Environmental Restoration and Rehabilitation Grants Program

Environmental Restoration and Rehabilitation Grants Program

  • Funding ranging from a minimum of $150,000 to a maximum of $350,000 is available, with a project duration of 3 to 5 years.
  • In-kind contributions are eligible, alongside cash contributions.
  • Applications are open until May 5 2025.

The Environmental Restoration and Rehabilitation Grants Program is a competitive initiative, aimed at supporting community and government organisations in New South Wales. The program focuses on achieving lasting environmental benefits by protecting, conserving, and restoring natural resources. It seeks to improve ecosystem quality, enhance environmental management through expertise and collaboration, and provide a sustainable mechanism for delivering government policies and priorities.

Key Requirements

Grant-funded activities must align with at least one of the following priorities:

  1. Healthy Country – Supporting Aboriginal peoples’ involvement in environmental management by promoting traditional knowledge and practices.

  2. Ecosystem and Biodiversity Restoration – Focusing on species resilience, climate adaptation, and the overall health of ecosystems.

  3. Enhanced Environmental Management – Strengthening data collection, connectivity, and natural resource management practices to achieve comprehensive environmental outcomes.

For projects targeting the Healthy Country priority, partnering with relevant Aboriginal organisations or stakeholders is essential.

Organisations may submit up to two applications. However, each organisation is eligible for funding for only one project, unless located in Western New South Wales, where up to two projects may be funded.

What is eligible for funding?

The following activities are eligible for funding:

  • Bush regeneration and assisted natural regeneration
  • Bush regeneration contractors
  • Canopy connection
  • Capacity building
    • Training programs
    • Educational workshops
    • Partnership development
    • Knowledge sharing
  • Community engagement
    • Consultation processes
    • Volunteer opportunities
    • Feedback mechanisms
  • Consultants
  • Contractors
  • Ecological and cultural burns
  • Educational resources and signage
  • Employing project management staff (up to 30% of the total grant funding)
    • option 1: recruit a new staff member with the appropriate skills and capabilities
    • option 2: use existing staff members who have the capacity to contribute to project
      work.
  • Equipment hire
  • Erosion control
  • Fencing
  • Habitat creation
  • Materials associated with the project
  • Bush regeneration and assisted natural regeneration monitoring
  • Native seed collection and propagation
  • Partnering with Aboriginal organisations
  • Pest animal management
  • Revegetation
  • Cultivating seed production areas and orchards
  • Treating threatened species
  • Track management for conservation
  • Transport
    • Freight, transportation of materials and equipment, and travel costs directly associated with project activities
  • Weed management

What companies are eligible for funding?

Eligible organisations must be:

  • Incorporated associations, community organisations and non-profit organisations
  • Non-commercial cooperatives
  • Companies limited by guarantee
  • State government agencies and statutory committees
  • Councils
  • Regional organisations of councils
  • Other organisations controlled by local government
  • Universities (only eligible to apply for funding for projects on their own land)
  • Local Aboriginal land councils
  • Registered Indigenous corporations.

Is this grant competitive or entitlement based?

Competitive. Your application will be assessed among other applications by a judging panel.

How can I increase my chances of winning this grant?

By engaging an accredited government grants consultant, such as Avant Group.

Competitive grants often require significant business case development and project analysis to support the application, this may include detailed presentations supporting the project’s merit, projected sales, cost-benefit analysis and more.

As part of your engagement with Avant Group, your account manager will assess the required documents and will provide the following as needed to support your grant submission.

Grant application writeup including a detailed presentation illustrating how the grant funding will contribute to your project, how the funding will contribute to the project’s budget, a project milestone plan, delivery timeline, impact on employment if applicable and a breakdown of the management and leadership team for the project

  • Industry analysis presentation
  • Competitor Analysis Presentation
  • Marketing and Sales Analysis Presentation
  • 3-5 year Cashflow Forecast
  • 3-5 year Balance Sheet Forecast
  • Cost-Benefit Analysis of Grant Funding
  • End-to-end grant application including information collating, analysis and application writing
  • CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) cost-benefit analysis
  • Stakeholder relations and Risk Mitigation Plans
  • Any other relevant forecasting that will support your application

How can I get help with my application? Or know if I’m likely to win funding?

Avant Group offers a no-obligation assessment of your eligibility for funding and will assess your likelihood of a successful grant application.