Applications are now open for the 2026 Community Heritage Grants (CHG) program. The CHG program offers cash grants of up to $20,000 to community organisations, supporting them to preserve and manage collections that have Australian cultural and historical significance. 

Since 1994, the CHG program has provided a total of $9.7 million in funding to more than 1,750 projects nationally. 

Last year, $421,479 was awarded to 50 different groups, including the Adelaide Repertory Theatre, Cowra Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre, the See Yup Society, the Cloncurry and District Historical and Museum Society, the Royal Society of Tasmania, and many others.

Historical societies, regional museums, archives and galleries are invited to apply, including Indigenous and multicultural organisations. The grants enable groups to work with consultants to undertake significance assessments and preservation needs assessments and, based on these reports, deliver preservation and conservation, collection management, and digitisation activities. Funding is also available for training workshops. 

Applications from new applicants close on Thursday 7 May. Previous CHG recipients and proposals for training projects have an extended deadline, with applications closing on Tuesday 2 June. 

To find out more and apply, visit: Community Heritage Grants | National Library of Australia (NLA)

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; and National Museum of Australia.

Included at the end of this release are several case studies of previous CHG recipients.

Media kit

Images for media use are available for download via Dropbox

Contact

CHG contact

Email: chg@nla.gov.au 

Media contact

Georgia McDonald, Media Liaison, National Library of Australia

Phone: 0401 226 697

Email: media@nla.gov.au

Case studies

Duldig Studio Museum + Sculpture Garden

Duldig Studio Museum + Sculpture Garden is a not-for-profit house museum in East Malvern, Melbourne, dedicated to sharing the lived experiences of Jewish émigré artists Karl Duldig (1902–1986) and Slawa Duldig (1902–1975). Notably, Slawa Duldig apart from being an accomplished artist was the inventor of the modern foldable umbrella. The former home, studio, and sculpture garden was left substantially intact by the Duldig family and offers rare insight into the artists’ creative lives and migration journey from Vienna to Singapore, Tatura Internment Camp, and ultimately Melbourne. The museum is housed in a Californian Bungalow with original modernist art and furnishings, an artists’ studio, and a sculpture garden displaying works in bronze, stone, and terracotta. Paintings, drawings, decorative arts, and rare 1930s Viennese modernist furniture designed by Slawa Duldig are also on display.  

Duldig Studio Museum + Sculpture Garden has received five Community Heritage Grants, completing all three program stages. Funding from the 2024 Round supported the purchase of archival materials, enabling significant improvements in collection management and accessibility. 

Braille House

Braille House (formerly known as the Queensland Braille Writing Association or QBWA), is a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to empower people of all ages who are blind or have low vision through the provision of alternative formats, most notably braille. Braille is a code system in which tactile dots are used to represent written text, enabling people who are blind or have low vision to read and write through touch. Founded in 1897, Braille House is now located in a historic building in the Brisbane suburb of Annerley. The collection also documents the achievements and stories of people who are blind or have low vision over more than 100 years of service. The collection is recognised in Australia and overseas as containing one of the most comprehensive examples of assistive technology and equipment used to connect people who are blind or have low vision to the sighted world. It also reflects the important relationships and connections between Braille House and the Brisbane and wider community, including its staff, clients, volunteers, benefactors, and donors.

Braille House has received three Community Heritage Grants, completing all program stages. Funding from the 2024 Round supported preventative conservation training for staff and volunteers, development of the organisation’s Disaster Preparedness Plan, and the purchase of archival storage materials and boxes.

Broken Hill City Art Gallery

Broken Hill City Art Gallery is operated by the Broken Hill City Council. Opened in 1904, it is the oldest regional art gallery in New South Wales, and since 2004 has been housed in the beautifully restored 19th-century Sully’s Emporium. The Gallery presents a rotating program of exhibitions spanning 19th-century colonial works, modern and contemporary Australian art, and First Nations art. The collection includes works by artists such as Margaret Preston, Arthur Boyd, and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, alongside local and regional artists including Sam Byrne, William ‘Badger’ Bates, Jim Paterson and Pro Hart. Broken Hill City Art Gallery has received two Community Heritage Grants. Funding from the 2019 Round supported a Significance Assessment while funding from the 2024 Round supported the completion of a Preservation Needs Assessment.