Connecting to Country

Program guidelines

On this page

The Connecting to Country grant program supports Western Australian Aboriginal people and Aboriginal-led organisations to undertake on-Country activities for the intergenerational transfer of knowledge, preservation of culture and strengthening of communities. 

The key dates calendar has opening and closing dates, activity start dates and draft review deadlines.

Please apply using the Online Grants web portal.

More information about how to apply can be found in the application manual.

All applications to this program must show strong Aboriginal involvement in the creation and governance of the project.  If you are unsure about how to demonstrate Aboriginal governance and/or involvement, please contact project officers for advice.

Objectives

The program intends to:

  • facilitate sharing of cultural knowledge and skills between generations, such as the preservation of language, stories and dance
  • recognise Aboriginal cultural leadership within the Aboriginal community and support leadership development in young people
  • contribute to stronger community mental health and wellbeing
  • strengthen, protect and maintain traditional ways of maintaining cultural knowledge.

To be successful, your application should align to 2 or more of these objectives.

What can I apply for?

The program supports a wide range of activities for Aboriginal people across Western Australia to maintain links between Country, culture and communities. 

This may include, but is not limited to:

  • cultural maintenance activities such as travel to culturally significant places to connect with traditional and contemporary knowledge
  • intergenerational activities to improve understanding of Country, ancestry and kinship connections such as heading out bush to facilitate the transfer of cultural knowledge, practices, beliefs, values and/or skills from older to younger generations
  • youth projects focused on reconnecting young people to Country, culture and identity, including projects for youth at-risk of entering the formal justice system
  • activities that promote positive community resilience, wellbeing and mental health such as community led cultural healing projects
  • opportunities to engage with language and stories about significant places
  • projects that focus on women’s or men’s business (secret/sacred information is not required for the application or acquittal process).

Where possible, your activity should seek to document, preserve and archive stories or cultural knowledge for access by future generations.

This may involve recording, digitising or transcribing oral histories or videos or exhibiting images from on-Country projects.

Applicants are encouraged to provide evidence of how materials generated by their project will be appropriately stored and made available for current and future generations to access and, if relevant, how access to any secret/sacred materials will be managed.  

What can’t I apply for?

  • projects that are core business or part of an organisation’s regular activity or operations. For example, a ranger organisation cannot apply for funding for site management
  • purchase of capital equipment, including instruments, equipment, software, computers, tablets (iPads) and/or uniforms
  • capital works such as construction or purchasing of studios, workspaces or organisation spaces
  • activities already funded by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries’ culture and the arts grant programs
  • activities relating to radio broadcasting
  • costs of manufacturing and/or producing prototypes
  • fundraising, competitions, prizes and trophies
  • the work of State Government or Commonwealth Government departments
  • activity that will be academically assessed or any school curriculum based activity
  • activities related to an individual’s membership in a national organisation
  • ongoing organisation staffing and/or operational costs
  • digital games development activities.

What will make my application ineligible?

You will make your application ineligible and will not be assessed if you:

  • do not provide any support material
  • start the activity before the eligible start date
  • submit a late application
  • submit more than one application per funding round
  • have any key personnel with an overdue acquittal 
  • are a staff member of the department (staff of portfolio organisations may apply subject to meeting the Code of Conduct and Secondary Employment Policy) 
  • request funding that exceeds the funding cap of the program   
  • apply for activity that is delivered as part of an educational institution’s curriculum or will be academically assessed
  • are a portfolio organisation of the department
  • are not a Western Australian group, organisation or individual.

How much can I apply for?

Applicants can apply for funding up to $25,000. 

The amount of funding you are asking for should reflect:

  • how long the project will take
  • the scale of the project
  • the number of people involved
  • the range of activities in the project
  • the anticipated impact for participants.

This program can fund 100 percent of your activity costs, however, showing you have income (cash or in-kind) from other sources will strengthen your application.  

Your funding request will be the difference between your expenditure/costs minus your income in your application budget.  

