The Community Heritage Grants (CHG) program supports our aim to protect and provide access to Australia's cultural heritage.

Community Heritage Grants provide grants of up to $20,000 to not-for-profit, incorporated organisations that own or manage a collection. The collection will be of naturally significant material which is accessible to the general public.

Who can apply

Examples of organisations that are encouraged to apply:

• Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander groups
• archives
• art galleries
• community groups that have collection items (including but not limited to: sporting clubs, craft and visual arts guilds, design groups, performing arts and literary groups, disability groups, health organisations, ex-service organisations, progress and professional associations, agricultural societies, and environmental groups)
• historical societies
• libraries
• local government / council
• multicultural groups
• museums
• religious groups
• cultural heritage professional associations (for training projects).

Applications are particularly welcome from:

• community-based organisations with limited or no paid staff and/or limited resources
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and multicultural organisations.

What type of projects win grants

In the past, supported projects include those that:

• assess a collection's significance
• assess a collection's preservation needs
• focus on conservation activities and collection management
• train community groups how to preserve and archive collections.

Read more about past CHG recipients.

How to apply for a grant

CHG grant rounds are held annually and open in early March.

The National Library of Australia (NLA) gives you information about applying for a grant and what you need to do to meet the grant criteria.

Look for an open grant round on the NLA's Community Heritage Grants webpage.

Applications are available online when grants are open.