Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: From $10,000 to $100,000
- Application opened: 3 September 2025
- Application closed: 1 October 2025, 5:00 pm
Program objective
The Companion Animal Welfare and Rehoming Grant has the below objectives:
- Achieve value for money
Improve animal welfare outcomes in NSW
- Support sustainable delivery of companion animal rehoming services
- Support eligible organisations to build capability and capacity for companion animal rehoming in NSW.
This program is administered by Office of Local Government.
Eligibility
Who can apply
To be eligible you must:
- Have an Australian Business Number (ABN) or Australian Company Number (ACN) for an entity that is registered and based in NSW
- Have a bank account with an Australian financial institution
- Be seeking a minimum funding amount of $10,000
- Operate animal welfare or rehoming services within the State of NSW.
- Currently hold $10 million in public liability insurance cover and provide a copy of the certificate of currency for this with your application, or be willing to attain cover prior to entering into a funding agreement
- Have acquitted any funding previously received under the 2023 Competitive Companion Animal Welfare and Rehoming Grant program
You must be one of the following non-government organisations:
- A designated rehoming organisation under section 88B of the Companion Animals Act 1998
- A rehoming organisation or approved animal welfare organisation as defined under section 5 of the Companion Animals Act 1998 (except for a council or any other operator of a council pound) and which is actively involved in companion animal rehoming activities.
- A registered charity predominantly involved in companion animal rehoming activity, including work that assists in preventing companion animals entering the rehoming system or providing support in an emergency or crisis.
- A registered charity that provides low-cost veterinary services, including free or low-cost desexing.
- A registered charity that promotes responsible pet ownership education and awareness-raising.
- A registered charity involved in building and maintaining community foster care networks.
For the avoidance of doubt, a registered charity refers specifically to a charity organisation registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC).
Types of projects funded under this grant
For a grant activity to be eligible it must be for one of the following activities:
- Improve the rates of reuniting companion animals to their owners and rehoming of companion animals.
- Training, services, systems or equipment that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of companion animal rehoming.
- Provision of animal relief services during an emergency or crisis.
- Veterinary treatment, including desexing, microchipping, vaccinations and any other medical treatments.
- The provision of services to deliver training or rehabilitation for a dog or cat to enable future rehoming opportunities.
- Education programs on responsible ownership of animals, including consideration of ethics, sentience and duty of care.
- Upgrade or extension of current facilities to improve the welfare of companion animals.
Outcomes for projects funded under this grant
Outcome - Achieve value for money
Efficient and effective grants design and delivery
Funded organisation is capable of delivering activities on time and within budget
Funds are used for intended purposes
Funded activities align with NSW Government policy principles
Outcome 2 - Improve animal welfare outcomes in NSW
Reduce euthanasia rates across NSW
Reduce number of animals requiring rehoming in NSW
Increase rates of companion animal desexing
Increase rates of successful animal rehoming in NSW
Increase registrations of companion animals on NSW Pet Registry
Improved outcomes for companion animals impacted by an emergency or crisis
Improved chances of animal rehoming through behavioural training and intervention
Outcome 3 - Sustainable delivery of companion animal rehoming services
Development of innovative approaches to rehoming and animal welfare services across NSW
Enhanced approaches to service delivery by recipient organisations
Reduce capacity burden on council pounds
Outcome 4 - Support eligible organisations to build capability and capacity for companion animal rehoming in NSW.
Expand capacity of approved non-government organisations to undertake animal welfare and rehoming activities.
Educational activities leading to increased awareness of responsible pet ownership obligations
What costs you can apply for
Funding may only be incurred on eligible or agreed activities. All eligible costs will be paid exclusive of GST.
To be eligible, costs must:
- be a direct cost related to the eligible grant activities or project/service delivery requirements
- be incurred within the project period
- reflect competitive market rates
- be a true and accurate reflection of costs required to deliver the activity.
Who can’t apply
You are not eligible to apply if you are:
- insolvent
- an individual
- a sole trader
- partnership
- An animal welfare charity not currently registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC)
- A rehoming organisation not currently approved as a designated organisation by OLG as at 20 September 2025
- a Commonwealth, state, territory or local government agency or body excluding government corporate entities.
Additionally, any organisation is ineligible to apply if they have any members, staff or carers who:
- have ever been charged, convicted or been subject to a penalty notice in respect of, an offence against the:
o Animal Research Act 1985
o Companion Animals Act 199
o Companion Animals Regulation 2018
o Exhibited Animals Protection Act 1986
o Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979
- have ever operated a premises where animals have been kept or controlled and been subject to a Council order relating to the care and control of animals.
- have been declared bankrupt within the past ten years or been subject to any other insolvency administration or fraud convictions.
What costs you can't apply for
The grant cannot be used for the following activities:
- the purchase of land or property
- rental fees or leases
- costs incurred in the preparation of a grant application or related documentation
- overseas travel
- the covering of retrospective costs
- salaries or wages
- Depreciation expenses
- projects or activities outside of NSW
- projects requiring ongoing funding from the NSW Government
- projects that are ongoing or constitute the normal course of business, such as utilities fees
- routine maintenance costs
- activities that will not be delivered prior to the end of the grant funding period
- legal fees
- cash prizes or commercial gifts
What your application needs to include
Prepare your application with this checklist
N/A
Address the eligibility criteria
Each applicant, as part of an application response, must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria.
Applicants that do not address the eligibility criteria in full may be excluded from the application process at the department's discretion.
Address the assessment criteria
- Consistency of the proposal with the policy principles, objectives and outcomes of the grant program
- How value for money will be achieved
- Capability, experience and skills of the applicant organisation in the rehoming and animal welfare space
- Feasibility and deliverability of the project, including demonstrating capacity and expertise to deliver the project within budget and timeframes
Start the application
Applications are to be submitted via Smartygrants
Note: If you are a new applicant to SmartyGrants, you will need to register and create a password. If you are already registered, you can log in with your existing username and password.
Apply now
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: Minister for Local Government
This grant program is open AND competitive. This means that applications that satisfy stated eligibility, adequately satisfy assessment criteria as determined by an Assessment Panel, and are ranked as the most competitive applicant(s) will be recommended for funding.
All submitted applications are initially reviewed against the eligibility criteria only. Applicants that do not meet eligibility criteria will not proceed to Stage Two. Applicants that meet the eligibility criteria will proceed to Stage Two.
Stage One assessments will be conducted by the OLG Programs team. All applicants that proceed to Stage Two will be assessed against the assessment criteria.
Stage Two assessments will be conducted by an assessment panel comprising qualified and experienced representatives.
Applications will be assessed individually by each Assessment panel members and given an initial score. Application scores will then be reviewed by the Assessment panel together to determine a final score. The final score will be used to determine the applications ranking compared to other applications received.
Anticipated assessment outcome date is 27/10/2025
Support and contact
Alex Bellamy - grants@olg.nsw.gov.au