Helping Country Grants

The Reef Trust Partnership’s Helping Country Grant Program (the Grant Program) is a competitive grants program which provides a total of $5 million in grant funding to eligible Traditional Owners to lead and collaborate on activities that reflect their aspirations and cultural obligations to connect, care for, heal and maintain the condition of the Great Barrier Reef and its Catchment areas.

This program is part of the Traditional Owner Reef Protection Component that is specifically focussed on activating Traditional Owner-led Reef protection and restoration activities. It forms part of the Reef Trust Partnership Agreement and contributes to improving the engagement of Traditional Owners in protection and restoration of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and Catchments.

In partnership with Traditional Owners from our Technical Working Groups and Traditional Owner Advisory group, the Foundation adopted a co-design approach to plan all of our previous Traditional Owner grant rounds. The experiences and collective learnings provided by grant recipients, have been considered in the design of this Traditional Owner focussed grant opportunity.

Reef Trust Agreement: https://www.barrierreef.org/what-we-do/reef-trust-partnership

One of the standout key design features of the Helping Country grants is the different entry levels that Traditional Owner groups can use to access funding. There are three funding levels being offered under this grant round.
- Funding Level 1 (up to $25k): Getting Ready Grants – will help you get started
- Funding Level 2 ($25k-$150K): Project Ready Grants – will help you work on planned projects
- Funding Level 3 (up to $350K): Complex grants – will deliver large projects, where groups demonstrate a strong track record of good project management, partnerships and delivery.

For more information see page 5-6 of the Grant Guidelines.

The Helping Country grants can be used for projects that address any of the following objectives:

- Support Traditional Owners to care for their Land and Sea Country
- Increase the training, learning and development opportunities for Traditional Owners
- Contribute to business ad project readiness for Traditional Owner groups
- Promoting and implementing Healthy Water projects for a healthier Reef
- Supporting Traditional Owner led Reef restoration
- Support monitoring and reporting to improve current capacity
- Support the planning or exploration of economic opportunities stemming from culture-environment business ideas.
- Supporting Traditional Owner Leadership, including Youth and their emerging stewardship roles for Land and Sea Country

Reef Traditional Owners and Traditional Owner groups within the Great Barrier Reef Catchment area that can demonstrate project outcomes will lead to a healthier Reef. A map showing the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and Reef Catchment

To be eligible Traditional Owner groups that apply for funding must meet all the following criteria:

1. Must be a legal entity, for instance:
a. an incorporated association
b. a body corporate
c. a company
d. a cooperative society
e. an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander corporation or incorporated association, or
f. a trust duly constituted.

2. Be a Traditional Owner group for the area the work/planning is proposed (or have culturally appropriate permission where the project may be over multiple estates).

3. Accept the conditions of the application

4. Confirm that all actual, perceived or potential conflicts of interest relating to the grant project have been declared

5. Hold or be willing to hold the required insurances.

6. Have a project that is ready to commence by early May 2024.

Traditional Owner groups that are not legal entities at the closing date for applications must be sponsored by a legal entity (such as a peak body or regional natural resource management organisation) who may apply on their behalf. The legal entity will be legally responsible for meeting the contractual obligations of the grant.

The following groups or organisations are not eligible to apply unless sponsoring for a Traditional Owner organisation:
- Regional natural resource management organisations
- Peak industry groups or umbrella bodies

The following are not eligible to apply for the grants and are not eligible to sponsor a project:
- Individuals

Read the grant guidelines, complete the application form and submit via email to grants@barrierreef.org by 11.59pm (AEST) Tuesday 21 November 2023.

The completed application form with any of its supporting documentation must be submitted to applications@barrierreef.org by 11.59pm (AEST) Tuesday 21 November 2023.

Late applications will not be accepted

No.

Great Barrier Reef Foundation staff are able to clarify any questions you have regarding the application form, but they are not able to help you complete it.

No.

As an individual you are not eligible to apply either with or without a sponsor.

No.

Applications should be submitted for new projects or further stages of an existing project. There should be no duplication of funding between existing projects and new applications made under this grant program.

Yes.

