NSW Social Cohesion Grants for Local Government Round 5 - Addressing Racism and Discrimination

Dear applicants,

Thank you for your interest in participating in round five of the NSW Social Cohesion Grants for Local Government.

Applications are now open. You will have until 11.59pm, 22 April 2026 to apply.

Please note that we are unable to consider incomplete applications and/or applications received after the closing date.

Background

Local governments know and understand their communities, helping to deliver economic, environmental, and social outcomes that impact social cohesion.

Local governments are therefore well placed to design and implement initiatives that build stronger, more resilient, and more cohesive communities.

For this reason, in 2022 the NSW Government announced the NSW Social Cohesion Grants for Local Government program.

Since the inception of this grants program, the NSW Government has facilitated four rounds of grants, providing funding support to a range of local governments across the state. The Premier’s Department (the Department) is now pleased to announce a fifth round of funding.

Please forward any inquiries regarding the grant to connectedcommunities@premiersdepartment.nsw.gov.au 

Purpose and Objective 

The overarching purpose of this grants program is to build stronger, more resilient, and more cohesive communities to reduce racism and intersectional experiences of discrimination.

In this round, the Department is seeking applications for funding which seek to uplift local government capacity to address racism and intersectional experiences of discrimination and inform the development of the grantee’s tailored Anti-Racism Strategy (or related strategies)

It is our vision that, by supporting local governments through the NSW Social Cohesion Grants for Local Government:

• Connection and belonging within local communities will be strengthened
• Connection and belonging between local communities will be strengthened
• Connection and trust between local communities and institutions will be strengthened
• Local government will have enhanced capability to design, implement and evaluate social cohesion initiatives.

The Applicant acknowledges and agrees that:

• submission of this application does not guarantee funding will be granted for any project, and the Department expressly reserves its right to accept or reject this application at its discretion;
• it must bear the costs of preparing and submitting this application and the Department does not accept any liability for such costs, whether or not this application is ultimately accepted or rejected; and
• it has read the Funding Guidelines for the Program and has fully informed itself of the relevant program requirements.

By submitting this application form, the Applicant acknowledges and agrees that:

• if this project application is successful, the relevant details of the project will be made public, including details such as the names of the organisation (Applicant) and any partnering organisation (state government agency or non-government organisation), project title, project description, location, anticipated time for completion and amount awarded;
• the Department will use reasonable endeavours to ensure that any information received in or in respect of this application which is clearly marked ‘Commercial-in-confidence’ or ‘Confidential’ is treated as confidential, however, such documents will remain subject to the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) (GIPA Act); and
• in some circumstances the Department may release information contained in this application form and other relevant information in relation to this application in response to a request lodged under the GIPA Act or otherwise as required or permitted by law.

• It has been prepared by and is being submitted by an eligible applicant
• Applicants represents a NSW Local Government (operating under the Local Government Act 1993)
• Projects can commence within 3 months and be completed within 12 months of the funding deed commencing
• Applicants will notify the Department if grant funding is secured from another source
• The application is not for an existing project or funded from council or other sources.
• The application identifies and address one or more of the program outcomes, from the NSW Social Cohesion Grants for Local Government Program logic (see section 1.2 of the Guidelines)