Improving local community participation and vibrancy
Stronger Communities Programme – Round 6
What do you get?
Up to $20,000 of funding for capital projects.
Who is this for?
Applicants invited to apply by their local MP.
Overview
The Stronger Communities Programme supports the Australian Government’s commitment to deliver social benefits in communities across Australia. Round 6 of the program will provide $22.65 million to fund small capital projects in each of the 151 federal electorates.
The program intends to encourage and support participation in local projects, improve local community participation and contribute to vibrant and viable communities. Round 6 of the program will continue to support Australia’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. For this special round, grant funding will be up to 100 per cent of eligible project costs except for local governing bodies where grant funding will be up to 50 per cent of eligible project costs.
Community consultation is a critical element of the program. In consultation with their community, each MP must identify potential applicants and projects in their electorate and invite them to apply for a grant. Invited applications will be assessed against the program’s eligibility criteria through a closed non-competitive process.
Each electorate has total funding of up to $150,000 that can be allocated to successful applications. A maximum of 20 projects will be funded in each electorate.
Project details
The grant amount for small capital projects is up to 100% of eligible project costs except for local governing bodies where grant funding will be up to 50% of eligible projects costs. Your grant request must be between $2500 and $20,000.
For this special round ‘in kind’ expenditure is not eligible expenditure.
Projects under round 6 of the program will have up to 31 December 2021 to complete.
Eligibility
What are the eligibility criteria?
To be eligible, you must:
- be invited to apply by your MP
- have an Australian business number (ABN)
You must also be one of the following incorporated entities:
- an incorporated not for profit organisation
- an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust with responsibility for a community asset or property
- a local governing body as defined by the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995
Incorporated not for profit organisations can include:
- incorporated associations
- non-distributing co-operatives
- companies limited by a guarantee
- Indigenous corporations
- religious organisations incorporated under legislation
For the purpose of this program, we also consider the following organisations to be local governing bodies:
- Anangu Pitjantjatjara, Maralinga, Gerard, Nepabunna and Yalata local governing bodies in SA
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands Shire Council
- Lord Howe Island Board
- Norfolk Island Regional Council
- The Outback Communities Authority
- The Shire of Christmas Island
- The Silverton and Tibooburra villages in NSW
- The Trust Account in the NT
- ACT Government
For further information on the eligibility criteria, please see section 4 of the grant opportunity guidelines.
You are not eligible to apply if you are:
- a for profit organisation
- an individual
- a partnership
- a Regional Development Australia Committee
- a university, technical college or school
- a hospital
- an Australian, state or territory government agency or body (including government business enterprises) unless listed in section 4.1 of the grant opportunity guidelines
Applying
How do you apply?
The Stronger Communities Programme – Round 6 is closed to applications.
We’ll assess your application for completeness and against all the eligibility criteria.
Your project must meet all eligibility criteria for us to recommend you for funding.
The Program Delegate decides which grants to approve taking into account the application assessment, availability of grant funds and whether funding a project will be a proper use of public resources.
The Program Delegate will make the final decision.
If you’re successful, you’ll receive notification and an approval letter or exchange of letters grant agreement, including any specific conditions attached to the grant.
We must execute a grant agreement with you before we can make any payments. We are not responsible for any expenditure you incur before a grant agreement is executed. If you choose to start your project before you have an executed grant agreement, you do so at your own risk.
We’ll pay 100% of the grant on execution of the grant agreement. You’ll be required to report how you spent the grant funds at the completion of the project.
We make payments by direct credit into your nominated bank account.
If you’re unsuccessful, we’ll notify you in writing.
Need help?
Let us answer your question via phone, email or live chat. And if we can't help, we'll put you in touch with someone who can.
- Phone:
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Open Hours:
Monday – Friday, 8am – 8pm across Australia
- Website:
Key documents
Sample grant agreement – Approval letter (including end of project report)
pdf · 0.46 MB docx · 0.10 MBSample grant agreement – Exchange of letters (including end of project report)
pdf · 0.61 MB docx · 0.11 MB