Deadline: 02-Apr-2024
Applications are now open for the Protecting Our Places Program to encourage and empower Aboriginal communities to protect, conserve and restore landscapes and waterways important to them.
The Protecting Our Places grants program is a competitive grant program where NSW Aboriginal community organisations and groups can apply for funding to make positive, long-lasting changes to the environment in New South Wales. This program is supported by the Trust, and it helps Aboriginal communities take care of and restore special places that are significant to them, like cultural landscapes and waterways.
The program gives Aboriginal communities a chance to work on their local environmental and cultural priorities. It also helps them get better at managing projects and encourages them to partner with other organisations, government agencies and community members in a positive way.
Program Objectives
- The program helps Aboriginal communities have more ownership over their projects, improve their ability to carry out these projects, and achieve good results for the environment and their culture. The program aims to achieve its goals through these key objectives:
- Promoting the sharing and safeguarding of cultural knowledge among Aboriginal groups, government agencies and the community. This helps Aboriginal people have a say in the care and management of environmental and cultural resources on their traditional lands.
- Increasing the amount of land that is culturally important to Aboriginal communities and making sure it is protected, restored, improved and managed by local Aboriginal groups, land managers and other stakeholders. This also strengthens the connection between Aboriginal people and their traditional lands.
- Making sure that the Protecting Our Places program is a suitable, effective and long-lasting way to put government policies, priorities and desired outcomes into action.
Funding Information
- Grants of up to $80,000 are available over the 2 stages:
- Stage 1 Planning – up to $12,000 for project planning.
- Stage 2 Implementation – up to $67,000 to complete the project on-ground works, plus $1,000 quarantined for the mandatory financial audit, totalling $68,000.
Duration
- Projects under the Protecting Our Places program are implemented over 2 stages:
- Stage 1 – planning from 6 to 12 months in duration
- Stage 2 – implementation from 18 to 24 months in duration.
- Note: Projects do not automatically progress from Stage 1 to Stage 2. After Stage 1, projects are assessed against criteria, and successful projects are invited to participate in Stage 2.
What they want to support you to achieve?
- The Protecting Our Places program seeks to work with Aboriginal organisations and communities to achieve the following:
- Caring for Country
- Support Aboriginal communities to manage places of significance and intangible cultural values and resources on land and water.
- Acknowledge the vital cultural and spiritual connection Aboriginal people have with their traditional lands and waters.
- Partnerships developed and maintained
- Aboriginal organisations develop partnerships and strengthen collaborations with other Aboriginal and/or non-Aboriginal organisations, land managers, local and state governments and local stakeholders.
- These partnerships and collaborations seek to protect and restore Aboriginal cultural values and develop a mutually beneficial working relationship.
- Build capacity
- Enhance and support Aboriginal organisations and communities to conduct environmental activities that are ecologically sustainable and culturally appropriate.
- Aboriginal communities develop skills and experience to engage and recruit members of their local and broader communities to participate in cultural land management activities on Country.
- Awareness raising
- Recognise, promote and raise awareness of cultural land and water management practices and the use of cultural knowledge resource.
- Community projects that practice contemporary and traditional land management styles that are carried out safely and in appropriate ways.
- Increased participation
- Private and public land managers work with Aboriginal people and their communities to improve cultural land management practices and protection of cultural values, resources and places of importance.
- Targeted communities (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) are involved in management actions supported by the Protecting Our Places program to care and connect with Country.
- Use of cultural knowledge
- Appropriate cultural land and waters management practices are applied to protect and restore environmental and cultural values and ensure sustainable management of Country to address present and future issues.
- Cultural knowledge holders are engaged and consulted on all aspects of the project, and transfer of knowledge is passed on appropriately to community members.
- Encourage and support employment of Aboriginal people and businesses
- At least 80% of project funds to be expended on the employment of Aboriginal people and engagement of suitably experienced and qualified Aboriginalowned businesses to provide either services or supply of materials or products.
- Caring for Country
Eligibility Criteria
- The following NSW Aboriginal community organisations are eligible to apply (see links in ‘More information’ section):
- NSW local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALC)
- NSW Aboriginal Corporations registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth)
- NSW Incorporated Associations registered under Associations Incorporation Act 2009
- Non-distributing NSW co-operatives registered under Co-operatives (Adoption of National Law) Act 2012 and associated Acts
- NSW Registered Native Title Body Corporates
- Australian Public Company Limited by Guarantee operating as a registered charity under the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.
- Other Aboriginal organisations and groups are eligible to apply, however, they will need the support of another organisation who will perform the role of external manager
Ineligible
- The Trust will not fund the following entities under the program:
- non-Aboriginal groups or organisations
- individuals, industry joint ventures and profit-distributing corporations or co-operatives (limited by shares).
For more information, visit NSW Government.