Funds can be used for travelling if it relates to the project. All travel must be incorporated into the proposed budget for the project.

No.

The grant Guidelines state that each Traditional Owner group can only submit one grant application per round.

Items that were not budgeted in the original application will not be funded. Applicants must consider all aspects of their project and ensure they include all relevant costs within their application. Additional funds are not available to meet costs which may have increased after the application was submitted.

For complex and large budget items we do encourage you to provide quotes or supporting documentation to help the assessment panel understand the costs associated with a project. Any time that you can provide evidence for your budget table you are encouraged to do so. Your application will still be assessed if you do not provide quotes - but the assessment panel may ask for follow up information at a later date.

Support letters or letters of endorsement from members of your Traditional Owner group with cultural authority are required. Optional supplementary information (e.g. letters of support from stakeholders or other community groups) are encouraged to help assist the assessment panel understand your application (see section 4.1 in the guidelines).

If the project is on private or state-owned land, you will be required to provide a letter of support from the authorised landholder confirming their consent for the project to take place.

When you submit your application to applications@barrierreef.org you should receive an automated confirmation email that you have successfully completed the application process. If you do not, please contact grants@barrierreef.org

No changes are permitted once the closing of the application date (post February 14, 2022). Please read your application carefully before submitting to ensure that you have completed every relevant section and that all the information is true and correct.

Applications will be assessed against the selection criteria outlined in pages 11 - 13 of the Helping Country Grant Guidelines.

Successful applicants will negotiate and sign a funding deed with the Foundation. Any specified conditions of funding must be met before the initial payment for the project can be processed and the project commences. Projects should expect to start in early May 2023.

The payment will be processed only when the successful applicant has accepted the terms of the funding by signing and returning the funding deed.

Traditional Owner Helping Country projects must be completed by 1 December 2025. Tier 1 (projects up to 25k) should be completed within 12 months of their start date.

The Great Barrier Reef Foundation places a high priority on monitoring and reporting for all Reef Trust Partnership funded projects. The monitoring and reporting requirements are:
- Tracking of expenditure for acquittal
- A process to record project achievements
- A final report on project outcomes and financial expenditure

The Grants program is being funded under the Reef Trust Partnership, which requires that all projects be conducted in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Projects that would be conducted in the Torres Strait are out of scope for these grants. The Foundation does recognize the important cultural and spiritual connection that the Traditional Owners of the Eastern cluster of islands in the Torres Straits has with the Great Barrier Reef, so there may be projects that these Traditional Owner groups apply for that are relevant and in scope for these grants.

Yes they would be eligible to apply, however the project must be undertaken in the GBR World Heritage Area. The Foundation does recognize the important cultural and spiritual connection that the Traditional Owners of the Eastern cluster of islands in the Torres Straits has with the Great Barrier Reef, so there may be projects that these Traditional Owner groups apply for that are relevant and in scope for these grants.

Yes, an Aboriginal Corporation can nominate a Landcare and Catchment group as their sponsor, if needed. If the Aboriginal Corporation is registered as a legal entity they can apply as the applicant and include a partnership with the Landcare and Catchment Group in their application. The Aboriginal Corporation could include the experience of Landcare and Catchment Group in project management etc if they are working together. The main feature of the application needs to be the involvement of the Traditional Owners in planning, leading and running the project work. But we fully expect that partners are involved and working together where possible.

10% of the overall budget can be allocated for project administration.

Yes, the auditing cap is $3,000 to get auditing and acquittals done.

The Healthy Water grants are available to Traditional Owners of the GBR catchment as well as the saltwater Traditional Owners along the coast of the GBR. You can check if your Country falls within the GBR Catchment boundaries on the map below. If you are unsure if your Country falls with the GBR catchment, please email us descriptions of the area a project might relate to, and we can explore this. Send these queries to grants@barrierreef.org

Your organization may be covered by the insurance held by the Landcare and Catchment Group, depending on the partnership that is explained in the grant application. However, this grant provides the opportunity and time to get adequate insurance cover in place if you are awarded a grant.

Public liability insurance and a work cover policy will include workers compensation.

Yes, this grant provides the opportunity and time to get adequate insurance cover in place if you are successful.

