Community Building Partnership FAQS

Electoral District Priorities are priority needs identified by Members of Parliament (MPs) for their electoral district. When identifying Electoral District Priorities, MPs have drawn on their knowledge of the community and been informed by a range of factors such as demographic data, socio-economic indicators, health and wellbeing measures, safety and environmental considerations, geographical distribution, equity and inclusion, gaps in community infrastructure, relevant research and surveys, community consultation, and other local data sources. MPs may have also used their direct understanding of the electoral district to ensure that selected priorities reflect both evidence and lived experience within the community.

You can view the priorities for each electoral district for the CBP 2026 program as described by the relevant MP online. 

Electoral District Priorities 

Your Detailed Application must be based on the information provided in your shortlisted EOI.

You cannot change the core elements of your project between the EOI and Detailed Application stages, including:

• the project location
• the project category
• the grant amount requested
• the type or scope of the project, or
• the electoral district the project is submitted under.

These details are used to shortlist EOIs and must remain consistent between stages.

You can:

• provide more detailed information about your project
• clarify or expand on project delivery, timelines, costs and outcomes, and
• submit required supporting documents (such as quotes, approvals, or landowner consent).

Some organisations deliver projects through local branches that cannot enter into a funding agreement in their own right.

In these cases:

• the Applicant organisation may be the local branch delivering the project; and
• the Legal name of the organisation that will sign the Funding Agreement must be an eligible legal entity (such as a head office or parent organisation) that will enter into the funding agreement and be legally and financially responsible for the project.

The Applicant organisation and the Funding Agreement entity must be part of the same organisation. This means the legal entity signing the agreement has authority over the local branch, and the branch is not separately incorporated.

This is not an auspicing arrangement. Applications cannot nominate an unrelated organisation or third party to enter into a Funding Agreement.

To be eligible for CBP 2026 funding, your project must meet the eligibility requirements set out in the Program Guidelines.

Before submitting an Expression of Interest (EOI), you should check that:

• your project is an eligible project type under the program (for example, capital works, equipment, or vehicles)
• your project has one clear project location and is submitted in the correct NSW electoral district
• your project can be completed within the required timeframe
• you will be able to obtain all required approvals and consents (such as development approval and land or property owner’s consent), if invited to submit a Detailed Application.

Eligibility is not assessed at the EOI stage. If your EOI is shortlisted and you are invited to submit a Detailed Application, your project’s eligibility will be assessed at that stage based on the information and supporting documents you provide.

Organisation eligibility (including whether your organisation is an eligible entity and can enter into a funding agreement) is addressed separately in the Organisation eligibility section of these FAQs.

If you are unsure whether your project is eligible, you should carefully review the eligibility criteria in the Program Guidelines before applying. The Department is not able to confirm eligibility for individual projects prior to assessment.

Your project location is very important.

Each application must be submitted in the NSW electoral district where the project is physically located, or for vehicle projects, the electoral district the vehicle will primarily service. This determines:

• which electoral district your application is assessed in
• which funding allocation your project is considered against, and
• which Member of Parliament is involved in shortlisting and the Electoral District Alignment Review process.

You must clearly and accurately identify your project location in your Expression of Interest (EOI). EOIs submitted under an incorrect electoral district, or with unclear or inconsistent location information, may be deemed ineligible.

No. Each submission must include only one project location. Submissions that include more than one location will be deemed ineligible.

If you are seeking funding for the same type of works at different locations, you must submit a separate application for each project location. For example, if you are seeking funding to install LED lighting at two different tennis court locations, you will need to submit two separate applications, one for each location.

Vehicles requiring registration (vehicle category)

Vehicles not requiring registration (equipment category)

Where a DA is required, you must submit evidence of the DA at the time of your Detailed Application. You must obtain all planning approvals, including DA from local councils, Crown Lands and Heritage Councils, before applying for CBP funding.

Development and Crown Land approvals can be a lengthy process, If you do not already have these approvals when applying for CBP funding and do not submit evidence of DA at the time of your Detailed Application, your project will not be eligible for funding.

If you are not sure whether you require planning approval, contact your local council or planning authority before applying. 

If your project involves capital works on Crown land, you will need to meet the program’s property or landowner’s consent requirements as part of your detailed application (if shortlisted).

For projects on Crown land, you can meet this requirement in one of the following ways: 

• Provide a completed CBP Property/Landowner’s Consent Form, signed by the Crown land manager; or
• Provide a letter from the Crown land manager giving full consent for the proposed works to proceed; or
• Confirm in your detailed application that the proposed works fall within the parameters of ‘deemed consent’ under section 2.23 of the Crown Land Management Act 2016, where landowner consent is not required for the type of works proposed.

