This Aboriginal Affairs NSW program supports Aboriginal community organisations and groups across NSW to celebrate Aboriginal culture and hold key cultural events and activities.
Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: From $500 to $20,000
- Application opened: 15 January 2024
- Application closed: 26 February 2024, 11:00 am
Program objective
Aboriginal Affairs NSW provides a range of grants and funding.
The 2023–2024 Cultural Grants Program is a non-competitive program that aims to:
- support Aboriginal communities to strengthen, protect and maintain traditional and contemporary expressions of Aboriginal culture
- support key contemporary Aboriginal cultural events and activities
- contribute to Aboriginal community wellbeing and healing, through the use of Aboriginal culture and community connection
- facilitate sharing of Aboriginal cultural knowledge and skills between generations.
This program is funded and administered by Aboriginal Affairs.
Eligibility
Who can apply
Eligible entities
To be eligible you must be:
- an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Community-controlled, not-for-profit organisation working with Aboriginal communities in NSW, and one of the following organisation types:
- an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth)
- a company incorporated in Australia under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)
- a Local Aboriginal Land Council under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW)
- an Incorporated Association (incorporated under state legislation, and commonly have ‘Association’ or ‘Incorporated’ or ‘Inc’ in their legal name)
- an Incorporated Cooperative (incorporated under state legislation, and commonly have ‘Cooperative’ in their legal name)
- an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust
- an Aboriginal sole trader or business whose primary business activity relates to cultural expression or revitalisation (noting projects must not be profit-making in nature)
- an unincorporated Aboriginal community group with a not-for-profit auspice organisation of one of the following organisation types:
- an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth)
- a company incorporated in Australia under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)
- a Local Aboriginal Land Council under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW)
- an Incorporated Association (incorporated under state legislation, and commonly have ‘Association’ or ‘Incorporated’ or ‘Inc’ in their legal name)
- an Incorporated Cooperative (incorporated under state legislation, and commonly have ‘Cooperative’ in their legal name)
- an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust.
Applicants must also:
- be able to enter into a funding agreement with Aboriginal Affairs NSW (AANSW) and have an Australian bank account
- have public liability insurance of at least $10 million per claim or be willing to purchase it and include the cost of insurance as part of the project budget.
Unincorporated groups
If an unincorporated Aboriginal group wishes to apply under the 2023–2024 Cultural Grant Program, they will need to partner with a not-for-profit organisation to receive and administer the funding. An organisation may only act as an auspice for one grant project in each round.
Who can’t apply
- an individual
- a non-Aboriginal group or organisation (except for eligible auspice organisations auspicing an unincorporated Aboriginal community group)
- federal and state government agencies and bodies, including NSW public schools and hospitals
- unincorporated organisations or groups without an eligible auspicing organisation
- organisations that have not met project requirements, including acquitting and reporting for any grant funding received from AANSW in the previous 2 years
- organisations with redress sanctions as described in the National Redress Scheme.
Types of projects funded under this grant
Projects must take place within NSW, and applicants must deliver a service to Aboriginal communities within NSW.
Funding must be used for projects that meet the objectives of the Cultural Grants Program. The following are examples of the types of activities that may be considered for funding, where they are aligned with the program objectives:
- women’s or men’s gathering on Country
- a culture and wellbeing camp for Aboriginal youth
- creation of a digital installation showing Aboriginal history of the local community
- a statewide regional music and cultural festival
- a series of online and/or face-to-face workshops.
Where events are ticketed, any income generated from ticket sales must be included and expended within the program budget.
Funding can be used for:
- purchase of consumables – such as catering, equipment items and materials for activities (excluding alcohol) – for the purposes of the project or event
- hiring equipment to be used for the period of the project or event
- engaging contractors such as facilitators, trainers and teachers
- eligible costs associated with holding key statewide and/or regional Aboriginal sporting and cultural events
- purchasing minor equipment for event activities up to the value of $5,000 (please refer to the FAQs for guidance on minor equipment)
- administering the project, with up to 10% of the requested AANSW funding amount able to be used for this task or as auspice fees where there is an auspicing arrangement
Eligible sole trader/business applicants may include up to 10% of the requested AANSW funding amount to cover remuneration costs. Refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for more information.
