The 2024 Cultural Grants Program is now open!

Vacy to Gresford: People and Places – a successful 2023 Cultural Grants project by the Paterson Historical Society.

We are pleased to share that the 2024 Cultural Grants Program is now open!

The Cultural Grants Program is a Create NSW devolved funding program administered by the Royal Australian Historical Society on behalf of the NSW Government. This Cultural Grants program assists historical research and publication of local, community and regional history projects.

Last year, eighteen projects were recommended for funding to the value of $60,668. Fifty per cent of projects focused on regional areas, thirty-three per cent on metropolitan Sydney, and seventeen per cent on Western Sydney. You can learn more about last year’s program from the 2023 Assessment Report.

Paterson Historical Society was one of last year’s successful projects. They were awarded $2,000 to publish a history about the communities along the Paterson and Allyn Rivers between the village of Vacy and the town of Gresford. The book was recently published as Vacy to Gresford: People and Places (2024). You can learn about other successful projects on our Cultural Grants website.

We want to thank Create NSW for providing funding for the Cultural Grants Program that supports local history and heritage projects, facilitating an understanding of the history of the people and places of New South Wales.

The 2024 Cultural Grants Program opens on 14 May at 9 am and closes on 2 July at midnight. If you would like to learn more about the 2024 Cultural Grants Program, you can visit our website.

What are the Community Heritage Grants?

The Community Heritage Grants (CHG) program supports community-based organisations to identify and care for Australian cultural heritage collections which are publicly accessible, locally held and nationally significant. The CHG program commenced in 1994, and we are delighted to be marking our 30th anniversary this year.

How we can help

The CHG supports small, local groups with limited funding and staffing resources, who would benefit from access to professional cultural heritage expertise. Grants of up to $20,000 are available to help organisations undertake a three-stage journey to assess their collection, identify collection care recommendations and implement practical improvements.

Non-profit, incorporated organisations – including historical societies, archives, regional museums, public libraries, community groups, multicultural and Indigenous organisations – are encouraged to apply. For more details visit the CHG website: nla.gov.au/chg.

Activities we support

In the first two stages, organisations work with experienced heritage practitioners to produce reports that:

• Explain the meanings and value of their collections (a significance assessment).
• Outline the condition of their collections and provide a conservation and collection management plan (a preservation needs assessment).

In the third stage, funding is available to:

• Undertake conservation and collection management activities, as recommended in the preservation needs assessment report. This may include conservation treatment, purchase of collection rehousing and storage materials, environmental control and monitoring equipment or digitisation.

CHG also offers grants for collection management training projects or cataloguing or collection management software.

Applications and guidelines

Applicants should carefully read the 2024 CHG Round Guidelines before applying. The Guidelines and application forms are available at: nla.gov.au/chg.

Please contact the CHG Program Team to discuss preparing your application: ch*@nl*.au

Eighteen local history projects will receive funding from the 2023 Cultural Grants Program

RAHS President Dr Iain Stuart announced today that eighteen local history projects will receive funding from the 2023 Cultural Grants Program. This grant program is administered by the Royal Australian Historical Society on behalf of the NSW Government.

‘The Royal Australian Historical Society thanks Create NSW for funding this grants program, which supports local and community history projects. These projects provide unique insights into the people and places of New South Wales and strengthen community connections through preserving and sharing our histories. History is preserved and passed on at the local level through communities interested in our history and by the individuals working in community groups. Without this grant funding, many shared histories and local history resources would be lost to us,’ explained Dr Stuart.

Recipients of the Cultural Grants cover a diverse range of projects, including research, publications, and conservation of historic material through digitisation projects.

Australian Catholic Historical Society
For the publication of a comprehensive and contextual history of the Society, The Australian Catholic Historical Society and Sydney Catholics 1940–2020. Awarded: $5,000.

Paterson Historical Society
For the publication Vacy to Gresford – People and Places. The book will record the history along the Paterson and Allyn Rivers between the village of Vacy and the town of Gresford. Awarded: $2,000.

