Deadline: 24-Mar-23
Applications are now open for the Protecting Our Places Grants Program to encourage and empower Aboriginal communities to protect, conserve and restore landscapes and waterways important to them.
Purpose
This program empowers and provides opportunities for Aboriginal organisations to undertake projects that:
- contribute to ongoing sustainable management of significant Aboriginal cultural landscapes in New South Wales
- contribute to healthier environments and communities
- develop project management capabilities of Aboriginal groups
- encourage new collaborations and positive relationships with other organisations, government, and stakeholders.
Aims
- The Protecting Our Places Grants Program is a contestable grants program for NSW Aboriginal community organisations and groups, seeking to achieve long-term beneficial outcomes for the NSW environment.
- Funded by the Trust, the program empowers Aboriginal communities to protect, conserve and restore cultural landscapes and waterways that are important to the local Aboriginal people.
- The program provides opportunities for Aboriginal communities to address local environmental and cultural priorities, support the development of their project management skills, and encourage new collaborations and positive relationships with other organisations, government and community stakeholders.
Program Objectives
- Program objectives The program assists Aboriginal communities to take greater ownership of their projects, build capacity to undertake those projects and deliver quality environmental and cultural outcomes.
- The program’s outcomes are achieved through the following objectives:
- to facilitate the sharing and protection of cultural knowledge with and between Aboriginal groups, government and public stakeholders and to enable Aboriginal people to contribute to the improvement and the management of environmental and cultural resources on Country
- to increase the amount of culturally significant Aboriginal land protected, restored, enhanced and managed by local Aboriginal groups, land managers and stakeholders and support connection to Country
- the Protecting Our Places program is an appropriate, effective and sustainable mechanism to deliver Government policy, priorities and outcomes.
Trust’s Strategic Plan 2020–24
Since 2020, the Trust has been implementing its Strategic Plan 2020–24 with 3 identified overarching funding priorities:
- strengthen the NSW natural environment – a healthy natural environment is the foundation for the health and wellbeing
- support native species and their habitats – thriving native plants and animals rely on healthy habitats
- reduce human induced impacts on the environment – human induced impacts are one of the largest challenges facing the environment.
Funding Information
- A total of $500,000 is available for the 2023 round of the program.
- Grants of up to $80,000 may be awarded per project, divided into 2 stages, Stage 1 – Planning and Stage 2 – Implementation.
- Important: Projects are not automatically guaranteed to progress to Stage 2 – Implementation unless the Trust is satisfied that the full requirements of Stage 1 have been met.
- Each project must be planned over 2 stages i.e., Stage 1 – Planning, followed by Stage 2 – Implementation (where the plan prepared during Stage 1 is implemented).
- Specific time and funding limits are set for both stages of the project.
- $1,000 of approved grant funds is quarantined and must be used for an Independent Financial Audit at the end of the project.
Eligibility Criteria
- The following NSW Aboriginal community organisations are eligible to apply:
- NSW Local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALC)
- NSW Aboriginal Corporations
- NSW Incorporated Associations*
- Non-distributing NSW Co-operatives*
- 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
- Note: applicants under this category must also demonstrate** that their organisation’s primary objective is to support members and/or persons of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) descent in New South Wales
- Other Aboriginal organisations and groups are eligible to apply, however, will need the support of another organisation who will perform the role of External Manager
- *Associations and Co-operatives will undergo additional eligibility checks to ensure they are not for profit/non-distributing and that the organisation’s objectives and activities seek to provide benefits for and involves the participation of local Aboriginal people and communities.
- **Charities registered under the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission must provide a copy of their constitution to prove that their primary objective is to support ATSI persons and, where possible, a letter of support from either the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, their Local Aboriginal Land Council or another registered Aboriginal organization.
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 cooperatives (limited by shares).
For more information, visit NSW Environmental Trust.