What can’t you apply for
- costs for individual sporting teams or cultural groups to attend competitions or events
- capital costs – any type of building, construction, major equipment or capital works including renovations to a building, housing-related costs or the purchase of land
- purchase of vehicles
- wages, salaries and on-costs for ongoing staff
- sitting fees, travel allowances or costs associated with membership of boards/councils
- activities that may create an ongoing dependency on cultural grant funding, such as funding that is required over multiple years
- costs that are not directly associated with the delivery of the project
- activities related to NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout, which has a separate funding program
- activities related to NAIDOC Week events, which has a separate funding program
- international travel costs (proposals for domestic travel costs need to demonstrate the benefits of travel to the project, organisation and community)
- operational and business-as-usual costs
- merchandise such as backpacks, gift vouchers etc.
AANSW and the Aboriginal Languages Trust administer a range of other grant programs throughout the year, and applicants may be referred to apply to another program if it is considered a more suitable source of funding.
Most recent recipients
What your application needs to include
Applicants are encouraged to review the frequently asked questions and contact their nearest AANSW Regional Office to discuss their project.
Prepare your application with this checklist
The below documents are required before you submit your application:
- Letters of support from the local Aboriginal community (e.g. from local Aboriginal Elders/groups, community groups or potential participants). Letters must be current and specific to the project. A letter of support provided by an alliance/consortium should clearly demonstrate support of the membership base of the alliance/consortium.
- Certificate of currency for public liability insurance (or a budget that includes the purchase of public liability insurance).
- Evidence of the value of goods and services (except the cultural components/services) for budget items such as hiring of venue, accommodation, catering, and hiring and/or purchase of equipment.
It is also recommended that applicants provide the following:
- evidence of successfully delivering other projects
- detailed project plans.
Video response to application questions
Applicants can choose to submit a video response to application questions on project objectives and outcomes. AANSW regional staff are available to support applicants with recording and preparing a file for upload if required.
Address the eligibility criteria
You must address how your organisation and project meet the eligibility criteria in your application.
Address the assessment criteria
This grant is non-competitive program and applications are assessed individually against the assessment criteria without reference to the comparative merits of other applications.
Criteria | Information and evidence required |
---|---|
1. Project quality | The project aligns with the program aim and objectives. The project celebrates Aboriginal culture and/or includes key traditional or contemporary culture events and activities. |
2. Project detail | There is a detailed project plan which includes:
|
3. Project impact | Details on how the project will benefit the community and make a tangible contribution to the cultural health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people in a local area within NSW. Letters of support from the local Aboriginal community. This make include letters from a group of elders, community groups or potential participants. All letters much be current and specific to the project. Evidence of who the project will benefit and how this will be achieved. |
4. Organisation's capacity to deliver the project | The ability of the organisation to deliver the project objectives based on its experience and resources, community supports such as partnerships with other organisations and participation in other community projects. This may include evidence such as:
|
5. Value for money | Clarity on how budget items contribute to the project outcomes. The budget must be reasonable and realistic. Quotes to support the budget line items/detailed budget aligned with the project activities and plan. |
Only applications that are deemed to meet all assessment criteria will be recommended for funding.
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty
Applications will be assessed in the order they are received and are screened for eligibility. Eligible applications will then be assessed against the assessment criteria by a panel of AANSW staff and recommendations will be passed onto the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty.
The Minister is the final decision-maker considering the recommendations of the assessment panel.
Some applicants may be offered partial funding where budget includes ineligible items.
All applicants will be notified on the outcome of their application through the AANSW online grant portal, SmartyGrants.
If an applicant wishes to seek feedback on an unsuccessful application, the applicant organisation should contact the Community Investments team at grants@aboriginalaffairs.nsw.gov.au.
Applicants who are determined unsuccessful in Round 1 will be given the option to opt in to having their application assessed in Round 2. They may reapply for funding in the next opening period. Applicants can re-apply in Round 2 if they wish to.
An organisation can only receive one grant from the 2023–2024 Cultural Grants Program. An organisation may additionally act as an auspice for a maximum of one project in each round.
Support and contact
For any questions regarding the AANSW Cultural Grants Program, please contact your nearest AANSW regional office on the phone numbers below or email grants@aboriginalaffairs.nsw.gov.au
Illawarra Southern Batemans Bay | 02 8575 1013 |
New England North-west Tamworth | 02 8575 1172 |
Greater Northern Coffs Harbour | 02 9566 8318 |
Murdi Paaki Broken Hill | 02 9224 4877 |
Binaal Billa Dubbo | 02 8575 1518 |
Hunter Central Coast Newcastle | 02 8575 1680 |
Greater Sydney Sydney | 02 8229 2389 |