When can I apply?

The key dates calendar has application opening and closing dates, activity start dates and draft review deadline. 

You are encouraged to submit your application before the closing date to make sure you have plenty of time for any technical or eligibility/resubmission issues.

All times are in AWST (for Perth, Western Australia).  

If you are successful, processing of grant payments will not start until the grant contract is signed and returned. This means, depending on your activity start date, we cannot guarantee notification and/or availability of funding before your activity begins.  

Funding rounds

RoundOpenDraft reviewCloseProjects beginning afterNotificationCategory
2023-249:00am 31 October 20234:00pm 18 January 20244:00pm 1 February 20241 May 2024Approximately 12 weeks after round closing dateConnecting to Country
September 20249:00am 3 September 20244:00pm 26 September 20244:00pm 10 October 202415 January 2025Approximately 12 weeks after round closing dateConnecting to Country
September 20259:00am 2 September 20254:00pm 25 September 20254:00pm 9 October 202515 January 2026Approximately 12 weeks after round closing dateConnecting to Country  


How many times can I apply?

One application can be submitted per applicant for this round of funding.

How do I apply?

Please apply using the Online Grants web portal and select Connecting to Country from the program options.

More information on how to apply can be found in the application manual.

Online applications are preferred; however, if you cannot access Online Grants, you can contact us to request a hardcopy form and discuss postal submission. 

Before commencing an application, you can contact us to discuss your proposal and any assistance you may need with your application.

4 components of your application

There are 4 components of this grant application: 

  1. core application questions
  2. project outputs
  3. financial information
  4. support material. 

Each plays a significant and distinct role in creating a whole picture about your activity. 

Core application questions

Your answers to the core application questions should give assessors an overview of your activity. Each question has a 1500-character limit.

If you need more information on how to prepare your application, please read the application manual. 

You can download a copy of your draft application in Online Grants at any time to share with others for their feedback.

Remember to keep in mind the assessment criteria and program objectives when writing your answers to the core application questions.  

When relevant in answering the application questions, talk about the support material you are submitting with your application help the assessors make connections. 

1. What is the activity/project you are seeking funding for?

Describe your planned activity/project. Explain the cultural and community relevance or significance of the activity, both for you and the community.

2. Who is planning and participating in this activity/project?

Tell us who you will be working with and how they will contribute. Tell us about any participants in your project and why it is important they are included/targeted.  Give us background information about your organisation and its purpose. Include whether there are any other partners involved and how they are supporting the activity/project. 

This program supports projects with significant leadership and input from Aboriginal people.

Note: You must provide evidence that the Aboriginal organisations and people who have committed to being involved in the project are guiding the direction of the project.

3. Why do you need to undertake this activity/project and why do you need to do it now?

Explain why it is important to do this activity at this time. Demonstrate the relevance, timeliness, cultural significance and impact of the activity.  Why is it important to do this activity now for your organisation and/or the wider Western Australian community and/or the community or participants. Does it build on work currently being undertaken?  Will it lead to something in the future?  Is it seasonal or culturally important or relevant for the age of the participants?

4. How do you plan to undertake the activity/project?

Describe the stages or steps in planning, development and implementing your activity. Where are you planning to go? What do you want to do?   

Consider how you will manage the delivery of confronting or sensitive information to participants in a sensitive, culturally safe manner. Including a cultural safety or mental health and wellbeing plan in your support material, and the inclusion of counsellors as key personnel (if deemed necessary) may strengthen your application.

Note: due to the nature of the Connecting to Country program, contract conditions require agreement to comply with the Working with Children Act 2004 and the Australia Council for the Arts’ Protocols for Working with Children in Art (PDF 116 KB) Working with Children in Art.

5. What will be the outcome or legacy of this activity?  

What do you hope to achieve by doing this activity? What are the direct or indirect outcomes for the participants and/or community? Direct outcomes include immediate value for community or participants, indirect outcomes include legacy of the activity for future generations or wider communities. Will you preserve possible outcomes for future access? Will the activity be continued in some way?

