The 2023 Community Heritage Grants (CHG) program is now open for application, offering cash grants of up to $20,000 to community organisations.
The grants support organisations to preserve and manage collections that have Australian cultural and historical significance.
“We continually see the benefits of the CHG grant program, as small, volunteer-run organisations work with professional assessors to better understand their collection and are then well placed to implement practical measures to care for the collections they look after,” Collaboration Branch Assistant Director Fiona Clarke said.
Since 1994, the CHG program has provided over $8.4 million in funding to more than 1,600 projects nationally.
Last year, $420,097 was shared between 57 regional and community groups, including Tranby Aboriginal Co-operative Limited, Trafalgar Holden Museum, Queensland Braille Writing Association, Flinders Palaeontology, Mawson’s Huts Foundation, Australian Academy of Science and the Ngurratjuta/Pmara Ntjarra Aboriginal Corporation and many others.
Historical societies, regional museums, archives and galleries are invited to apply, including Indigenous and multicultural organisations. The grants enable groups to work with consultants to undertake significance assessments and preservation needs assessments and based on these reports, deliver preservation and conservation, collection management, and digitisation activities. Funding is also available for training workshops.
“Our message to new applicants – the most competitive applications are those that are well planned and convey the strengths of their collection and commitment of their organisation. We encourage applicants to read the guidelines and then speak to our CHG team at an early stage about their proposal,” Ms Clarke said.
General applications close midnight (AEST) on Monday 8 May 2023. Previous CHG program recipients have an extended deadline, with applications closing on Thursday 1 June 2023.
To find out more and apply visit nla.gov.au/chg.
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.
