Community Heritage Grants
The Community Heritage Grants 2024 Round is now closed. All applicants will be notified in September to October 2024.
5 images, clockwise from top left: Mrs Fisher and Mrs Vaughan with a Red Cross float entered in the ‘Back to Brim’ parade, Easter 1983, image courtesy of the Australian Red Cross Society (Heritage Archives); Port Phillip Farmers Society Medallion awarded for Ploughing, 1859, image courtesy of Melbourne Royal; C.A. Nobelius Catalogue of Fruit Trees 1910, image courtesy of Emerald and District Museum; Members of the Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club in training with a surf reel, 1939, image courtesy of the Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club; Walka Board Minyma Kutjara copyright Francine Kulitja 2020 (from the Maruku Arts Collection).
5 images, clockwise from top left: Mrs Fisher and Mrs Vaughan with a Red Cross float entered in the ‘Back to Brim’ parade, Easter 1983, image courtesy of the Australian Red Cross Society (Heritage Archives); Port Phillip Farmers Society Medallion awarded for Ploughing, 1859, image courtesy of Melbourne Royal; C.A. Nobelius Catalogue of Fruit Trees 1910, image courtesy of Emerald and District Museum; Members of the Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club in training with a surf reel, 1939, image courtesy of the Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club; Walka Board Minyma Kutjara copyright Francine Kulitja 2020 (from the Maruku Arts Collection).
Community Heritage Grants Annual Rounds
The next Community Heritage Grants (CHG) Round will open in early March 2025. For further information on the program, please read the 2024 Round Guidelines available below. Find more details of the successful CHG 2024 Round projects
Who can apply for a Community Heritage Grant?
CHG is open to non-profit, incorporated organisations. The program has a strong focus on supporting local groups with limited funding who would benefit from access to professional cultural heritage expertise. Applications from Indigenous and multicultural organisations are encouraged.
Organisations progress through a three-stage journey, over multiple rounds, to learn about their collection, how to care for it, and plan for its future. Projects also aim to build the knowledge and skills of paid and volunteer staff to increase their capacity to share valuable heritage collections with all Australians.
CHG is funded by the Australian Government through the:
All applications are made via the SmartyGrants online platform. Please see below to view sample application forms from the 2024 Round (now closed).
This includes first time applicants who have not had a CHG project in the past five years (since 2019).
- Form preview: 2024 round CHG new application (PDF, 181.12KB)
Organisations who have completed a previous CHG stage in the past five years (since 2019).
- Form preview: 2024 round CHG repeat application (PDF, 180.00KB)
Organisations may apply for training projects at any time.
- Form preview: 2024 round CHG training application (PDF, 156.91KB)
What can be funded by a Community Heritage Grant?
The annual round offers cash grants of up to $20,000. The first two stages support organisations to work with heritage practitioners to:
- Explain the meaning and value of their collections (a significance assessment)
- Outline the condition of their collections and create a plan to manage it (a preservation needs assessment)
In the third and final stage, organisations can apply for funding to:
- Undertake conservation and collection management activities as recommended in the preservation needs assessment
Funding is also available for:
- Collection management training projects
Further details about eligible projects are available in the CHG Guideline below.
All allocations of grants are based on the recommendations of assessors and availability of funds. No applicant can be guaranteed funding nor can any applicant be guaranteed funding to the full amount requested. Funding varies from year to year and it is not possible to fund all worthwhile projects.
Community Heritage Grants guidelines
Applicants must read the CHG Guideline prior to commencing their application.
More about the Community Heritage Grants program
The following supporting documents are also available for reference:
- Project summary documents from previous funding rounds
- Community Heritage Grants webinar and tutorial pages are on the Trove Partner Learning Hub. (Select the 'Login as a Guest' option at the bottom left corner.)
Want to know about the Community Heritage Grants program stages and how it can support your organisation? Please watch a recording of our Q&A forum held on 11 April 2024. Select 'Want to explore the site. Login as a guest' and go to 'How to Apply'. You will learn more about the program from CHG staff and hear the answers to questions from applicants about their specific projects.
Contact the Community Heritage Grants team
For more information or to discuss your application, contact:
CHG Program Team
National Library of Australia
chg@nla.gov.au
Translating and Interpreting Service
People of non-English speaking background are welcome to apply for a grant. If you have difficulty with English, please contact the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) for assistance.
Learn more
Punu objects, courtesy of Maruku Arts (2020 Community Heritage Grant recipient). Find out more about Maruku Arts
Image courtesy of Miss Porter's House - National Trust (NSW), a 2020 & 2022 Community Heritage Grants recipient
Spines of rare books from the Mrs Aeneas Gunn Memorial Library, courtesy of Monbulk RSL (2020 Community Heritage Grant recipient). Find out more about Monbulk RSL.