Yes, a regional NRM organization could sponsor an established Traditional Owner Association. However, the Traditional Owner Association would need to explain (in their application) why they prefer that arrangement, in order to help the assessment panel understand the advantages.

Yes, providing one or more letters of support will help the assessors understand how the project has been developed and discussed with your Traditional Owner Group, what level of community support it has, and how it aligns with your Traditional Owner group’s priorities and aspirations. It should be from a governance arrangement with appropriate cultural authority, e.g., it could be from the Board of Directors of your organization, community Elders and/or leaders, and/or an established Steering Committee. It may also refer to relevant reports to show how it aligns with your group’s plans and activities, for example a land and/or sea Country plan, annual/strategic plan, TUMRA documentation etc.

No. You can only apply for one type of grant (i.e., tick only one box in the grant application). However, you can submit a grant that combines both activities.

Yes, you can reference your existing WHS plan in the application (and state that it can be provided if shortlisted). Please attach the WHS cover/title page to your application as a supporting document. If there are any project specific risks not covered in the WHS plan, these should be addressed in a smaller risk management plan submitted with the application.

Yes, the cost of producing a video is an eligible communication cost, as long as it will be used as a tool to communicate your project results to others and assist in sharing lessons learned.

There are auspicing arrangements possible for all grant tiers – but the function is to assist Traditional Owners who don’t have a lot of structure or governance currently in place to partner with an established agency to make it possible to help them. To be eligible, the project would need to be Traditional Owner led and driven. Could one of the Traditional Owner groups take the lead in submitting the application, and work with you and the other Traditional Owner group as partners? If not, each Traditional Owner Group could apply for a smaller Getting Ready grant and include your organization as a partner. This would provide Traditional Owners with the ownership of their outcomes and priorities.

Yes, the $10,000 limit on plant and equipment is the standard limit for all projects.

The cost of a hiring a project manager to work specifically on your project, could be funded through project funds. This would not be included in the 10% of funding allocated for administrative and project management costs.

Yes, the grant submission should be emailed to applications@barrierreef.org

No, you do not. Only successful grant applicants will be required to provide certificates of insurance after they are notified that their project will be funded.

The Foundation will assess each project for the types and levels of insurance cover that is needed to be in place before a project can be funded. At this time, we are asking applicants to check that they are capable of having $1m in professional indemnity insurance and $20m in public liability.

Insurance costs should be included in the administrative costs.

No, the Foundation does not have guidelines for calculating Elder fees. We ask that groups consult with their elders and set the price point for Elder payments, as there is variation between Traditional Owner Groups.

A letter of support can be addressed "To Whom It May Concern", and the letter should be submitted by the applicant with their grant application.

The required insurances are listed in section 5 of the Healthy Water application form and include:
- Workers compensation
- Public Liability (minimum required: $20m per occurrence)
- Professional Indemnity (minimum required: $1m per occurrence)
- Motor vehicles and plant and equipment insurance (if applicable)
- Other relevant policies (eg volunteer insurance if applicable).
All Insurances must be in the Applicant’s legal entity name. Copies of the insurance Certificates of Currency must be provided to the Foundation if the application is successful.

No.

The purchase of a boat is not eligible.

The Helping Country grant can support governance activities as long as the Traditional Owner group demonstrates how those governance activities will benefit the Reef.

Multiple activities/projects can be combined to form part of a single grant application in order to qualify for funding.

No, proposed projects do not need to relate to previous projects.

Yes, a template is available on our website.

No, individual Traditional Owner groups will not be disqualified as long as the project they are applying for is unrelated to the one being carried out by the 'umbrella organisation' or larger cohort.

Sponsoring/auspicing organisations will need the following: A document showing the organisation they are sponsoring formally exists; A letter indicating who the head organisation is and who the sponsoring organisation(s) is/are; A statement in the letter saying the sponsoring organisation's insurance will cover the project; opies of insurances (if/when we move to contracting); Actions/deliverable from each organisation clearly outlined in the application.

Yes, positions to support business development through grant writers and Project Officers are fundable in this grant round. It is important to note that the grant can only cover future expenses.