Uptown Grant Program Round 4

District Teams which meet the eligibility criteria:

1. are an Eligible Entity; and
2. located in an Eligible Local Government Area or are a previous Uptown Grant Program recipient.

District Teams must be one of the following entities to apply:

• Incorporated Association
• Company Limited by Guarantee; or
• Non-distributing Co-operative.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• have an Australian Business Number (ABN) for an entity that is registered in NSW;
• be registered for GST;
• have an account with an Australian financial institution;
• have a minimum of eight (8) registered members of the applying entity that operate under different ABNs based in the district;
• be solvent; and
• be able to execute a funding deed with the NSW Government if your application is successful.

The Department cannot provide applicants with legal, business or financial advice about entity types.

To be eligible, applicants must provide a letter of support from the relevant local council organisation, which:

• is from a senior staff member (e.g. Chief Executive, General Manager, Director) of the council (the letter must not be from an elected official such as a councillor)
• confirms the council’s support for the collective initiative(s) proposed in the application
• provides the contact details of a relevant staff member that can be contacted about the application.

Applicants who have previously received two or more rounds of funding through the Uptown Grant Program are required to co-contribute a minimum of 20% of the requested or final approved funding amount as additional funding.

Applicants are not eligible to apply if, at the time of application, they:

• are not currently one of the above eligible entities; or
• does not satisfy all the eligibility criteria; or
• have received funding from another government source for the same scope of works for the project.

Please refer to the Program Guidelines for further eligibility requirements.

Location that are eligible include Bayside, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Burwood, Camden, Campbelltown, Canada Bay, Canterbury-Bankstown, City of Parramatta, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Hawkesbury, Hornsby, Hunters Hill, Inner West, Ku-Ring-Gai, Lane Cove, Liverpool, Mosman, Newcastle, North Sydney, Northern Beaches, Penrith, Randwick, Ryde, Strathfield, Sutherland Shire, Sydney, The Hills Shire, Waverley, Willoughby, Wollondilly, Wollongong, Woollahra

Eligible activities for funding under this grant include:

1. Coordination

A minimum of 25% of the total allocated grant funding must be spent on a coordination function for your district.

2. Collective initiatives

The remaining funding may be used on eligible costs that are required to deliver collective initiatives that seek to:

• strengthen local business collaboration within the district
• diversify the consumer offering within the district
• improve awareness of the unique identity of the district
• improve social, cultural, environmental or economic outcomes for the district.

Please refer to the Program Guidelines for eligible and ineligible activities.

The project should be started by 1 July 2026 and the project must be completed by 30 June 2027.

The coordination function may take the form of:

• salary/wages and entitlements for employees specifically engaged for the project, i.e. the direct employment of a staff member to manage the coordination of your district and its activities.
• contract employment of a staff member(s) to manage the coordination of your District and its activities.
• third-party professional services to manage the coordination of your District and its activities, e.g. bookkeeping systems, legal fees.

Eligible collective initiatives costs may include:

• artist fees
• AV and staging equipment hire
• program and production development fees
• advisory costs e.g. revenue scheme development
• First Nations consultant fees
• sustainability consultant fees
• council fees, including venue hire fees and traffic management costs
• licensing fees
• graphic design
• photography and other assets
• website domain fees and subscriptions
• branding pack
• creative agency fees
• design and production costs
• social media ads
• advertising fees
• marketing/PR agency fees
• influencer fees
• promotional material e.g. merchandise

Please refer to the Program Guidelines for further information on what costs you can apply for and the conditions of application.

Applicants are not eligible to apply if, at the time of application, they:

• are not currently one of the above eligible entities; or 
• are not based in one of the eligible Local Government Areas (LGAs) or are not a previous Uptown Grant Program recipient.

Applicants who have previously received two or more rounds of funding through the Uptown Grant Program are required to co-contribute a minimum of 20% of the requested or final approved funding amount as additional funding. 

For example, a funding request of $100,000 requires a minimum co-contribution of $20,000. Based on this request, the total project budget will be a minimum of $120,000.  Applicants that are required to co-contribute, and that do not identify a contribution income source in their Budget, may not be considered further, at the discretion of the Department

• Eligible entities may only submit one application under the Program.
• Activities may commence from 1 July 2026 and must be completed by 30 June 2027.

Local Government Areas exception

Applicants will not be subject to the LGA eligibility criteria if they were a previous recipient under Round 1, Round 2 and/or Round 3 of the Uptown Grant Program.