Describe how you will measure and report your progress towards and/or achievement of the activity you have outlined in this section. How will you know whether you have achieved what you set out to do? 

Project outputs 

You are required to provide relevant project outputs information for your activity. This information will be considered as part of the assessment of your application. 

A project output gives assessors an idea of the measurable part of the activity you are planning. 

Project outputs information will be used to provide further clarity on your activity for the assessor and will provide important data for the department for research, analysis and advocacy purposes. 

You only need to provide information for the categories and items relevant to your activity.

If your application is successful, you will be required to report against the planned targets at the acquittal stage.

 

Please contact us if you have any questions. 

Financial information

The financial information in your budget demonstrates to the panel you have thought about all elements of your activity and you have researched and costed them. A good budget also helps the department know your activity will be a good investment for the State of Western Australia. 

You should make clear which items you are asking the department to support. List those items in the ‘Additional Notes’ section of the application budget page.

If you are registered for GST you should not include GST in the budget figures. All amounts should be in Australian dollars.

The amount of funding you are asking for — your funding request — is the difference between your expenditure and your income. To make sure this amount is right, seek quotes for all costs and include a dollar amount for all in-kind support given to the activity. 

Many activities will include in-kind contributions.  This can be someone offering something for free or at a discount. More information on in-kind expenditure and income as well as an example of how to demonstrate your in-kind support follows this section.

For each expenditure or income item you add to the budget, use the notes area alongside the item to explain how it relates to the delivery of your activity and how the cost was calculated.   

Expenditure 

Expenditure items can vary significantly from one activity to another. Any legitimate expense that is eligible can be included in the budget. 

Do not duplicate costs in the budget form. For example, if you receive a quote for equipment hire that includes several items such as a camera/lights/batteries, do not include a separate item for ‘camera hire’.  Simply outline 'equipment hire' as the expenditure item and add a note explaining the cost includes camera hire.

Eligible expenditure items

Administration

Expenses related to the management and administration of the activity e.g. Telephone/internet, insurance and stationery. Eligible expenditure items in this category may also include audit costs and accessibility costs (expenditure associated with making your activity accessible to participants or audiences with a disability).

Preparation and development

Costs related to the planning, production and delivery of the project or activity or its deliverables, including the costs of presentation and exhibition. Eligible items may include documenting fees, audio-visual costs and venue hire.

Salaries, fees and living allowances

Expenditure in this category should include salaries, fees and allowances for all key personnel, with separate components itemised in the budget notes. We support appropriate rates of pay for all people involved in your activity.

All rates should be relative to level of experience.

Please note that organisations, such as Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, predominantly provide information on minimum base rates for employees engaged on a full-time, part-time or casual basis. Rates for artists and arts workers engaged as contractors will include a loading to cover the costs of being self-employed. Full-time, part-time and casual rates do not factor in these costs and should not be used when engaging contractors.

Travel and freight

Costs associated with transporting people, equipment or goods. Eligible items may include fares (taxi, airplane, bus etc.), tolls, land or air freight, vehicle hire and certain camping or regional costs. This grant will not cover the purchase of equipment such as swags, tents, trailers, chairs or cooking equipment.  Hire costs are eligible.

Income

This program can fund 100% of your activity costs. Please detail any income you are expecting from the project or activity, including in-kind contributions.

Eligible income Items

Earned income

May include sales, or fees.

Corporate sponsorship

Any income received through sponsorship from corporate bodies or businesses. Income received through government sponsorship should be included in the relevant government income category.

Philanthropic donations

May include contributions from fundraising, crowdfunding, donations, gifts and bequests.

Australia Council, other Federal Government, other State Government, local government

All grants and sponsorship being sought from Local, State and Federal Government, Creative Australia, and other government sources must be included, whether or not this support has been confirmed. If your application is to be assessed by an assessment panel, we will attempt to confirm the status of any pending funding applications directly with the funding body before the panel assessment. Do not include department grant funds being requested as part of this application.

