archival Collection Significance Assessment | $5,500 |
| Coonamble Shire Council | Digitisation of the Neville Owen Collection photographic negatives | $11,429 |
| Tweed Gold Coast Australian South Sea Islander United Community | Significance Assessment of the Tweed Gold Coast Australian South Sea Islander Heritage Collection | $15,259 |
| Blacktown City Council | Preserving Garage Graphix: Conservation Treatment of a Nationally Significant Community Print Archive | $12,740 |
| Nutcote Trust | Preserving May Gibbs' legacy at her Home Nutcote | $2,631 |
| Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery | Conservation Treatment of Priority Artwork | $9,080 |
| Charles Sturt University Regional Archives | Digitisation of the Albert "Possum" Green Collection | $10,000 |
| Griffith Regional Art Gallery | Conservation materials for the Couture Collection | $12,383 |
| Tranby Aboriginal Co-operative | Digitising Tranby’s Keeping Place | $13,977 |
| Hunter New England Health Libraries | Collection Care and Handling Training | $4,519 |
| Clarence River Historical Society | Volunteer training in paper conservation and salvage methods | $5,875 |
| Organisation | Project | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| Benalla Migrant Camp | Benalla Migrant Camp Collection Significance Assessment | $6,955 |
| Royal Australasian College of Surgeons | Significance Assessment for Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Heritage Collection | $5,500 |
| Glenelg Shire Council | Safe storage for Glenelg Shire Cultural Collection | $12,980 |
| Arena Theatre Company | Significance Assessment of Arena Theatre Company Archive | $6,172 |
| Bendigo District RSL Sub-Branch | Preservation Needs Assessment of the Bendigo Military Museum Collection | $6,431 |
| The Melbourne Athenaeum | Preservation Needs Assessment of Melbourne Athenaeum Architectural Plans and Drawings | $5,500 |
| Robin Boyd Foundation | Walsh Street Archive Preservation Needs Assessment | $5,500 |
| National Trust of Australia (Victoria) | Preservation Needs Assessment of the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Dow’s Pharmacy Collection | $5,500 |
| Catholic Diocese of Ballarat | Conservation of the Eureka Marriages and Births Catholic Registers | $13,705 |
| Jewish Library of Australia | Preserving the Past: Rare Early Publications and Manuscripts Significance Assessment | $5,500 |
| Australian Nurses Memorial Centre | Preservation Needs Assessment for Australian Nurses Memorial Centre Collection and Archive | $5,500 |
| Benalla Art Gallery | Conservation of Artwork for the Benalla Art Gallery Collection | $3,230 |
| Ballarat Mechanics' Institute | Preventative Collection Conservation Training Workshop for Ballarat Mechanics' Institute | $9,097 |
| Organisation | Project | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| Ninth Battalions Association | Display Cabinets for the 9th Battalions War Memorial Museum | $18,171 |
| Organisation | Project | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| Northam Army Camp Heritage Association | Collection Management Provisions | $4,687 |
| Royal Perth Hospital Museum | Conservation treatment of significant items within the Royal Perth Hospital Museum Collection | $9,776 |
| Albany’s Historic Whaling Station | Preservation Needs Assessment of Preserved Zoological Sub-collection | $5,750 |
| Organisation | Project | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Repertory Theatre Company | Preservation Needs Assessment of the Adelaide Repertory Theatre Company's History Collection | $5,500 |
| Heysen Foundation | The Heysen Archives Project | $11,285 |
| National Railway Museum | Collection preservation activities | $10,700 |
| Royal Agricultural & Horticultural Society of SA Archives (RA&HS) | Conservation of framed artworks from the RA&HS Archives | $9,822 |
| Organisation | Project | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| Laynhapuy Homelands Aboriginal Corporation | Laynhapuy Homelands History Project Significance Assessment | $18,090 |
| Department of Education & Training NT | Significance Assessment of the NT Department of Education Aboriginal Languages in Education Archive | $8,245 |
Media kit
Images for media use available for download via Dropbox
About Community Heritage Grants
Contact
Media contact
Georgia McDonald, Media Liaison, National Library of Australia
Phone: 0401 226 697
Email: media@nla.gov.au
CHG contact
Email: chg@nla.gov.au
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