Uptown Grant Program Round 3 (New Applicants)

District Teams which meet the eligibility criteria:

1. Are an Eligible Entity; and
2. Located in an Eligible Local Government Area.

District Teams must be or provide evidence of becoming one of the following entities to apply:

• Incorporated Association;
• Company Limited by Guarantee; or
• Non-distributing Co-operative.

Applicants are not eligible to apply if, at the time of application, they:

• Are not currently or becoming one of the above eligible entities*; or
• Have received funding for the purpose of a Community Improvement District or a Business Improvement District in the past five years. This includes businesses that have multiple ABNs and have already used one of their ABNs to claim a grant.

Eligible Entities must, at the time of application:

• Have an applicable Australian Business Number (ABN) for the entity applying*;
• Be registered for GST or provide evidence of GST registration application;
• Have a bank account with an Australian financial institution, or provide evidence of application*;
• Have a minimum of five registered members of the applying entity based in the District;
• Have a letter of no objection from the relevant council organisation and/or contact details of a relevant representative from a local council organisation that has agreed to be contacted in relation to this application;
• Be solvent; and
• Be able to execute a funding deed with the NSW Government if your application is successful.

*If successful, your District must by the 28 February 2025 have the following to execute a funding deed:

• formal registration as an eligible entity;
• an applicable ABN for your District entity; and
• a bank account for your District entity with an Australian financial institution.

If you are in the process of acquiring an ABN for your entity, in your application you may use the ABN of one of your District Team members who must be part of the Eligible Entity, once registered. An applicable ABN for your District entity must be established to execute the funding deed.

Please refer to the Uptown Grant Program Round 3 Guidelines for further eligibility requirements.

Location that are eligible include Bayside, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Burwood, Camden, Campbelltown, Canada Bay, Canterbury-Bankstown, Central Coast, Cessnock, City of Parramatta, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Hawkesbury, Hornsby, Hunters Hill, Inner West, Kiama, Ku-Ring-Gai, Lake Macquarie, Lane Cove, Liverpool, Maitland, Mosman, Newcastle, North Sydney, Northern Beaches, Penrith, Port Stephens, Randwick, Ryde, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Strathfield, Sutherland Shire, Sydney, The Hills Shire, Waverley, Willoughby, Wollondilly, Wollongong, Woollahra

Eligible activities for funding under this grant include:

1. District Coordination

A minimum of 50% of the total allocated grant funding must be spent on a coordination function for your district.

2. Consumer Engagement

2A) Brand development

This may include:

• Brand and asset development
• Online presence development e.g. website, social media profiles, Neon Marketplace profile etc.

To be eligible to receive funding to trial recurring, multi-in-venue events or activations (2C), you must provide evidence that you have established appropriate brand and marketing assets for your District. Evidence includes a logo, related brand assets and consumer facing engagement tools such as social media accounts or a consumer-facing website that use the identified brand assets.

2B) Marketing activities

This may include:

• Advertising and/or marketing campaign (such as design and production costs, social ads and advertising fees)
• Public relations activity (such as PR agency costs, influencer fees, promotional material distributed at a District launch event)

2C) Trialling multi-in-venue events or activations (Conditional)

The trial of new or enhanced multi-in-venue events or activations to encourage ongoing visitation to businesses in your District, may include the following costs:

• Artist fees
• AV and staging equipment hire
• Program and production development fees

Multi-in-venue events or activations refers to the programming of activities such as comedy, live music, dancing, trivia, bingo etc. across a minimum of three venues within the district as a unique experience.

These may be one-off or recurring events or activations, but multi-in-venue participation is compulsory. These events cannot be part of any regular programming for the participating venues.

It is a requirement that any District Team who includes an event plan and budget allocation for trialling multi-in-venue events or activations in their application attaches evidence of established brand and marketing assets. This requirement demonstrates your District Team’s maturity and readiness to undertake this level of program delivery. If this evidence is not attached, your plan for trialling multi-in-venue events or activations will not be considered as part of your overall application.

The coordination function may take the form of:

• Salary/wages and entitlements for employees specifically engaged for the project, i.e. the direct employment of a staff member to manage the coordination of your district and its activities.
• Contract employment of a staff member(s) to manage the coordination of your district and its activities.
• Third-party professional services to manage the coordination of your district and its activities.

The marketing and promotional activities may take the form of:

• Brand and asset development
• Online presence development e.g. website, social media profiles etc.
• Advertising and/or marketing campaign (such as design and production costs, social ads and advertising fees)
• Public relations activity (such as PR agency costs, influencer fees, promotional material distributed at a District launch event)

Trialling multi-in-venue events or activations may be an eligible activity if applied for. It is a requirement that any District Team who includes an event plan and budget allocation for trialling multi-in-venue events or activations in their application attaches evidence of established brand and marketing assets.

Please refer to the Uptown Grant Program Round 3 Guidelines for further information on what costs you can apply for and the conditions of application

Applicants are not eligible to apply if, at the time of application, they:

• Are not one of the eligible entities;
• Are an entity that has received funding through Round 1 and/or Round 2 of the Uptown Grant Program; or
• Have received funding for the purpose of a Community Improvement District or a Business Improvement District in the past five years. This includes businesses that have multiple ABNs and have already used one of their ABNs to claim a grant

• Rent and utilities
• Purchase or lease of land or property
• Venue hire
• Activities, equipment or supplies that are already being supported through other sources
• Financing costs, including interest and debt financing
• Maintenance and repairs
• Capital works
• Purchasing of permanent equipment / fixed assets
• Fundraising/prizes
• Education or training costs
• Costs incurred before the approved project start date
• Activity that constitutes the normal course of business for District Team members, not related to eligible grant activities
• Activity that takes place outside of the eligible district
• Activity that takes place before or after the end of the grant funding period
• Hospitality costs associated with business-as-usual activities such as District Team Member meetings.

The above list of ineligible activities is not exhaustive.

• You can only submit one application on behalf of your District Team to this grant round.
• Activities may commence from 01/06/2025 and must be completed by 30/06/2026.