Key information
- Status: Open
- Grant amount: From $50,000 to $1,000,000
- Application opened: 3 November 2025
- Application closes: 5 December 2025, 5:00 pm
Program objective
The CRIF 2025-26 funding round objective for general grant applications is: To financially support projects that will have a high community impact.
This program is administered by Crown Lands.
Eligibility
Who can apply
The application must be authorised by the official manager of a Crown reserve. The person/organisation entering the online application must be either:
- an authorised person of the reserve’s Crown land manager, or
- a user group representative or officer of the applicant organisation with an official letter of authorisation from the appropriate authorised person from the list below.
List of authorised persons eligible to apply for funding:
Statutory Crown land manager board - Chair, Secretary, Treasurer or Appointed Administrator
Council Crown land manager - General Manager or Director
Corporate Crown land manager - CEO, CFO or General Manager
Other eg. Government agency, perpetual lease - Crown Lands Director or Area Manager
For more information, please refer to the Crown Reserves Improvement Fund | Crown Lands website
Types of projects funded under this grant
General projects - showgrounds, caravan parks, state parks, local parks and other Crown reserves.
For more information, please refer to the Crown Reserves Improvement Fund | Crown Lands website.
Who can’t apply
Freehold Showgrounds, Commons, Freehold School of Arts and any Crown land directly managed by Local Land Services (LLS) are not eligible in the 2025-26 funding round.
Types of projects not funded under this grant
For more information, please refer to the Crown Reserves Improvement Fund | Crown Lands website.
What your application needs to include
Prepare your application with this checklist
- The project must be on NSW Crown managed land (including land managed by an appointed Crown Land Manager)
- Activity must be consistent with s12.29 of the Crown Land Management Act 2016 - Crown Land Management Act 2016 No 58
- The application must relate to a project or activity that has not yet commenced
- The Crown land manager must have no outstanding overdue CRIF final project reports as at the round closing date
- Non-council Crown land managers must have submitted their 2024-25 annual report to the Department by the round closing date via the Reserve Manager portal - CrownTracker Portal (nsw.gov.au)
- The application must be authorised by the official manager of a Crown reserve
- Appropriate quotes / cost estimates must be provided with the application
- The application must address the funding round objective
- A general application must have one project per reserve. (Do not submit multiple projects on the one application)
- Minimum grant amount is $50,000 (inc GST) and maximum amount is $1,000,000(inc GST)
For more information, please refer to the Crown Reserves Improvement Fund | Crown Lands website.
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
Community Impact - 40%
Demonstrate how effectively the project will contribute to the social, economic, cultural and/or environmental advancement of the community by:
- Maintaining or increasing public access, amenity and use of the reserve
- Supporting social cohesion and participation in community life
- Enabling people with accessibility requirements or living with a disability to be included
- Delivering a service or infrastructure to enable Aboriginal people to access, care for, protect and manage land
- Conserving heritage values and/or natural values, and/or
- Creating employment or business opportunities
Reserve Utilisation - 40%
Measured by annual visitation numbers. Usage criteria – the higher the "reserve annual visitation" the higher the score: annual visitation >= 1,000,000 scores 40; annual visitation < 10,000 scores 0
Deliverability and Affordability - 20%
- Value for money – estimated costs through competitive, multiple quotes or a demonstrated procurement process
- Demonstrated capacity and capability to deliver the project
- Any co-contributions from other sources (cash or in-kind)
- Ability to access other funding sources for the project
Start the application
For more information, please refer to the Crown Reserves Improvement Fund | Crown Lands website.
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 Lands and Property
All applications will be subject to a rigorous multi-level assessment process. The official Crown land manager should receive written advice as to the outcome of your application via email by May - June 2026.
Anticipated assessment outcome date is May 2026
Anticipated date for funding deed execution with successful applicants is May - June 2026
Support and contact
Crown Lands & Public Spaces
Phone: 1300 886 235 (option 5) | Email: reservefunding@crownland.nsw.gov.au