Community Grants
Volunteer community groups play an important role in protecting and improving local rivers and creeks. Find out if your group is eligible for funding and how to apply.
Who can apply for community grants
Groups and organisations in the Port Phillip and Westernport region can apply for a community grant from Melbourne Water. These include:
- incorporated community groups
- management committees
- volunteer groups
- Landcare groups
Read more about Landcare groups on the Landcare Australia website.
What the community grants are for
Community grants are for activities and projects that focus on the health of rivers and creeks. These grants are split into two categories: project grants and group support grants.
Project grants
Project grants can fund a range of activities, including:
- weed control
- fencing off rivers and creeks
- revegetation (replanting) with indigenous plants
A maximum of $20,000 (excluding GST) is available for project grants.
Your group might be eligible to apply for grants from other organisations. See the ‘Elsewhere on the web’ section on this page to find out more.
Group support grants
Running and organising volunteer groups takes time and money. Group support grants are available to help out with:
- administrative activities
- increasing participation in your group
- raising public awareness
- training to improve your group’s capacity
- educating the community about project work
A maximum of $1,000 (excluding GST) is available for groups that are eligible for the support grants. You can apply for a project grant at the same time as a group support grant.
How to apply
Applications are now closed. If you would like more information on these grants, please contact the river health team.
Contact Melbourne Water’s river health team
All the details on how to apply will be available on this page when applications open again.
Conditions your group must meet
To qualify for a community grant, your group has to meet a number of terms and conditions. These include:
- matched funding – your application must include at least an equal amount of monetary or in-kind contributions from you or your project partners
- reporting – you must submit a report about your project grant within 30 days of the end of the project
Achievements of the community grants program
Since 1999, we have distributed more than $1.8 million in grants to help community groups plant 310,000 indigenous plants and improve 42km of rivers and creeks.
In the financial year 2010/11, we provided 134 grants to community groups, totalling over $600,000.