Other income

If you are making a cash contribution, or someone is providing cash to the activity or a Lands Trust, council or foundation is contributing cash, list this item as a ‘cash contribution’ or similar. Include any other income source that does not fit within any of the above categories and provide enough detail to identify the income source.

In-kind expenditure and income

Some expenses may be offered to you for free or at a discount. This might be borrowed equipment, the use of a community space, donated or discounted goods or services, such as consultation fees or volunteers (including yourself), negotiated discounted fees and allowances. Anything given to your project at no expense to you is considered in-kind. 

All in-kind expenditure must be included as a budget item under the in-kind expenditure category. The corresponding recognition of in-kind income is created automatically in your online application, and you do not need to enter any in-kind income budget items. The total in-kind expenditure must always equal the total in-kind income.   

Additional notes

This section of the budget provides an opportunity for you to detail any additional information you feel may help to clarify items within your budget. For example, for fees and salaries you can indicate in this section how you calculated your amount.

You should use this section to indicate which expenditure items you want the department to support.

Taxation

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) considers any grant payment to be taxable income for the purposes of your annual income tax return. If you receive a grant you are encouraged to discuss your tax implications with your tax agent or the ATO

Registered for Goods and Services Tax (GST)  

If you are registered for GST you must show your expenditure items exclusive of the GST component. For example, you have been quoted $550 including GST for lighting hire. In your expenditure budget you would only show lighting hire of $500. 

If you are registered for GST and your activity is funded, the department payment will include a 10% GST component to cover those items on which GST is payable.

Not registered for Goods and Services Tax (GST)    

If you are not registered for GST you must show your expenditure items inclusive of the GST component. For example, you have been quoted $550 including GST for lighting hire. In your expenditure budget you would show lighting hire of $550.

If you are not registered for GST and your activity is funded, the department payment will include the GST component for those items on which GST is payable.  

Support material 

Support material is crucial to a successful application and is essential for assessors to understand the value of your activity. It is highly recommended you pay close attention to the support material you choose to make sure it offers the best support for your application. 

In a competitive funding round support material will give the assessors a more detailed understanding of your project.

Your choice of support material should help to demonstrate the 4 assessment criteria: quality, reach, good planning and financial responsibility, as well as how your project will meet the objectives of the program. (See How will my application be assessed). 

Support material summary

  • Text — maximum 20 A4 pages
  • Images — maximum 10
  • Audio/video — maximum 12 minutes.

Recommended support material

  • Evidence of Aboriginal community governance and commitment to the project — you must show evidence the Aboriginal organisations and people who have committed to being involved in the project are also guiding the direction of the project. This evidence can also show why the project is needed at this time and what it will mean for the people involved. You might want to submit a short video of the key personnel involved with the project speaking about their role and/or why the project is important. You could include an audio recording or letters/emails from Elders, youth, families or community organisations involved.
  • Activity planning and background — provide evidence of activity planning and any relevant background information. Show the valuable skills and services of key people involved in the project. Explain relationships with partners identified in this project to show how the activity will inspire leadership and empower action towards design and delivery of activity for community. This evidence may be in the form of timelines, cultural safety and mental health plans, documentation of past projects, background to key relationships, key personnel bios, maps of activity locations.
  • Quotes for major expenditure — including quotes can show the assessors that the information about major expenses in your budget (such as regional transport or specialised equipment) is realistic and reasonable.

Further details regarding the support material items can be found below.

Please note: 

  • The support material formats and limits are requested to ensure equality between applications in competitive programs.
  • If you exceed the support material limits, the assessors will only watch, listen or read up to the specified limit. 
  • Files and links in ineligible formats will be deactivated and not viewed by the assessor.
  • Formats that will not be viewed include: .pages, .zip, .excel, MP3s (or similar) and .eml (however screenshots of emails converted to PDF are okay).
  • Links to support material using file sharing services such as Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive will not be viewed.
  • Weblinks to text and image information online will not be viewed.
  • Where possible, please only upload one document or file per support material type.
  • Items of support material cannot exceed 5 MB file size.
  • As an Online Grants portal user, you must upload your support materials with your online application. 

