WA Heritage Grants Program

  • Two funding streams are available in this program
    • State Heritage Grants Stream – Discretionary grants up to $50,000 and grants up to $100,000 for Major Conservation Projects
    • Community Heritage Grants Stream – Grants up to $10,000 for standard projects and grants up to $30,000 for major projects
  • Applications for this round are open until 4 August 2025

The next round for the 2025-2026 Western Australian Heritage Grants Program is now open, with funding available to support the conservation and activation of state-registered heritage places.

Key Requirements

The Heritage Grants Program encourages investment in State Registered Heritage Places and supports key strategic objectives of the Heritage Council of Western Australia.

What is eligible for funding?

There are two grant streams:

State Heritage Grants (SHG)

  • The SHG stream subsidises the cost of conservation works, including the costs associated with professional advice, for State Registered places.
  • This is for private owners of State Registered Heritage places to assist with physical conservation projects such as structural stabilisation, masonry repairs, roof repairs and mitigation of damp.
  • Under this stream, funding assistance can be provided for the preparation of scopes of conservation works and building condition assessments and can be applied for as a documentation-only project or in conjunction with physical building work.

Funding

  • There is no minimum grant.
  • Discretionary grants of up to $50,000 are offered for conservation works projects, on a dollar-for-dollar (50:50) basis. An exception to the 50:50 rule is that the costs of commissioning a heritage professional will be met on an 80:20 basis.
  • Discretionary grants up to $16,000 are offered for non-works projects (e.g. documentation). Documentation funding will be offered on an 80:20 basis
  • Funding of up to $100,000, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, may be granted for projects that address the Major Conservation Projects criteria
  • A reduced owner’s contribution (less than 50 per cent) may be considered where evidence of financial hardship can be demonstrated.

Community Heritage Grants (CHG)

  • The CHG stream provides assistance to not-for-profit organisations, businesses and local governments for education, community engagement and interpretation projects.

Education projects – providing training for the community, such as specialist conservation talks and heritage tours, on the importance, identification, and conservation of historic heritage places, can be assisted under this category.

Community engagement projects – providing funding assistance to events or activities that celebrate heritage places, such as heritage trade skills workshops and training, and projects that promote heritage conservation across a region or sector.

Interpretation projects – assisting the development or implementation of interpretation projects that can either be for the preparation of an interpretation plan or for the implementation of an established interpretation plan – support can be available for audio-visual interpretation experiences, interpretive signage, heritage tourism products and other creative projects that tell the story of a Heritage Place.

Funding

  • The minimum funding to any one project is $1,000.
  • Funding is split into two tiers: standard projects and major projects.
  • Discretionary grants of up to $10,000 are offered for standard projects, on a dollar-for-dollar basis
  • Discretionary grants of up to $30,000 are offered for major projects, on a dollar-for-dollar basis
  • The grant recipient’s proportion of project costs (matched funding) may be met in part or in whole with in-kind contributions, where these can be substantiated and are in line with generally accepted rates.
  • There is no consideration of financial hardship given under the CHG stream.

What companies are eligible for funding?

STATE HERITAGE GRANTS (SHG)

To be eligible for the SHG stream applicants must:

  1. a) be a private owner* of a State Registered place
  2. b) hold comprehensive building insurance for the place; and
  3. c) have held the certificate of title for three or more years.

*All persons and corporate entities in ownership of a State Registered Place are eligible to apply, except for Commonwealth, State government agencies and local governments.

The following additional eligibility criteria also applies to some applicants

  1. d) Non-government entities that are leasing a government-owned place may be eligible if they can provide evidence the maintenance of the place is their full responsibility.
  2. e) Owners that have held the Certificate of Title for three years or less must provide evidence that the cost of repairs substantially exceeds, in the opinion of the Outcome Assessment Panel, the benefit to the owner.
  3. f) Applications from owners of places that are on Heritage Council’s assessment program may be eligible if they are for the preparation of a Conservation Management Plan (CMP).
  4. g) Local governments are eligible to apply only for funding for conservation documents (CMPs etc), which relate to either State registered or assessment program places.
  5. h) Owners that have held the Certificate of Title for three years or less may be eligible to apply if the place has been transferred from State ownership to the current owner as part of a Native Title Settlement, Native Title Agreement or ILUA.
  6. i) Applications for works required under a Heritage Agreement or other statutory order will only be considered where the applicant can provide sufficient evidence that the cost of repairs substantially exceeds, in the opinion of the Outcome Assessment Panel, the benefit to the owner.

PROJECT ELIGIBILITY

SHG projects must meet one or more of the below criteria:

  1. Urgent conservation works that are proposed to stabilise the place.
  2. Essential conservation works that are required to protect significant building fabric.
  3. The project demonstrates planning for the future of the place

COMMUNITY HERITAGE GRANTS (CHG)

To be eligible for the CHG grant stream, applicants must be one of the following:

  1. a) Incorporated not-for-profit organisation registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC)
  2. b) Businesses, including individuals/ sole traders, with a valid ABN
  3. c) WA local government authorities.

Applicants must also meet all the below criteria:

  1. d) Comply with the specific eligibility requirements for the funding stream under which they submit an application.
  2. e) Hold appropriate business, professional indemnity, public liability insurance or comprehensive building insurance (as applicable to the project) for the duration of the project.
  3. f) Not have an active grant application for the same/similar project from a previous Community Heritage Program funding round.
  4. g) Disclose all sources of funding for the project in the project application.
  5. h) Provide evidence of place ownership or owner authorisation if your project involves any works to a place.
  6. i) If a not-for-profit organisation or local government, must provide evidence that the project has been refused Lotterywest funding, or it must be determined that they are not eligible for Lotterywest grant funding.

PROJECT ELIGIBILITY

CHG projects must celebrate and/or promote a State Registered Heritage Place (SRHP) or Local Heritage Survey places through either:

  • promoting heritage conservation
  • interpretation focusing on standalone projects (single place projects), or multiple place projects such as heritage trails/local heritage walks; and
  • interpretation that is across geographic regions or industry/professional sectors

 

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.