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Red knitting needles and a reel of crochet cotton are arranged on a back and white photograph of three women posing with a cake. A text overlay reads "Community Heritage Grants 2023"
Image courtesy of Miss Porter's House - National Trust (NSW), a 2020 & 2022 Community Heritage Grants recipient

The 2023 Round has now closed

All applicants will be advised of the outcomes by September-October 2023.

The 2024 CHG Round will open in March 2024.

What are the Community Heritage Grants?

The Community Heritage Grants (CHG) program supports community organisations to look after Australian cultural heritage collections. Since 1994, this program has provided more than
$8.4 million dollars in funding to over 1,600 projects across Australia.  Further information is available in the CHG Guidelines (PDF, 359kb).

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 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 Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts; National Library of Australia; the National Archives of Australia; the National Film and Sound Archive and the National Museum of Australia.

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 Guidelines (PDF, 359kb).

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.


How do we learn more about the Community Heritage Grants program?

We strongly encourage applicants to read the CHG Guidelines (PDF, 359kb) prior to commencing their application. The following supporting documents are also available for reference:

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.

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National Library of Australia logo, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts logo, National Film and Sound Archive logo, National Museum of Australia logo