Types of accepted support material you may provide:

Text

Maximum 20 A4 pages of text, in PDF or Word format. Preferably in one single document (maximum file size 5 MB. All text must be legible at 100%). Note: weblinks are not accepted.

Examples of material
  • applicant CVs, biographies or profiles for key creative or artistic personnel
  • participant confirmation*
  • quotes for major expenditure items/confirmation of fees*
  • letters of peer/industry support (external to your activity)
  • reviews, media reports or articles on your previous work
  • evidence of confirmed events, activities or appointments*
  • confirmation of consultation and/or support from the target community/participants, such as Aboriginal communities or young people
  • evidence of significant Aboriginal involvement, participation and decision making (where required)
  • marketing, promotional or activity plan/s
  • synopsis of proposed text/script
  • curatorial statement
  • director’s notes
  • invitations to present, perform, exhibit or showcase*
  • extracts of literary manuscripts, play scripts or other writing samples
  • publishing samples
  • product catalogue
  • safety and contingency plan (for example COVID-19 contingency plan).

*Can include multiple screenshots of emails and quotes. We suggest taking a screenshot of the essential information and pasting up to 4 per A4 page so they are still legible when viewed at 100%.

Images

Maximum 10 images in one PDF or Word document or up to 10 image files (maximum file size 5 MB with one line of text caption permitted for each image). Note: weblinks are not accepted.

Examples of material 

Images of previous trips to country, work or activities.

Audio and video

Maximum 4 links to audio and video content not exceeding 12 minutes combined listening or viewing time.

Audio and/or video files must be uploaded to file streaming sites like Vimeo, YouTube, Bandcamp or SoundCloud that do not require a log-in to access. Do not use Spotify.

You can find instructions on how to use these sites at the following links:

Examples of material
  • examples of previous work or activities
  • interviews, recordings, or presentations that support your activity
  • a recorded explanation of your proposed project
  • testimonials of support for the project.

Draft review

Applicants to Connecting to Country can request a draft review of their application.  This is an opportunity for you to send your application to a Grants Officer for feedback before you submit your final application to the panel for assessment. Check the key dates calendar for the draft review deadline.

You are strongly encouraged to make the request for a draft review well before the deadline to give staff enough time to provide feedback as well as time for you to update your application on receipt of the review. 

In some instances there may not be enough time to provide feedback to all applicants who have requested a draft review, so make sure you get yours in as soon as possible.

Contact onlinegrantsupportca@dlgsc.wa.gov.au if you require assistance requesting a draft review in Online Grants.

How will my application be assessed?

Applications will be assessed by a panel of Aboriginal people who are industry experts with backgrounds in the arts, culture, heritage and community development.

All applications are assessed against the program’s objectives and the following 4 criteria: 

  1. quality
  2. reach
  3. good planning
  4. financial responsibility.

Each of the 4 criteria has a subset of dimensions and weightings which can be found below. 

More information about the dimensions and definitions, which have been developed by artists and creatives representing their sector, can be found in the application manual.

You are not expected to address all dimensions and definitions, only those most relevant to your application. 

Your activity must meet at least 1 of the objectives of the program to be successful. Assessors will consider your application against the relevant dimensions and allocate a weighted score for each of the 4 criteria.

Final approval of successful applications depends on available budget and approval by the Minister or delegated authority.  

Quality

Dimensions of quality

Relevance, timeliness, importance, cultural authenticity, originality, innovation, cultural knowledge, community designed, self-determination.