For more information on “Deemed Consent” refer to the NSW Government’s Crown Lands Deemed Landowners Consent page your Crown land manager or the Crown Lands office.

The appropriate option will depend on the nature and scale of the works proposed in your submission. Please note that if you indicate that you have “deemed consent” but your project does not meet “deemed consent” requirements, your project will be found ineligible. 

Under CBP 2026, applicants may choose to apply for either full funding or partial funding for an eligible project.

• Full funding means you are requesting CBP funding to cover the full cost of the nominated scope of works, up to the maximum grant amount.
• Partial funding means you intend to deliver the same project and scope of works, but request CBP funding for only part of the total cost. If you apply for partial funding, you must explain how the remaining costs will be funded (for example, through a cash contribution from your organisation or other confirmed funding sources).

Yes. To have both funding options considered, you must submit two separate Expressions of Interest (EOIs):

• one EOI for full funding, and
• one EOI for partial funding.

Both EOIs must:

• relate to the same project and nominated scope of works
• be for the same project location, and
• be submitted in the same NSW electoral district.

Where an applicant submits one full‑funding EOI and one partial‑funding EOI for the same project (nominated scope of works), these EOIs will count as one toward the two‑EOI limit for that electoral district.

No. You can apply for CBP 2026 funding without contributing your own funds, and projects requesting full funding are eligible and will be assessed on their merits.

Applicants are encouraged to contribute to the cost of their project where possible, as this can demonstrate value for money and organisational commitment, but a contribution is not required for most eligible organisations.

If you choose to include a contribution, it may include:

• cash funding from your organisation, or
• funding from another grant or sponsor.

Any contribution included should be clearly reflected in your project budget.

Local councils and council committees under section 355 of the Local Government Act 1993 are required to provide a matched cash contribution equal to the grant amount requested. Value‑in‑kind contributions cannot be used by councils or section 355 committees to meet this requirement.

At the Expression of Interest (EOI) stage, you are not required to provide evidence that your contribution is confirmed.

If your EOI is shortlisted and you are invited to submit a Detailed Application, you will be required to:

• clearly identify the contribution in your project budget, and
• demonstrate that the contribution is realistic and achievable.

You will also be asked to provide supporting evidence of your funding sources.

All applications are assessed on their own merits, and each funded project must be delivered and acquitted in its own right. Reliance on potential future funding is not an acceptable reason for delaying project delivery or reporting.

No, late submissions will not be accepted. The online system will not accept EOIs submitted after the advertised closing time of 5 pm AEST on 8 May 2026 and will not accept Detailed Applications submitted after the advertised closing time of 5 pm AEST on 17 July 2026. 

If you have problems submitting your EOI or Detailed Application, you should contact the helpline on 02 8753 8144 at least 24 hours before the deadline to seek assistance. 

An applicant organisation may submit up to two Expressions of Interest (EOIs) per NSW electoral district.

Each EOI must:

• relate to one project location only

• be for one project category

• be submitted under the correct electoral district.

If an organisation submits two EOIs for the same project at the same location in an electoral district (for example, one seeking full funding and one seeking partial funding), these will count as 1 submission toward the 2 EOI limit for that district.

Applicants should not submit duplicate applications for the same project across multiple electoral districts. Duplicate applications may be deemed ineligible. 

Once you click submit, you’ll receive a confirmation email. The confirmation email will contain a PDF copy of your submission. Please check that you receive the confirmation email and retain it for your records.

If you do not receive a confirmation email, your form may not have been successfully submitted, or the confirmation email has ended up in your junk mailbox.

You can also log into the online system and click ‘My Submissions’ to view all submitted and un-submitted forms. Submissions are identified by a green tick in a circle. 

Only applicants whose Expression of Interest (EOI) has been shortlisted will be invited to submit a Detailed Application.

After the EOI stage closes, Members of Parliament consider EOIs submitted in their electoral district and shortlist projects that, in their view, best align with the Electoral District Priorities. Applicants whose EOIs are shortlisted will receive an email invitation via SmartyGrants to submit a Detailed Application.

Applicants who are not shortlisted at the EOI stage will not be invited to submit a Detailed Application.

If your EOI is shortlisted, you will receive an email invitation through SmartyGrants with a link to the Detailed Application form. You must submit your Detailed Application using the same SmartyGrants account used to submit your EOI.

To submit a Detailed Application, you will need to:

• log in to SmartyGrants and access the Detailed Application form provided in your invitation
• complete all required questions, building on the information provided in your shortlisted EOI
• provide additional project details and upload required supporting documents (such as a detailed project budget, quotes, approvals and landowner consent, where relevant), and
• submit the application by the closing date specified in your invitation.