Tomaree Headland Heritage Group
For the publication Tomaree Headland Port Stephens in World War II: Fort Tomaree, HMAS Assault. Awarded: $5,000.

The City of Liverpool and District Historical Society
For the publication of a collection of recollections, journals, diaries, letters and articles. Recollections of Old Liverpool Vol. 2. Awarded: $1,000.

Manly Warringah and Pittwater Historical Society
For the publication of the Society’s centenary history, Bridging the Years: Manly Warringah and Pittwater Historical Society 1924–2024. Awarded: $4,800.

Albury and District Historical Society
To include the Border Morning Mail 1953 on Trove and to conduct free public workshops on ‘Exploring the Local Past with Trove’. Awarded: $3,572.

Hurstville Museum and Gallery
For the publication Makers and Manufacturers: The Industrial History of St George. Awarded: $3,571.

Port Macquarie and District Family History Society
To publish a register of the female convicts who came to Port Macquarie (for punishment, on assignment, on Tickets of Leave, or to join their husbands). Rowdy Voices and Quiet Whispers. Awarded: $4,000.

Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society
For an original journal with local content, Grist Mills 37. Awarded: $1,000.

Surf Life Saving Mid North Coast Branch
For an oral history project on preserving local and lifesaving history through interviewing life members, which will be available on a website. Awarded: $495.

Nutcote Trust
For a publication about the life of celebrated author and illustrator May Gibbs, Inside Story: May Gibbs’ Life and Work at Nutcote. Awarded: $3,300.

Hill End and Tambaroora Gathering Group
For the publication of a detailed history of 150 years of St Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Hill End, from 1872 until 2022. Awarded: $3,530.

Australian Computer Museum Society
For the Max Burnet Digitisation Project. Max Burnet played a major part in Australian computing, running the second-largest hardware vendor in Australia. This project aims to digitise his collection. Awarded: $3,000.

The Royal Society of NSW
To illuminate the cultural evolution of Australasia’s earliest colonial scientific and philosophical society. Sydney’s Colonial Scientists: Origins of the Royal Society of NSW. Awarded: $5,000.

Maitland Regional Museum
For the publication Maitland Stories, which will collect and record oral histories of Maitland’s older citizens who represent a range of backgrounds and communities. Awarded: $3,100.

Shoalhaven Libraries
For the Shoalhaven Heritage Newspaper Digitisation Project, which will be made available on Trove. Awarded: $5,000.

The Fort Street Foundation
For the Fort Street Speech Day Digitisation Project (1899–2023), which will digitise at-risk paper copies of all records associated with Speech Day at a nationally significant school institution. Awarded: $3,850.

Clarence River Historical Society
For the Carl Ehlers Collection. Awarded: $3,450.

2023 Cultural Grants Program is now open!

Mosman: Times Gone By – a successful 2022 Cultural Grants project by the Mosman Historical Society.

We are pleased to share that the 2023 Cultural Grants Program is now open!

The Cultural Grants Program is a Create NSW devolved funding program administered by the Royal Australian Historical Society on behalf of the NSW Government. This Cultural Grants program assists historical research and publication of local, community and regional history projects.

Last year, eighteen projects were recommended for funding to the value of $59,105. Sixty per cent of projects focused on regional areas, twenty-three per cent on metropolitan Sydney, and seventeen per cent on Western Sydney. You can learn more about last year’s program from the 2022 Assessment Report.

Mosman Historical Society was one of last year’s successful projects. They were awarded $4,600 to publish a collection of research articles on early Mosman. The book was recently published as Mosman: Times Gone By (2023). You can learn more about other successful projects on our Cultural Grants website.

We want to thank Create NSW for providing funding for the cultural grants program that supports local history and heritage projects, facilitating an understanding of the history of the people and places of New South Wales.

The 2023 Cultural Grants Program opens on 17 May at 9 am and closes on 23 June at midnight. If you would like to learn more about the 2023 Cultural Grants Program, you can visit our website.