Weighting 30%

Definition

Quality may be demonstrated by, but not limited to: examples of previous projects, community and cultural support, timeliness of the work and a strong history in your area of activity. It may also be demonstrated through the knowledge, skills and expertise of the people involved in the activity, the alignment of those skills and knowledge to deliver the project, how critical the project is for cultural knowledge preservation or transfer, or community wellbeing impact.

Reach

Dimensions of reach

Intergenerational impact, community and cultural impact, collaboration, preservation and documentation, legacy of project, access to community and future generations.

Weighting 30%

Definition

Reach is demonstrated by the ability of the project to facilitate intergenerational transmission of culture and knowledge to young people, support the development of youth leadership skills and promote cultural leadership and capacity building.

It also refers to the legacy of the project; how significant cultural or historical information is recorded, archived or preserved for access by current and future generations.

Good planning

Dimensions of good planning

Realistic, achievable, considered, demonstrated research and/or consultation, evaluation.

Weighting 20%

Definition

Good planning refers to the level of consideration which has been given to practically undertaking the activity. Good planning can be demonstrated by, but not limited to; carefully considered preparation, confirmation of key personnel, a realistic timeline and achievable outcomes, documented research and/or consultation and a process of evaluation

Financial responsibility

Dimensions of financial responsibility

Value, comprehensive budget.

Weighting 20%

Definition

Financial responsibility refers to the sound management of the budget. Financial responsibility can be demonstrated by but is not limited to; efficient use of resources, reasonable expenses, an accurate and comprehensive budget and that other sources of income have been considered and included where appropriate.

Acquittal report

If you’re successful you will be required to fill in an acquittal report when your activity has finished. An acquittal report details your activity and how you spent the grant. The acquittal report will be available for you to access in Online Grants once a copy of your signed funding agreement has been received.

Your acquittal report must be submitted within 90 days of the activity completion date as specified in the funding agreement.

You will need to attach relevant documents, images and videos that show the delivery of the activity and that may demonstrate the impact and outcomes achieved.

You will not be asked to provide any images or recordings of people or cultural materials that are not appropriate to be shared.

The report will also include your activity budget and you will be required to enter all the actual figures against each budget item and add any additional items not in the original budget. Variations between budget and actual figures are acceptable; however, you must provide an explanation for large variations in the Notes for that item. As you enter actual figures, the activity profit/loss will be automatically updated and displayed at the top of the financial information page.

The funding acquittal report also includes the option to provide feedback to help us to continually review and improve the service we provide.  

Assistance for applicants

More information on how to apply can be found in the application manual.

Project officers are available via telephone and email to answer queries about applications and suitability of activities to specific programs.

If you need extra assistance due to disability, language barriers or any other factor that may disadvantage you in completing your application, please contact us.

The advice provided by project officers does not guarantee the success of your application.

Due to the high number of applications received, each funding round is highly competitive.

All applications are considered on their own merits and against the assessment criteria and program objectives.

Contact us

Online Grants portal technical support

For assistance using Online Grants or to report any related technical issues, contact the Online Grants Support Team: onlinegrantsupportca@dlgsc.wa.gov.au

Project officers

For enquiries relating to this funding program, including advice or assistance with your application, contact a project officer:
Telephone 61 8 6552 7400
Toll Free (Country WA callers only) 1800 634 541
Email grantsprogramsca@dlgsc.wa.gov.au

Assistance for people with disability

The department is committed to supporting applicants with disability. Information can be provided in alternative formats (large print, electronic or Braille) upon request.

If you require special assistance in preparing your application, please call 61 8 6552 7400 or toll free for regional WA callers on 1800 634 541.

Family, friends, mentors and/or carers can attend meetings with you.

If you are deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through one of the following:

Interpreting assistance

For interpreting assistance in languages other than English, telephone the Translation and Interpreting Service on 13 14 50 and ask for a connection to 6552 7400 or 1800 634 541.

Regional applicants

Toll Free (Country WA callers only): 1800 634 541.

Email the project officers: grantsprogramsca@dlgsc.wa.gov.au

Page reviewed 05 December 2024

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