The 'Your Community Heritage' Grant Program was announced by Minister Tony Burke on 17 November 2011 - applications are due in less than a month on Tuesday 20 December 2011!
This generous grant program focuses on place (i.e. built heritage, archaeological and other sites, cultural landscapes), but includes provision for 'Sharing Community Heritage Stories' and 'Celebrating Community Heritage' sub-programs, until the end of 2013.
Click here to go to the relevant Australian government website.
A minimum co-contribution of 25% (cash or in-kind) for grants of $2,500 to $25,000 (GST exclusive) will be awarded for:
Sharing Community Heritage Stories
- story telling / oral history sessions, or related research, including traditional Indigenous stories
- exhibitions
- booklets, brochures, pamphlets,
- audio or interactive tours
- interpretive signage and plaques
- research to improve community understanding of a site
Celebrating Community Heritage
Public celebrations connected to a heritage place or event, preferably to coincide with Australian Heritage Week in April each year.
- heritage forums, community fairs, open days tours
- commemoration of a historic or Indigenous event
- teaching traditional knowledge and understanding Indigenous customs
- workshops teaching / demonstrating traditional construction methods at risk of being lost [1]
- activities that promote conservation and a sense of pride
This new scheme will not provide funding for projects to preserve or provide access to nationally significant (movable cultural) heritage collections e.g. covered by the ongoing Community Heritage Grant Program, which is administered by the National Library of Australia.
Therefore, if your collection is associated with a site and is not of demonstrated national significance, or if your aim is to improve communication about, or just celebrate, the stories represented by your heritage collection / heritage event / heritage site (whether of national significance or not), we encourage you to contact the grant administrators in the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Populations and Communities (DSEWPC) to check the eligibility of the project you have in mind at these contacts: heritagegrants@environment.gov.au or via Freecall 1800 653 004.
[1] You might like to read the 2010 Heritage Trades and Professional Training Project Report, for some ideas. This report was prepared using funding from the same Australian Government department (DSEWPC) by the University of Canberra, La Trobe University, and Godden Mackay Logan P/L Heritage Consultants.