Your Detailed Application must be consistent with your shortlisted EOI. You cannot change the core elements of your project between stages, including the project location, project category, grant amount requested, project scope, or electoral district.

Late submissions will not be accepted.

As part of the detailed application, applicants must submit a detailed and itemised project budget for the total project budget.

The project budget should be presented by major line items and in enough detail for assessors to consider it within the competitive assessment process. If you do not submit a detailed and itemised project budget when applying, your project may not be eligible for funding. 

Applicants that request a funding amount of $30,001 or above must submit quotes to verify project expenditure, which align to the information provided in your project budget. To support the completion of your submission, you can view a quote sample.

The following are not acceptable forms of evidence

• Invoices, project cost sheets, opinions on probable costs or pre-tender estimate summaries 

• Quotes that do not clearly relate to the items listed in the project budget 

• Quotes dated more than 6 months before the application date (must show date).

If you request a funding amount of $30,001 or above and you do not submit a quote to verify project expenditure when applying, your project will not be eligible for funding.

Quotes for applications that request $30,000 or less are preferred but not mandatory.  

If your organisation is registered for GST, all income and expenditure must be shown exclusive of GST.

If your organisation is not registered for GST, all income and expenditure must be shown inclusive of GST.

Local councils and Section 355 committees must always exclude GST from both income and expenditure, as GST is not an eligible cost under CBP.  

The opportunity to remedy is a limited and discretionary process that may be offered to some applicants at the Detailed Application stage to address specific eligibility issues.

No. An opportunity to remedy is only offered at the detailed application stage where:

• the applicant and project appear eligible in principle, and

You may be asked to provide or correct documentation, including:

Organisation eligibility

• Evidence confirming your organisation type (e.g. incorporation or registration)

• A current Certificate of Currency for Public Liability Insurance (minimum $5 million)

• Evidence a council committee is established under section 355 of the Local Government Act 1993

Project eligibility

• Development Approval (DA) evidence where required

• Property or landowner consent, including Crown land or Department of Education approvals

• Quotes for projects requesting $30,001 or more (where missing or non‑compliant)

• Clarification where the project category selected does not match the project description (for example, where capital works are described but “equipment” was selected)

Only documents or information needed to address the specific eligibility issue identified will be accepted. 

No. You cannot change the project category. However, assessors will assess your project based on what is described, not just the category selected.

If your project description includes any capital works (for example, fixed installations or building works), it will be treated as a capital works project for eligibility purposes, and you may be asked to provide the required capital works documentation (such as DA or landowner consent). 

Applicants required to submit additional information, will be notified via email through Smartygrants. Applicants will have one (1) week from notification to submit the requested information through SmartyGrants.

Late responses or information outside the scope of what was requested will not be accepted. 

If you do not respond within the remedy period, or the issue is not satisfactorily resolved, your application will be assessed based on the information available and may be determined ineligible.

Eligibility decisions are final and there is no appeal process. 

There are around 3,500 projects submitted each year. Many worthwhile projects are submitted; however, funding is limited and not all are successful.

Due to the high volume, the CBP team is unable to provide individual feedback on each unsuccessful project. If your project is not successful, this does not mean it lacks merit. CBP is a very competitive grant program.  

All projects funded under CBP 2026 must be completed by 24 January 2028.

You should ensure that:

• your project has not commenced before the EOI closing date (8 May 2026), and

• you can realistically complete all project activities, including installation or construction by the 24 January 2028.

Applicants will be asked to confirm that their project can be delivered by the required completion date. Projects that cannot be completed by this date are not eligible for funding. 

Yes. Before funding is released, the CBP team will conduct a compliance history check of approved applications and may request additional information to confirm program requirements have been met.

If your organisation has outstanding or incomplete projects from previous CBP rounds, the program may withhold payment of funds. Where a previous project could not be completed due to circumstances outside your organisation’s control, you may request that an exemption be considered by providing advice in writing to CBP2026@dcj.nsw.gov.au 

All recipients of NSW Government funding for infrastructure and capital works must acknowledge the NSW Government. At a minimum, the acknowledgement should be in annual reports, media releases, digital and printed materials, web pages and online documents, advertising, plaques and signs.

To learn more about Funding Acknowledgement Guidelines for Recipients of NSW Government Infrastructure Grants, please visit nsw.gov.au/branding/sponsorship-and-funding-acknowledgment-guidelines.

Organisations should also invite the local MP to attend and speak at any launches, openings and media announcements about the CBP-funded project. 

The NSW Government may provide certain information for reporting and promotional purposes. This information may include but is not limited to:

• organisation and project name

• project description

• project location

• location of the grant recipient

• electoral district

• amount of the approved grant

• organisation contact details

• information provided in the grant application

• information provided in the project completion report.