Aboriginal-owned Assets Program

Eligible applicants must be a Local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALC) or an Aboriginal organisation that owns and /or manages social infrastructure within the disaster declared LGAs (AGRN 1012 and/or AGRN 1025).

75 LGAs are eligible to apply for funding. However, the program targets the 19 LGAs most impacted during the severe weather and flood events in February and June 2022.
 
Organisations in non-targeted LGAs can apply if they can substantiate the impact of the disaster on a community asset and demonstrate strong community need.

Ineligible applicants include:

• Australian or NSW government agencies
• State Owned Corporations
• Volunteer organisations
• Local councils and joint organisations of councils
• Private, for-profit businesses.

Examples of eligible projects include the repair, restoration or betterment of: 

• recreational and service buildings including libraries, youth and senior citizen facilities, childcare services, tourism and arts and culture facilities and significant records
• parks and playgrounds including equipment, furniture, fencing, shades, facilities and amenities
• boardwalks, footpaths, walking trails, wharves, and jetties
• pedestrian-only bridges, car parks, retaining walls, landscaping, river/creek banks and signage in public spaces.
• amenities and community/ service buildings that complement and support multiple social and recreation facilities
• Aboriginal-owned and managed road infrastructure

Healing, resilience and connection of:

• salvage, repatriation and rehousing of significant objects inclusive of eligible cost such as an Aboriginal Culture and Heritage Assessment 
• pedestrian and vehicle access to significant cultural landscapes such as weatherproofing roads or upgrading drainage and surfacing etc 
• preservation and disaster-resilience mitigation measures of cultural landscapes and/or objects such as erosion control works, stabilisation works or revegetation etc 
• betterment of cultural sites for responsible usage, signage and interpretation, amenities fencing, restriction of vehicle access etc 

Repair, restoration and or betterment of: 

• Aboriginal-owned and/or managed social infrastructure including LALC offices and facilities, Aboriginal day-care centres, Aboriginal medical and aged-care facilities, culture centres, keeping places, archives, amenities etc 
• infrastructure associated with cultural camps including camp kitchens, water tanks, toilets and amenities, shelters, decks etc 
• historic missions and/or reserves including fencing, historic buildings, Aboriginal cemeteries etc 
• tourism and education infrastructure such as walking tracks, interpretative infrastructure, performance and dance spaces, shelters, decks, amenities etc 
• Aboriginal-owned and managed road infrastructure 

Ineligible projects include:

• social infrastructure that meets the definition of an essential public asset under the DRFA 2018 including roads, tunnels and utility bridges
• social infrastructure associated with the function of an essential public asset under the DRFA 2018 including road furniture and retaining walls
• projects that have been funded through other government grant(s) 
• repair projects or elements of repair projects where an applicant has claimed and received insurance*
• social infrastructure that was not directly damaged as a result of the 2022 storms and floods
• projects in LGAs not disaster-declared in AGRN 1012 and ARGN 1025
• projects that do not relate to the repair, restoration or betterment of Aboriginal owned and/or managed social infrastructure
• projects for the primary purpose of asset waste clean-up and/or make-safe works
• projects that would fund the day-to-day operations and/or business as usual activities of the organisation
• projects that require ongoing funding from the NSW Government
• erosion and sedimentation management projects including coastal and riverbank areas**
• projects that are not aligned to the objective of the Aboriginal-owned Assets Program.

*  Applicants must seek to claim insurance on asset repairs where relevant prior to seeking Government funding. If a social infrastructure owner has not made an insurance claim, the applicant must justify why not. If a social infrastructure owner has received a part insurance payout, the unclaimed/ uncovered/ uninsured component only will be considered under the Program. 

** Except where the erosion and sedimentation management project relates directly to the repair, restoration and/ or betterment of an eligible essential community asset or is the location of a significant Aboriginal cultural site(s) and/or object(s).