Funding to foster connection, education, and stewardship of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area

You can apply if you:

• have an Australian business number (ABN)

And are one of the following:

• an entity, incorporated in Australia
• an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth)
• an incorporated association
• an incorporated not for profit organisation
• a publicly funded research organisation (PFRO) as defined in section 14 of the guidelines
• an Australian local government agency or body as defined in section 14 of the guidelines
• a Queensland Government agency or body.

You can’t apply if you are:

• an organisation not included in section 4.1 of the guidelines
• an organisation, or your project partner is an organisation, included on the National Redress Scheme’s list of Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme
• an employer of 100 or more employees that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012)
• an individual
• an unincorporated association
• a trust (however, an incorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a trust).

Partner with other organisations

Joint applications are acceptable, provided you have a lead organisation who is the main driver of the project and is eligible to apply. For further information on joint applications, refer to section 7.2 of the guidelines.

You must complete your project by 31 March 2030.

Your project must:

• support public participation and collaboration in scientific research, tap into local knowledge and target the collection of data and metrics to enhance the understanding of ecological health and resilience indicators
• support the outcomes and objectives of the Reef 2050 plan, the Reef Trust outcomes and the Outstanding Universal Value of the Great Barrier Reef
• target the collection of credible, reliable data and metrics to enhance understanding of the impact of and help address key threats to Reef health and resilience
• include the participation of the public, as citizen scientists, to contribute in a meaningful role in the delivery of the genuine science outcome throughout the project
• be informed by expert advice, including consultation with Traditional Owners where appropriate
• include either data collection or transformation of data.

You can apply for a grant between $150,000 and $2,000,000.

You can use this grant funding for:

• labour and on-costs for personnel directly employed in delivering the project activities. This should be calculated on a pro-rata basis relative to the time commitment of the personnel. This excludes project management or project co-ordination costs
• contractor costs for the delivery of eligible project activities. All contractors must have a written contract prior to starting any project work. Invoices from contractors must contain a detailed description and breakdown of the work including hours and hourly rates
• costs associated with administrative support activities up to a maximum of 10% of total eligible expenditure incurred through the delivery of eligible project activities
• costs associated with purchase, lease or hire of equipment where needed to undertake eligible activities
• costs associated with monitoring and reporting activities
• domestic travel (economy class only) limited to the reasonable cost of accommodation and transportation required to conduct agreed project activities in Australia
• staff training that directly supports the achievement of project outcomes
• the cost of an independent audit of project expenditure (where we request one) up to a maximum of 1% of total eligible project expenditure.