Sport and recreation is at the heart of Australian culture and plays a critical role in maintaining healthy and connected communities. Thousands of not-for-profit sporting organisations across Australia rely on dedicated volunteers, fundraising and grants to operate.
Thankfully, millions of dollars in grants are available from local, state and national funding providers, supporting sporting initiatives across Australia.
Whether you are starting up a new club or need to update tired facilities and equipment, taking a look at grants to support your organisation’s activities is definitely worthwhile.
Sport and recreation grants are available for:
Sports equipment
Sporting club facility infrastructure
Sports ground upgrades
Strategic planning
When you start thinking about the benefits of sport, you can then look at grants for:
Promoting community engagement in sports and recreation
Promoting inclusion for women, girls, people with disabilities, multicultural groups, and more.
The more you look at grants, the more you'll learn to start thinking in this out-of-the-box, strategic way. Getting to the 'why' of your project need is key. You can learn about getting started with grants in our extensive Grant Resource Hub.
When you know the 'why', you may also benefit from looking at community grants, as well as health and wellbeing grants.
Community, health and wellbeing grants often have broad eligibility criteria and objectives, meaning that you may be eligible to apply.
If you’re new to grant seeking, a great place to start is with your local council. They should be able to let you know about any upcoming grant opportunities in your region. Your state’s Department of Sport (or equivalent) is also worth looking into for relevant grants.
You can also learn about specific grants through your memberships (e.g. with peak bodies).
If you want to explore grants fully, consider using a grants directory like The Grants Hub, to make sure you're notified about the latest grant opportunities from all levels of government, plus philanthropic and corporate funding providers.
The Grants Hub members can search over 250 sport and recreation grants in our Grants Directory that are open right now.
Here are a few examples of current sport grants available:
Enables schools to apply for funding to support and encourage participation in AFL football.
Applications close 15 November 2024
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Supports local sporting clubs throughout Australia. Applications are invited from rural and local community-based sporting clubs.
Applications close 31 December 2024
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Supports the nurturing and growth of girls' participation in cricket at community clubs across the country.
Applications always open for applications.
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Provides grants to eligible organisations in Queensland to install permanent, hard roof fixed shade structures.
Applications close 22 November 2024
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